'Perfect' Dak Is Owed 'Back-Pay' By 'Stealing' Cowboys - Irvin

'Perfect' QB Dak Prescott Is Owed 'Back-Pay' By 'Stealing' Cowboys, Says Hyperbolic Observer Michael Irvin

FRISCO - The Dallas Cowboys "owe back-pay'' to Dak Prescott after they "stole four years'' from him, says Cowboys icon Michael Irvin - who, it should be explained, is talking here with both passion and hyperbole about two of his favorites.

"Dak has been ... perfect,'' Irvin said in a Rich Eisen interview. "Not necessarily in wins and losses, of course. But I'm talking about just the person that he's been. The kind of investment you want to make, the kind of guy you say, 'Yeah, we hit it with this guy. We got him in the fourth round.' You stole four years, so whatever he gets he deserves because you still owe him back pay."

The "perfect'' remark requires context, and that context is easy to figure out. Prescott has one of the most high-profile and demanding jobs in all of sports, and he's rarely stumbled in words or actions - or in win/loss totals.

The "stole four years'' remark requires context, too - and that context is more challenging to the Cowboys watcher who might not understand Irvin's colorful and passionate (and again, hyperbolic) presentation style.

Irvin's point is: Prescott - franchise-tagged and presently embroiled in contract negotiations that will pay him either $31.409 million (for one year) or land him a new long-term deal (Dallas is presently offering a five-year contract at $35 million APY, with Prescott's side preferring a shorter four-year agreement) - has been a bargain to the Cowboys due to his unlikely stature as a 2016 fourth-round pick who exploded onto the scene as a starter ... who has made only $3 million in his actual contract total from 2016-2019.

There's no literal "back-pay'' here. There's no literal "owed,'' either. There is, in one sense, some "wasted'' time, because Dallas has for four seasons not had to overpay a QB to be competitive ... and yet hasn't been competitive enough.

The literal part? What Irvin continues to predict is coming.

"Dak has done everything, and he has won," Irvin said. "He has won a lot of football games in his first four years. So to say he doesn't deserve the money isn't totally correct. He does deserve the money ... But usually those kinds of deals .. will get done as soon as the slipper falls off Cinderella, 12:01, something will get done.''

Again, Irvin is being colorful and figurative. The calendar isn't about midnight. It's about July 15. And "Cinderella'' Prescott is likely to then get what he's "owed'' - for years going forward.