'Wait' on Dak Prescott Contract: Cowboys Commitment Changed to 'Prove It'?
NEW YORK CITY - It's a good time to be a star quarterback in the NFL.
This offseason alone, four quarterbacks have signed market-resetting extensions with their current teams. The most recent to do so was Cincinnati Bengals star Joe Burrow, who inked a five-year deal worth $275 million on Thursday night to become the highest-paid player in NFL history, at least in terms of annual salary.
Now that Burrow has reset the market yet again, the attention has shifted to which quarterback could be next. One candidate to do so is Dallas Cowboys signal-caller Dak Prescott, who is set to become a free agent after the 2024 season.
For now, though, Cowboys CEO Stephen Jones is in no rush to get a deal done right away. ... and the comments from the Joneses this week cause some to wonder if Dallas is considering delaying negotiations to instead take a "wait-and-see'' approach to Prescott's worthiness of a Burrow-sized deal.
“If you wait one more year, and then the key for us is just going to be spreading out how we pay Dak," Jones said on 105.3 The Fan. "Most of these guys have some long-term type deals, five-plus years. I think if we can do that it’ll not only be advantageous for the team as a whole, but advantageous for Dak so we can continue to put the type of players, give him the offensive linemen he needs to protect him, give him the weapons he needs to move the football and certainly have a defense that can get the ball back for him."
In a separate interview with 105.3 The Fan, owner Jerry Jones said that in order to sign Prescott to an extension now, the Cowboys would have to make undesirable changes elsewhere on the roster.
“You’d have to cut four players right now to do that, and no, I’m going to use those players to win now,” Jones said.
To be frank, we're not sure that's true at all. ... depending of course on what Dak's new salary would be.
The Cowboys have already been quite busy with contracts this offseason, signing safety Malik Hooker, cornerback Trevon Diggs and offensive tackle Terrence Steele to multi-year extensions. With other key players such as Prescott, linebacker Micah Parsons and receiver CeeDee Lamb due for new contracts soon, Dallas still has plenty of work to do.
That said, the salary cap presents many challenges for the Cowboys. They're already up against next year's cap with less than $1 million remaining, and have significant money invested beyond that as well. Even if new extensions lower cap hits in the short term, something will likely have to give in the long term.
That "give'' logically comes in the form of a Dak extension, intended not just to pay him more overall, but also - and more importantly - to reduce the burden of his present 2024 cap impact, which is an untenable $59 million.
So ... "wait and see''? If the Cowboys truly believe in Prescott and what is to be accomplished with him as a centerpiece, that strategy will surely cost them more money in the long term. And if he fails in 2023 ... what? They make him a pricy lame duck in 2024 while launching a search for a replacement.
It's a bold strategy, and maybe even a backwards one; if they're so confident in Prescott, why not lock it down as soon as possible?
The good news on "wait and see'': Dallas has until the start of the 2024 business year (in March) to carve out a new deal that makes the cap fit. So a "lack of urgency'' is understandable in that regard.
So for the moment, even though we still believe we could all roll out of bed tomorrow and hear that a Dak deal is done, Prescott and the Cowboys appear to be focused on giving it their all this season. ... and maybe waiting to see how 'deserving'' Dak is of going the others with recent new monster deals.
