COWBOYS
Will the Cowboys give Dak Prescott a contract extension?
Now that the Cowboys have settled things with their star WR CeeDee Lamb, focus is shifting back to their starting quarterback. What of his future in Dallas?
The talk surrounding the Dallas Cowboys all offseason has been about the contract extensions of CeeDee Lamb, Dak Prescott, and Micah Parsons. Parsons still has two years left on his rookie deal, so his situation won’t be so serious until next year. And after a holdout that lasted all training camp/preseason long, the Cowboys and Lamb have finally come to an agreement as Dallas gave him a four-year, $136 million contract extension.
It’s certainly a relief, and it’s also nice to know that it’s Prescott at quarterback who will be throwing to Lamb. However, Prescott has not been offered a contract extension yet, and he’s entering the final year of his current deal. If Dallas does not give him a contract extension and he plays out the final year of his contract, he will likely become a free agent at the end of this season, and a hot commodity at that.
Will the Cowboys offer Prescott an extension?
So, what’s the plan for Prescott? The Cowboys kind of screwed themselves over the last time they waited to give Prescott an extension. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones franchise tagged Prescott twice and then dragged his feet on a deal. Now, they cannot franchise tag him or trade him without his consent, and if they let him become a free agent in 2025, they will still be dealing with a $40-plus million dead cap hit. Prescott, once again, has all the leverage.
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It is a real possibility that Prescott will decide to leave Dallas for a team that wants him as their franchise quarterback is willing to pay him a yearly $60 million or more. Even at the very beginning of training camp, Prescott spoke about the possibility of leaving Dallas.
“At the end of the day, it’s a business,” Prescott said at the time. “You know...I’m gonna say it. I want to be here, but, when you look up, all the great quarterbacks I watched played for other teams. My point in saying that is that’s not something to fear. That may be a reality for me one day. It may not be my decision. That’s the freedom that I have.”
Since then, Jones and his son, COO Stephen Jones have made comments indicating that they intend to get a deal done with Prescott, but nothing has happened as of yet, as Lamb has been top priority. It’s possible that once the regular season begins, Prescott will no longer be open to negotiating, which would leave just a few weeks in 2025 to get a deal done before he walks.
Prescott finished last season with a 69.5% completion rate, 4,516 passing yards, an NFL-leading 36 touchdowns, just nine interceptions and was second in league MVP voting behind Lamar Jackson. Is it a waste of a mega-deal with superstar CeeDee Lamb if there’s a low-quality quarterback throwing to him? It may or may not matter. The Vikings made a similar move when they let Kirk Cousins go in free agency and made Justin Jefferson the highest-paid receiver in NFL history. Time will tell how Jefferson does this year with Sam Darnold under center.
On the other hand, despite Prescott’s undeniably good regular season stats, he continuously fails to get it done in the postseason. His playoff record is just 2-5 with a 14-to-7 touchdown-to-interception ratio. Do the Cowboys really want to pay $60 million for a playoff flop year after year? Just as things settle with CeeDee, many questions still remain with Dak.