Why haven’t the Dallas Cowboys offered quarterback Dak Prescott a contract extension?

After yet another disappointing campaign, one would have assumed that the Dallas Cowboys would be looking to reinforce their weak areas while consolidating the ones that work well. Surprisingly, that doesn’t seem to be the case where the team’s quarterback is concerned as the franchise now seems set on a rather risky path.

Cowboys don’t plan to offer Dak Prescott contract extension

You may or may not know that Dak Prescott is entering the final year of his contract in 2024. That is now of particular significance after reports indicated the Dallas Cowboys will not be offering the starting quarterback an extension, with both sides said to have “a mutual understanding of his contract situation.” We don’t have to tell you how precarious a position that is.

To be clear, Prescott may not be the NFL’s best quarterback, but he is certainly one of them and very much worth a franchise tag. This is, after all, the same player that secured a four-year, $160 million deal in 2021 and when he was healthy, played in a manner that was more than deserving of that figure. Indeed, in this most recent campaign, Prescott put in arguably his best campaign to date. With career highs in completion percentage (69.5) and passer rating (105.9), he also led the NFL in passing touchdowns (36). In the end, the 30-year-old finished second in QBR (72.7), third in passing yards (4,516), and fifth among regular starters in yards per attempt (7.7). Yet, with all of those numbers in mind, he will head into the 2024-25 season on an annual salary of $36 million (11th in the league) and seemingly without the promise of a new contract. This of course begs the simple question: Why?

So, why aren’t the Cowboys sold on Dak Prescott?

If there is a simple answer it can be found in the word ‘postseason’ or rather, lack thereof. Since taking him in the fourth round of the 2016 NFL Draft, the Cowboys have seen little success in the playoffs. Of course, that is not down to Prescott’s presence. Having only won five postseason games since winning the Super Bowl back in 1996, ‘America’s Team’ has been anything but prolific.

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This is to say, that the problem goes way beyond Dak Prescott’s capabilities. This is where we come to the business side of things, as there is very much a correlation between the dollars and cents, and Prescott’s situation. For starters, the salary cap has increased by roughly $30 million for 2024, and is expected to make another rise once again during the next offseason. Assuming that proves to be the case, Prescott is almost certainly in line for a massive pay rise with quarterback salaries almost certainly going up.

At 30 years the former Offensive Rookie of the Year (2016) is in his prime i.e., if the Cowboys are banking on his performance to drop, that’s a silly bet, and that’s before we touch on the idea that they will either have to pay him a lot more or let him go elsewhere. What’s the long and short of it all, the Cowboys are playing a very dangerous game.