The Dallas Cowboys haven’t made any NFL news this offseason for spending money. Now, after months of watching other teams sign their top players to historic contract extensions, things still don’t seem to be going well with Dak Prescott contract talks.
Dallas put itself in this situation. When it last extended Prescott’s contract, following two consecutive franchise tags, it structured the deal to give its quarterback all the leverage in negotiations. Prescott not only has a no-trade clause and a no-tag clause, but he counts against the Cowboys cap space next year regardless of what happens now.
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- Dak Prescott contract (Spotrac): $55.455 million cap hit in 2024, NFL free agent in 2025
The Cowboys’ quarterback already has a $55.132 million cap hit in 2024, which limited what the team could spend to improve the roster this offseason. Dallas could’ve worked around that by signing him to a long-term extension thus spreading out his cap hit, but negotiations have never seemed to be a top priority.
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Already unable to trade Prescott without his permission, Dallas also has no path to prevent him from hitting NFL free agency in 2025. No quarterback of his caliber has hit the open market in the era of NFL revenue exploding and there’s growing belief that Prescott could land $60-plus million annually in free agency.
As for negotiations between the two sides, even after seeing Jordan Love and Tua Tagovailoa become two of the highest-paid NFL players, talks don’t seem to be going well.
During an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter said that the Cowboys simply haven’t been willing to meet the asking price it would cost to extend Prescott
- Dak Prescott stats (ESPN): 12-5 record, 105.9 QB rating, 69.5 percent completion rate, 36-9 TD-INT, 4,516 passing yards, 6.1 percent touchdown rate, 7.7 yards per attempt
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As Schefter pointed out, Dallas created the very situation it doesn’t want to deal with. While Jerry Jones and the Cowboys front office are uncomfortable making Prescott the highest-paid player in NFL history, the very deal they gave Prescott a few years ago put them in this situation.
Dallas can certainly let Prescott walk next offseason and reset its roster, finding a new quarterback and building from there. However, Prescott will still be on the books for a $40-plus million cap hit in 2025 and the Cowboys will be in quarterback purgatory. It would seemingly be the worst-case scenario for a franchise that is approaching a 30-year Super Bowl drought.
