'Dak Prescott Trade Demand'? Cowboys Fake ESPN Rumor Goes Viral

'Dak Prescott Trade Demand'? Dallas Cowboys Fake Rumor Created by ESPN Goes Viral

FRISCO - Solutions for Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys are coming from everywhere and - now officially - they are going to everywhere.

What do we mean? ESPN's "Get Up" on Wednesday did a segment insisting that Prescott march into "Jerry Jones' office and say, 'Trade me!''

Wait. What? Disappointing as it was, the Cowboys lost a playoff game. Meanwhile, challenging as it is, the Cowboys now face contract negotiations with the star QB.

What does "demanding a trade'' have to do with it?

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The conversation began with a discussion on Prescott's current leverage with the Cowboys, with host Mike Greenberg stating, "No one has ever had the (negotiating) leverage that Dak Prescott has. His cap hit next season is $59 million, and that's the last year of his deal. He has a no franchise tag clause, he has final authority on all trades. Has total control in a way that no football player ever has, including people who are free agents.''

That is factual enough. Greenberg added that Prescott's "market'' is "already set at $59 million.'' That is not factual, but we will forgive him that.

How did the facts morph themselves into the made-up fantasy of a trade demand? There is no indication whatsoever from anybody here inside The Star that "trading Dak'' is a discussion item, and Prescott himself has never suggested any such thing. (And no, goofy tweets from Dak's brother Tad do not count.)

'I Want Dak Out of Dallas!' Brother Reveals He's 'Done with Cowboys Drama!'

The ESPN crew ...

*Conveniently skips over what the compensation would be; we'd suggest that Prescott's price tag, plus what Dallas would want in trade, makes such a move unlikely (even if both parties wanted it.)

*Also seems to fail to understand that extending Prescott - and never allowing the $59 million cap hit to happen, which it will not if the new deal is done by the start of the NFL business year in March - was always folded into the plan.

*Leaves out the part about who would take over at quarterback to help ensure this perennial playoff team stays that way.

The panelists even created an imaginary destination for Prescott in this unimaginable trade, with Jeff Saturday blurting out, "The Atlanta Falcons! Go in there (to Jerry's office) with the papers today!''

But the fake destination is not the important part. The fake "report'' that conjures up in the minds of ESPN views a coming "Dak Prescott trade demand''?That's the important part.


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Mike Fisher
MIKE FISHER

Mike Fisher - as a newspaper beat writer and columnist and on radio and TV, where he is an Emmy winner - has covered the NFL since 1983 and the Dallas Cowboys since 1990, is the author of two best-selling books on the Cowboys.