Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys are set to open up the regular season against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.
Could this potentially be the final season opener Prescott starts for the Cowboys? It’s more than possible. The two sides have been engaged in contract extension negotiations for well over the past calendar year. But nothing has come to fruition on this end.
Prescott, 31, is set to hit free agency next March. Dallas does not have the ability to place the franchise tag on the reigning NFL MVP runner-up.
We now have a pretty major update on where things stand between the two sides at this late point.
“The holdup at this point from what I understand is about the years the Dallas Cowboys are willing to commit to,” Dianna Russini of The Athletic reported on Tuesday.
At 31, it stands to reason that Prescott wants a five-year contract with more guaranteed cash. Pure conjecture here. But Dallas could very well be offering up a mere four-year deal.
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Things have certainly been contentious between Prescott and the Cowboys. That includes the veteran signal caller recently calling out owner Jerry Jones.
“I stopped, honestly, listening to things (Jerry Jones) says to the media a long time ago. It doesn’t really hold weight with me,” Prescott said in late August.
As for Jones, he does not seem to be in a hurry to get something done on this front.
“I quit a long time ago getting bent out of shape about having anybody under contract or not. There are all kinds of things other than a contract that could change the outcome of him being under contract: injury, level of play,” Jones said. “So you can’t just pick that and say that should give you a better feeling about our team or me a better feeling. The whole thing has a lot of moving parts. Now, I can live with that … because we play a game that it can change on the next play.”
Given how the quarterback market has played out around the NFL, Prescott is likely looking at north of $60 million per season on a new contract.
Whether he receives that from the Cowboys or another team remains to be seen. For now, Prescott and his ‘Boys enter the 2024 season with a ton of pressure on them after recent playoff failures.
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