'What Then?' Mina Kimes Rips Dallas Cowboys Over Dak Prescott Contract Decision

The Dallas Cowboys and owner Jerry Jones seem content with letting star quarterback Dak Prescott enter free agency after next season.

August 10, 2019; Santa Clara, CA, USA; Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (4) and owner Jerry / Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

I don’t know if Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is religious, but he doesn’t seem concerned with upsetting the football gods.

Dallas has spent the better part of two decades getting exceptional quarterback play without the cost of entry. Dak Prescott was a fourth-round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft and his predecessor Tony Romo wasn’t drafted at all.

In turn, the Cowboys have been competitive, if not a legitimate championship threat, at a much higher rate than the average team. Hitting on two consecutive quarterbacks has a funny way of doing that. Yet, no Super Bowl has been delivered to Dallas, and as Prescott’s extension looms, Jones seems inclined to let his star quarterback walk.

August 10, 2019; Santa Clara, CA, USA; Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (4) and owner Jerry / Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

On “RG3 and the Ones,” Mina Kimes spoke about the contradictory nature of the Cowboys’ offseason and how little sense letting Prescott walk makes.

“We just saw Kirk Cousins, who is turning 36 years old this year, and coming off a torn Achilles, get four years and $180 million for the Atlanta Falcons,” Kimes said. “You don’t think Dak Prescott, who was a top three quarterback by just about every metric last year, isn’t going to get significantly more in free agency?”

“There are people at home screaming ‘Do it in the playoffs,’ and ‘How can you?’ and I understand. But my question for them: What then? Who’s gonna play quarterback?”

This, undoubtedly, is the biggest issue in a Prescott free agency. This isn’t Jordan Love marinating behind Aaron Rodgers (or Rodgers sitting behind Brett Favre). There is no replacement plan, and borderline elite quarterbacks grow on trees.

Willingly entering quarterback purgatory is the route of teams without options and without incumbents that can compete with the bests in the sport. Not for a Cowboys team with Prescott and several other high-level players. No one is more instrumental in making the NFC East competitive year in and year out.

Jones seems fine taking that risk. But he hasn’t been honest about going all in. Teams going all in don’t voluntarily sit out of free agency while letting elite talents like left tackle Tyron Smith out of the building.

“You’re saying, ‘Dak Prescott we’re all in, this is it, he needs to prove himself.’ But we’re gonna make it harder for him, ‘cause we’re not gonna upgrade our team,” Kimes said. “Two offensive linemen are leaving. Our lead running back at the moment is Rico Dowdle. Like, I don’t understand the logic there”

Kimes doesn’t understand the logic here because there isn’t logic to be found. Moving off of Prescott, at this point, with this much talent on the roster, simply isn’t a decision made in the best interest of winning football games.

It isn’t clear if Jones cares about that.