Dak Prescott wants to remain a Dallas Cowboy until he’s done throwing the football
Everybody in the Metroplex, relax. Dak Prescott wants to remain a Cowboy for life.
Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys didn’t get a long-term deal done in the offseason as they hoped, forcing him to play the 2020 season on the one-year franchise tag of $31.4 million.
That’s not a catastrophe, but it does set up the possible pathway for the star quarterback to leave as a free agent in 2021 or 2022. Those are the simple economics of the NFL. It’s just the reality of the game.
But that’s not the plan, hope or dream of either the team or Prescott.
“Business is business, and once I’m in the locker room and part of what’s going on now, I don’t focus too much about the future,” Prescott said Wednesday in his first press conference with the media since boycotting the offseason program over his contract dispute. “It’s more about today. So with that being said, I’m excited to be a Dallas Cowboy. I’ve been a fan of this organization. I’ve been a fan of this program for years. I love every bit of the opportunity and the platform that I get to be the quarterback here. I love this team. I’m excited about what we can do and accomplish this year. No frustration as far as that. Once again, I believe something will get done, and I also believe I’ll be a Dallas Cowboy for the rest of my career.”
Because the Cowboys and Prescott didn’t get a contract extension done before July 15, the two sides can’t resume negotiations until after the 2020 season.
The two sides didn’t get a deal done largely because they couldn’t agree on contract length, among other things. The Cowboys wanted to do a five-year deal or longer and Prescott and his agent Todd France were focused on four years.
Team owner Jerry Jones said his thoughts on having Prescott as the team’s franchise quarterback haven’t changed, but he did acknowledge the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and expected financial losses in 2020 played a role in the contract impasse.
“Dak is outstanding,” Jones said. “We think he’s outstanding. We think he’s our quarterback of the future. We just couldn’t get together at this particular time. One of the biggest reasons is the backdrop of COVID. One of the biggest reasons is the economic issue. Frankly, we all know that what we were talking about in Dak’s case is the next year and the next year and the next year and the next year. So all of that came to bear, and this was just [a] less than stable time to be talking about serious, serious — generational if you will, to use Dak’s term — dollars in an unknown period of time looking forward. That certainly was one of the issues.”
It must be noted that the Kansas City Chiefs found a way to sign Super Bowl MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes to a 10-year contract extension worth more than $477 million.
And the economic impact of COVID-19 will be an issue going forward as well.
If the two sides can’t get a deal done after the season, the franchise tag for 2021 is $37.7 million. According to Spotrac, the Cowboys are already over the expected salary cap of $175 million, which is $23 million lower than 2020 because of the COVID-19 losses.
Prescott, however, believes a deal will get done and so does team vice president Stephen Jones.
“He’s so fired up about our team and about our future,” Stephen Jones said. “Ultimately now, we’re going to have to figure out how to get this done. I’m more convinced than ever it will get done, but because of the moving parts we were dealing with — with the virus and some of the other deals, which were not down the middle in terms of being normal — it just made for some challenges.”
Prescott is now one of three quarterbacks who were forced to play on the franchise tag, including former Washington Football Team quarterback Kirk Cousins and former San Diego Chargers quarterback Drew Brees. Neither re-signed with their respective teams. Brees signed with New Orleans Saints as a free agent the following season and Cousins signed with the Minnesota Vikings after two seasons on the franchise tag.
In 2016, Prescott realized a childhood dream when he was drafted by the Cowboys, and wound up taking over the starting quarterback job as a rookie. He has started every game since and has no plans of ever playing anywhere else.
“I grew up wanting to be a Dallas Cowboy and I am, and I’ve got dreams of being a Dallas Cowboy until I’m done throwing the football,” Prescott said. “None of that’s going to change just because we couldn’t reach an agreement there for this season. But as I said, I’m a Cowboy right now and that’s all that matters, and that’s my whole focus.”
This story was originally published August 12, 2020 at 6:15 PM.
