Cowboys Should Trade Dak Prescott For Top NFL Draft Pick? OK - Who Wants Him?

Dallas Cowboys Should Trade Dak Prescott For Top NFL Draft Pick? Analyst Misses Key Point - Who Wants Him?

FRISCO - It is, in a vacuum, a fine idea. If the Dallas Cowboys judge Dak Prescott to be a good but not great quarterback and therefore don't want to pay him $60 million a year, they should trade him.

That is the position of FS1's Nick Wright, who is trying to to explain his reasoning on "First Things First" this week.

"I don't believe after this postseason performance, once again, that Dak Prescott is enough to carry a team,'' Wright said. "And at $60 million per year for the rest of his prime, that's what he'd have to do."

An acceptable position. It's understandable for someone to think Dak's "not the guy.'' And for someone to think he "can't carry a team.'' And for someone to think he's not worth "$60 million a year.''

So - with conventional wisdom being the Cowboys will sign Prescott to an extension in order to lower his massive $59 million cap hit for the 2024 season and spread that money out - what to do?

"I would, if I were the Dallas Cowboys, call teams like Washington with the No. 2 pick, New England with the No. 3 pick, Atlanta with the No. 8 pick, and see if they'd like to be the team that pays Dak Prescott," Wright said. 

Again, acceptable. Say goodbye to Prescott, who was MVP-level-outstanding in the regular season for the Cowboys, throwing for 4,516 yards and 36 touchdowns? We get it.

And then, with that No. 2 or No. 3 or No. 8 pick? Draft Jayden Daniels of LSU or Bo Nix of Oregon or J.J. McCarthy of Michigan or Michael Penix of Washington or Caleb Williams of USC or Jordan Travis of Florida State or Drake Maye of North Carolina! Brilliant!

Dak Future: Cut, Trade Or Pay?

And get a load of this: If you traded Dak for, say, pick No. 8 and grabbed a QB? That guy's entire four-year salary totals $22 million! You get him for one-tenth the price of Dak!

The Cowboys should try to trade Dak Prescott for Draft picks, says @getnickwright:

"I don't believe after this postseason performance, once again, that Dak Prescott is enough to carry a team." pic.twitter.com/A1ZzIOS7FB

— First Things First (@FTFonFS1) January 18, 2024

So ... let's do it! But wait. Besides the salary cap ramifications of doing so (Dallas would not escape that $59 million cap-hit hole), there is another problem.

If the Cowboys would prefer, say, Caleb Williams making $5.5 million APY as the starting QB instead of Dak Prescott making $60 million APY as the starting QB .. Why wouldn't Atlanta prefer the same thing?

If this trade is a dump-Dak win for Dallas, it's a Prescott-penalty loss for the other team. So why would the other team ever agree to do this?