Elijah Southwick

The Cowboys Should Move on from QB Dak Prescott
Sell. Dak Prescott has proven to be a winning, successful quarterback in the NFL. Playoff performance is undoubtedly an important factor in player evaluation, but it doesn’t outweigh the sample size of a 17 game regular season. Regular season games in the stretch run of the season are big games too with the playoff implications they can have, and the Cowboys were playing as well as any team in the NFL before the playoffs.
Prescott played a bad game in the team’s Wild Card loss to the Packers, but this season was an overall success in my mind for the Cowboys quarterback. He led the team to an NFC East title and made a case for league MVP. Jerry Jones and company should look to improve other areas of their football team before rejecting Dak and landing in quarterback purgatory.
Jordan Love is an NFL Star
Buy. Cautiously. The NFL has never been more of a week-to-week reactions based league, and I don’t want to get too caught up in the Jordan Love hype train. But he is playing at a level that some quarterbacks never reach, and he’s doing it all with an unproven offensive unit around him. He has legitimate arm talent, and you can’t help but notice how much he’s modeled his game after QB Aaron Rodgers.
Jordan Love’s one year, $22.5 million extension gives the Packers an extra year of breathing room to figure out if they want to break the bank for a long-term contract extension. The Packers may feel the need to award Love and tie him to the team this offseason. He looks like an incredible talent, and the calls for another extension will be loud.
My cautious optimism regarding Love boils down to this: several quarterbacks thought to be elite or potentially elite in the last decade or so have been given top dollar contracts only to see their play regress towards average, or in some cases, even well below average. Love is an inexperienced quarterback, and the Packers should be thrilled with the results of his first year as the starter. The last thing they should do is get out over their skis and shell out an enormous contract this offseason when they’ve already bought themselves an evaluation year.
Baker Mayfield will be the Buccaneers Starting QB in 2024
Buy. Or at the very least, I’m buying that he’ll be a sought after free agent quarterback. Not only did Baker Mayfield revive his career in Tampa Bay this season, but so far he’s led them to a division title and a playoff win. You can’t ask for much better when you sign a journeyman QB to a one year deal. His $4 million cap hit has proven to be a major value. With Tampa Bay slotting in as a late first round pick, their quarterback options via the NFL Draft will be limited.
Mayfield has earned himself another NFL contract. In fact, I think he has a chance to play a competitive football game against Jared Goff and the Lions next weekend. If he were to somehow orchestrate a road upset win and put the Bucs in the NFC Championship game, he’d be a lock for a good contract this offseason.