Dak Prescott Future: Cut, Trade Or Pay? Contract Looms as Cowboys' Big Offseason Issue

Dak Prescott Future: Cut, Trade Or Pay? Contract Looms as Dallas Cowboys' Biggest Offseason Issue

FRISCO - As the dust settles on whatever fans witnessed at AT&T Stadium as the Dallas Cowboys were forced to submit to the Green Bay Packers in a 48-32 playoff loss, attention now turns to the offseason.

Mike McCarthy's job security is now up in the air, and all must be evaluated.

But the biggest decisions looming is what Dallas does with Dak Prescott.

To put it in the most simple terms: Cut him? Trade him? Keep him?

Given Dak's contract, which is set to have a $59.4 million cap hit next season, an extension is likely on its way before the start of the March 13, 2024 business year. That's always been the plan.

But some Cowboys fans cringe at the idea after what Prescott dished up against the Packers. And maybe the Jones family cringes just a little bit, too, even after Dak's MVP-level regular season.

There are two reasons - or at least there were before Sunday - for the contract extension. One is that the $59 mil cap hit is untenable; Dallas would struggle in 2024 to build a roster if left untouched, and being able to re-sign other players (especially CeeDee Lamb and Micah Parsons) would be almost impossible.

SO, THE OPTIONS ...

1- Stick with the original extension plan, maybe with a wrinkle. Continue to bank on Dak. Be prepared to make him maybe the highest-paid player in NFL history, maybe at $60 million APY. He'll be a "Cowboy for Life'' on a long-term deal. And you live with it.

The "wrinkle''? Can you persuade the player to take less, both to help the cap and as a bow to the fact that he's not "the best player in NFL history''?

2- Cut or trade him after June 1. That date alleviates just a bit the cap ramifications. But the $59 million piper must be paid. Move on from Prescott and you "save'' $34 million and you "gain'' about $9 million of room in 2024. 

That point is much-ballyhooed. But it leaves out the other shoe to drop: The add-up equals $25.5 million in dead money in '24 and another $36.5 million dead in '25.

Do you want to get rid of Dak so desperately that you want to pay the cap $35.5 million two years from now just to escape him?

Another issue on the trade notion: If you don't want his $59 million baggage, why does another team want it? And why would they give you anything of value back for the privilege of taking it on?

Oh, and if Dak is moved on? You hand the keys to Cooper Rush or Trey Lance. Can the Cowboys win that way?

3- Don't worry about winning in 2024. Keep Dak. Eat it. Start over. Could you really do this? It would be messy in an unprecedented way. But you could.

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Stand pat. The salary stays the same. No extension. The cap doesn't spread to 2025; it is absorbed fully in 2024. Prescott remains the QB - a lame-duck leader - on a roster that won't have much added to it. 

The locker room will likely be a disaster. And the on-field product will likely be a disappointment. And then after 2024, Prescott is free to leave ... Dallas maybe has a high NFL Draft pick ... and the massive rebuild begins.

Taking all of this into account, you can see why Jerry Jones is likely to stick with Option 1, with a wrinkle. But the Cowboys can see why you, at this moment, aren't going to be very enthused by that likely coming transaction.