Dallas Cowboys and Dak Prescott were unable to reach a long-term deal by Wednesday’s deadline, which means the quarterback will play the 2020 NFL season on the franchise tag exclusive of $ 31.4 million.
Prescott joins 11 other NFL players who will play on the franchise label in 2020, including AJ Green of Cincinnati, Justin Simmons of Denver, Yannick Ngakoue of Jacksonville, Joe Thuney of New England, Brandon Scherff of Washington, Hunter Henry of Chargers, Bud Dupree of Pittsburgh, New York Leonard Williams of the Giants, Anthony Harris of Minnesota, Matthew Judon of Baltimore and Shaquil Barrett of Tampa Bay.
A source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter that Derrick Henry of Tennessee had signed a $ 50 million, four-year deal with the Titans, including $ 25.5 million guaranteed – the only player in the franchise to accept a deal long term Wednesday. On Tuesday, Chris Jones of the Chiefs accepted a four-year contract.
Green and Ngakoue were the only players who had not signed their franchise offers.
Wednesday’s deadline did not apply to Kenyan Drake of Arizona, who was the only player named under the transition tag. He is authorized to negotiate with the Cardinals throughout the season.
Since the franchise tag was introduced in 1993, the largest number of players to play a full season under the tag is nine (in 2009 and 2012), according to ESPN Stats & Information.
The Cowboys organization and Prescott agent Todd France opened negotiations for a multi-year deal in the spring of 2019, but were unable to close the gap to ensure the Cowboys have their quarterback in place beyond 2020.
The parties have had no substantive negotiations since March, when sources said the Cowboys have made an offer worth $ 34.5 million annually, which would have been the second highest average for a quarterback behind the Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, and a warranty at par. with the $ 110 million donated to Los Angeles Rams quarterback Jared Goff.
Prescott guaranteed on June 22 that he would be at the start of training camp when the tender was signed. But even as the deadline approached this week, there was no additional sense of urgency to reach an agreement with the two sides locked in their positions. The Cowboys wanted Prescott to sign a contract of at least five years, while France responded with four-year deals.
Prescott’s brother Tad posted on Twitter after Wednesday’s deadline.
There is a reason why I have never been a fan of @dallascowboys growing up or before writing @dak after today, who knows how long I will be cheering them on.
– Tad Prescott (@ 86Prescott) July 15, 2020
And now that leaves open the possibility of Prescott leaving after this season or the 2021 season if the Cowboys use the franchise label again next year. Under franchise label rules, the Cowboys and France cannot resume multi-year discussions until the 2020 season. If the Cowboys were to put the label on Prescott again next season, it would cost nearly $ 38 million. .
The coronavirus pandemic exacerbates the problems, as the league’s salary cap for 2021 may remain stable or even drop, which could lead the Cowboys to cut players or restructure contracts if they sought to label Prescott for the second time.
Since the franchise label system was put in place, only two quarters have played on the label all season. Washington used it twice on Kirk Cousins (2016 and 2017), but never made an offer to Cousins in the stadium of what the Cowboys offered Prescott. In 2005, Drew Brees played on the label for the San Diego Chargers, but the Chargers had Philip Rivers, their 2004 first round pick, waiting to take over.
In 2018, the Vikings signed Cousins for a three-year, fully guaranteed contract worth $ 84 million as he maximized his earning potential in the meantime.
Prescott, 26, could follow a similar path. He is the first quarterback to be scored by the Cowboys, and Prescott will only be the fourth to play under the label, joining Flozell Adams (2002), Anthony Spencer (2012 and 2013) and DeMarcus Lawrence (2018).
Adams and Lawrence signed long-term agreements the year after being labeled.
At the start of the 2019 season, the Cowboys thought they were approaching an extension with Prescott who would have placed him between the quarterback of the Eagles Carson Wentz ($ 32 million) and Goff ($ 33.5 million) – others 2016 draft picks – in terms of average per year and a guarantee of nearly $ 100 million.
Prescott chose to wait and had his best statistical season with career highs passing yards (4,902) and touchdown passes (30) in 2019. In his first three seasons, he hadn’t thrown over 3,885 yards or 23 touchdown passes.
He will prepare for his first season under new coach Mike McCarthy, who fine-tuned the offense but kept the same game player in offensive coordinator Kellen Moore. Prescott did not participate in the virtual offseason program, but had some communication with staff to familiarize themselves with the terminology somewhat.
In the past 16 months, the Cowboys have signed lucrative extensions with Lawrence ($ 105 million), Amari Cooper ($ 100 million), Ezekiel Elliott ($ 90 million), Jaylon Smith ($ 64 million) and La’el Collins ($ 50 million). tried to negotiate a lucrative deal with Prescott.
Although the $ 31.4 million under the Prescott label in 2020 was the biggest salary in the history of the Cowboys team, it was not what the two sides wanted through repeated expressions of the desire to obtain a long-term agreement. Now they have to wait until 2021.
Green and the Bengals were unable to reach an agreement before Wednesday’s deadline, and the veteran catcher is expected to play the 2020 season with a one-year contract worth $ 17.9 million.
Before the pandemic even exhausted the arsenals of cash around the league, Green and the Bengals tended to strike a short-term deal.
The seven-time Pro Bowl player has not completed three of the past four seasons due to injuries. In 2019, Green did not play a single snap after tearing several ligaments in his left ankle during the first practice of the preseason. Going back to the 2018 season, Green has missed 23 of the last 24 games.
However, when he was in good health, Green was one of the most productive players in the NFL. Since entering the league in 2011 until 2018, Green ranked fourth in total yards with 8,907, according to ESPN Stats & Information. The 2011 first-round pick was a key weapon for a franchise that played five consecutive playoffs from 2011 to 2015.
ESPN’s Ben Baby contributed to this report.
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