Proposed new CBA puts more pressure on Dallas Cowboys to get Dak Prescott deal done
The proposed new collective bargaining agreement between the NFL and the NFL Players Association appears to be a win for the owners, making it a win for Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.
The owners stand to make billions more in revenue under the new agreement because the season would be lengthened from 16 to 17 games, and each conference would see the addition of one more playoff team. Both factors would be new bargaining chips in the league’s upcoming negotiations with the television networks that are vying to broadcast the highest-rated sport in the country.
All that is needed now is for the players to vote to approve the proposal. If they do so by next week, the new CBA will go into effect for the 2020 season.
The owners voted to approve it on Thursday. The NFLPA reps are voting on Friday to decide whether to take it to their full body for final approval.
But there is one wrinkle for Jones and Cowboys. One of the provisions of the new CBA would only allow for teams to use one franchise tag, a device teams can use to extend service with their current star players.
The Cowboys are trying to structure new deals with two such players, quarterback Dak Prescott and receiver Amari Cooper. Both players are free agents and the team is not close on deals with either of them.
Without the new CBA, the Cowboys had the option of placing the franchise tag on Prescott and the transition tag on Cooper to keep both of them off the free-agent market.
A revised CBA would put more pressure on the Cowboys to get a deal done with one player by March 10, the franchise tag deadline, or risk losing the other one in free agency.
If the Cowboys have to choose, they will place the tag on Prescott. Or they could sign Cooper before March 10 and tag Prescott, but team management has made it clear that getting Prescott re-signed has been their top priority this offseason.
Prescott has already turned down a deal that would have paid him $33 million annually.
A new CBA deal would put more money into the coffers of the owners, and that would almost certainly raise Prescott’s price. It is certainly not going to go down.
So it’s even more pressure for the Cowboys to get a deal with Prescott, as soon as possible.
This story was originally published February 21, 2020 at 9:44 AM.
