Flipping through TV channels this morning and I see this Dallas Cowboys/Tom Brady story popping up on the debate shows.

You can source the topic to Michael Irvin, who went on Boston sports radio station WEEI and told a couple of guys name “Dale and Keefe” about a scenario in which Dallas pursues Brady and decides to use the franchise tag to move Dak Prescott instead:

“I am telling you right now, at the Super Bowl in Miami, some very significant people that I had conversations (with were) leaning in that same direction,” he said. “It was shocking. I had a vodka cranberry in my hand and when they said it to me I put the drink down and said, ‘Let’s talk a little bit more about this.’ I promise you, I had a conversation with people, I can’t tell you who, about that same scenario going down.

“I just don’t know if there’s a real possibility of that happening.”

That comment took on a life of its own and spiraled out of control very quickly, with Irvin then going on Twitter to say this:

And this:

The scenario itself is interesting, if seemingly unlikely. The Cowboys have said on the record they’d like to sign Prescott to a long-term extension without using the franchise tag. There have been a couple of reports out there saying Dak is looking for more money than what they’ve previously offered, something upwards of $30 million per year, which probably contributed to the Irvin comment blowing up the way it did. I think the only way you’d get close to this Dak/Brady theoretical is if Prescott asks for a grotesque amount of money and Dallas becomes so frustrated that they just say “screw it” and slap the tag on him instead.