COWBOYS
What would the Dallas Cowboys look like without Dak Prescott?
Some jaded fans place the postseason doom blame on Prescott, but now that his leaving could actually be a possibility, what would it mean for Dallas?
It’s no secret that the Dallas Cowboys have been disappointing fans for decades now for their lack of postseason success. And while many point the finger at owner Jerry Jones or the various coaches, it’s always easiest to blame the quarterback. Dak Prescott is no exception.
While he may not be a Patrick Mahomes or a Lamar Jackson, he definitely puts up comparable stats in the regular season. After eight years in the league, Prescott ranks third of all NFL quarterbacks in wins (73), eighth in yards (29,459), and sixth in touchdowns (202). And at nearly 31 years old, Prescott is just coming off of his best season yet. He finished the 2023 season as the league leader in touchdown passes (36) and had his best-ever completion percentage at 69.5%. He finished second in MVP voting after winner Lamar Jackson.
And yet, he fails again and again in the postseason, which brings us to the Dak haters. Prescott is 2-5 with 1,962 passing yards, 14 touchdowns, and seven interceptions in the playoffs. But is the answer really to just give Prescott the boot? Where would that leave Dallas?
Cowboys’ options at quarterback if Prescott leaves
At the moment, the Cowboys have Prescott finishing out the final year of his contract and despite other quarterbacks getting expensive deals done with their teams, Dallas is twiddling their thumbs and pinching their pennies. They’ll cross that bridge when it’s only absolutely necessary it seems. But putting off a deal with Prescott comes with big risks. The longer they wait, the more leverage he has to ask for more. And if they let him go, there will be plenty of other teams (Giants, Washington, etc…) who would love to have a quarterback of Prescott’s caliber and would be willing to dish out the cash that Jerry wasn’t.
It seems that would only serve to leave Dallas in the position that the Giants and Commanders have been for several years now - without an All-Pro quarterback. Yes, they could go for Russell Wilson or Derek Carr perhaps, but what would be the point in that? I’d objectively say that Prescott is a better player than both of them. And then of course, they’ve now got Trey Lance as the backup, and while he may have untapped potential, he’s started all of four games in his career. Oh, and he also would require a contract extension at the end of the season, so that would be just a bit of a gamble for the Cowboys.
Does Dallas really want to let Dak go and risk being stuck with a low-quality quarterback for who knows how many years? If not, it’s probably best they stick with the guy who at least gets them to the postseason regularly. But to do so, they need to get moving fast.