ESPN panelist: Dak Prescott mirrors Tony Romo; will get paid

The Dallas Cowboys painted themselves in a corner with Dak Prescott who is in danger of being painted with the same brush as Tony Romo.

Randy Gurzi | Jun 23, 2024

Dallas Cowboys, Dak Prescott / Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

In this story:

Dallas Cowboys | News, Scores, Schedules & Standings

Tony Romo is the all-time passing yardage leader in Dallas Cowboys history, but most fans don't think of that when his name gets mentioned. Instead, they think of the losses in the playoffs that led to one broken heart after another.

Romo led Dallas to an impressive 78-49 regular-season record but was just 2-4 in the playoffs. Now, eight years into the Dak Prescott era, we see very little has changed.

Prescott, who is in the midst of contract negotiations, has led Dallas to a 73-41 regular-season record. He's made the playoffs one more time than Romo but is 2-5. That's why it makes sense that Tim Cowlishaw of the Dallas Morning News said Prescott's career oddly resembles Romo's while appearing on The Rich Eisen Show.

Cowlishaw said both were in the top 10 most of the time and could often push themselves into the top six or seven. The one caveat was that neither could get it done in the playoffs, and that continues to hang over Prescott's head.

For what it's worth, Cowlishaw believes Prescott will get a new deal and that half the fans will love it while half will hate it. Rich Eisen agreed that Prescott will get the cash, but that raised another question — why does this front office wait so long to get contracts done?

Why haven't the Cowboys signed Dak Prescott?

Dallas allowed Jared Goff and Trevor Lawrence to reset the market this offseason at the quarterback position. The minimum is now $55 million since there's no way Prescott takes less than Lawrence. The same will be true for CeeDee Lamb, who just watched Justin Jefferson haul in $140 million over four years.

More: Cowboys HC Mike McCarthy reportedly getting 'fed up' with Jerry Jones

Eisen asked Cowlishaw, who has covered the team for more than 25 years, if he had any idea why they continue to get behind the eight-ball with contracts, and he had "None, absolutely none."

He shared that the Jones family's stated objective has been that "they don't want to set the market." He added that this has led to them allowing "the market to run over" them. The ESPN panelist says Lamb and Prescott will now cost a minimum of $85 million thanks to their refusal to set the market themselves.

That will crush them when Micah Parsons gets to the bargaining table.

— Enjoy free coverage of the Cowboys from Dallas Cowboys on SI —