The Dallas Cowboys and Dak Prescott have yet to agree on a long-term contract extension, setting up the veteran quarterback to play the 2024 season on the final year of his current deal with the team.
And that could have the Cowboys taking a longer look at the available options at April’s draft.
“What are they going to do at quarterback if they lose Dak? That’s interesting. And that’s why I think the Cowboys might be a sleeper team in the quarterback market during the draft,” ESPN’s Adam Schefter said during Tuesday’s episode of NFL Live (7:22 mark). “Because at some point in time, they might have to draft a quarterback. Higher than you think, because Dak is going into the last year of the contract, and it might be time to get someone in there to start grooming him.”
Because of various restructures, the Cowboys essentially have until March 12, 2025 to sign Prescott to an extension. Otherwise, he’ll count for at least $40.4 million against the team’s cap, per ESPN’s Todd Archerall while also being a free agent.
Even signing him to an extension guarantees he’ll cost more than $25 million against the team’s 2025 cap sheet because of those restructures, and likely well over that number depending on what the team pays him in base salary and bonus money.
It’s also hard to imagine the Cowboys—with a talented core that includes Micah Parsons, CeeDee Lamb and cornerbacks Trevon Diggs and DaRon Bland—want to start over with either a rookie quarterback or the second-rate options that generally fall between the cracks in free agency.
That’s the gamble the Cowboys will be taking by playing hardball with Prescott—the potential to lose him next season while still being stuck with a huge cap charge.
The risk Prescott is taking is that a strong quarterback class at this year’s draft may leave fewer teams in need of an upgrade next year at the position, narrowing his potential market.
Granted, Kirk Cousins—a good quarterback, but one who is five years older than Prescott and coming off a torn Achilles—still cashed in this offseason to the tune of a four-year, $180 million deal. But Prescott may have to sacrifice playing on more of a rebuilding team, rather than a contender, to get that sort of financial windfall.
The best bet for both sides remains a reunion, especially with Cooper Rush and Trey Lance already in the quarterback room. If the Cowboys feel like Lance—who cost the team a 2024 fourth-round pick in a trade with the San Francisco 49ers last year—has some untapped potential they can develop, there won’t be any need to use a draft pick on quarterback, especially since the team essentially sat out free agency and has plenty of needs elsewhere on the roster.
It’s hard to know what the Cowboys feel about Lance. But it’s all a moot point if Prescott signs a long-term extension.
2024-04-10 00:18:46
#Cowboys #Sleeper #NFL #Draft #Market #Dak #Prescott #Contract #Talks
