Jesse Holley on Cowboys Attempting to Restructure Dak Prescott "You Dont Have the Leverage"
The Dallas Cowboys are currently near the bottom of the NFL in terms of available cap space. This has led to the team being quiet in terms of acquiring free-agent talent. A huge reason for this messy situation has to do with the contract that QB Dak Prescott has.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and his son Stephen are the proponents of the tricky situation the team is involved in, especially with how they handled Prescott's delayed contract, which will not benefit him more when he heads to free agency.
It's no secret that Prescott could be on his way out after next season, and Jesse Holley discussed why the Cowboys signal caller is unlikely to help the team out on Bleav in The Dallas Cowboys.
"This sits solely on the shoulders of Steven and Jerry Jones. And the reason being because you knew last year, you knew last year that this Dak Prescott situation was coming about... like there was more than enough time for you to sit and negotiate and talk with Todd France...And this is the part of the this is the part where I get a little bit kind of like... what's going on over there?"
via Jesse Holley, Bleav in The Dallas Cowboys
Holley is indicating that though the Jones brothers have often found themselves in situations where they have strong-armed their players into taking certain contracts, they can't do that with Prescott.
He has a no-trade clause and can't be franchise-tagged, which is a result of him having been tagged for two years. Jones did not want to give Prescott his rightful contract, resulting in a far messier situation.
"For some reason, they want to play this negotiating game, right? They want to get to this thing and they want to kind of play this tough man game when you don't have the leverage. So like you like this is not the time or place to play Russian Roulette now with an absolute loaded gun with all the bullets and it's your shot. It's a fully loaded gun and it's your shot. You don't have any leverage because now you're flirting with the fact that if you continue to piss Dak off and his people off, if you haven't already, then Dak goes...'You know what? Screw it. I won't take any deal. I go into this season. I don't restructure this deal. I don't give you a break. I go in and play what I play for and then I walk smoothly into free agency.'"
via Jesse Holley, Bleav in The Dallas Cowboys
Prescott and the Cowboys' relationship has likely soured, which is why they brought in Trey Lance. Should the team fail to reach the Super Bowl again, he will likely move on. However, the way his contract is set up, he does not have to play Jerry Jones' game. He can walk into free agency the easiest way possible.