It took time but there was never going to be a Dallas Cowboys future sans Dak Prescott
From the moment a giddy Stephen Jones promised following the 2016 season that the Dallas Cowboys were going to one day make then-rookie sensation quarterback Dak Prescott the highest-paid player in NFL history, Wednesday’s press conference at The Star in Frisco was inevitable.
There was some haranguing and hand-wringing. Tough negotiations. Questions on how to make it work financially.
Prescott had to deal with some personal tragedies, including the death of his brother Jace, and a gruesome fractured ankle.
But that idea that Prescott would one day sign a new contract with the Cowboys to remain the biggest star on the team was never in doubt to the people who mattered most. And it was most evident by the wide smiles on faces of the former fourth-round pick, team vice president Stephen Jones and, most importantly, team owner Jerry Jones.
The elder Jones, who equated the thought of going forward without Prescott to life without his son Stephen, said the sight of them officially consummating a four-year, $160 million contract, the second-richest in NFL history and the most ever for a Cowboys player, put everything in perspective.
“Today says it all,” he said. “This says it all right here today. Injury, concern about rehab, what Dak is or isn’t. This says it all. Now this is putting it where your words are.”
Jones called it a watershed moment for the Cowboys in their quest to win the Super Bowl for the first time since 1995.
For Prescott it was a testament of his faith being rewarded. He grew up a Cowboys fan in Haughton, Louisiana, and realized a childhood dream when he was drafted in the fourth round in 2016.
Continuing his career with the Cowboys was his only goal as he battled the ups and downs of negotiations over the last three years, depression as well as the death of his brother last spring and then sustaining a fractured ankle five weeks into the 2020 season. Many wondered if this day would ever come.
“Anybody that knows me, anybodyknows the way I approach life is to control the things I can control, manifest my beliefs, have faith in that and wait for the results to happen,” Prescott said. “This deal was no different. As Mr. Jones says, this is the right fit. Never in a million years did I imagine not being a Cowboy once I put on this uniform and put on this star. There was never a slack doubt in my mind that I wouldn’t wear the star for the rest of my life. I’m excited for that. I’m excited to be here, to never leave, and excited for what this organization, what this team, what the fans are going to get.
“This is only the beginning,” he continued. ”Just so much excitement to give everything that they invested in and that’s a Super Bowl, and that’s to go win. ... Obviously, that’s my plan — get a parade in Dallas.”
Winning the Super Bowl is the goal and Prescott understands inherent pressures and expectations that now come along with the massive contract.
In five seasons, he has a career record of 42-27 and has led the Cowboys to two NFC East titles, two trips to the playoffs and one playoff victory.
That won’t be good enough moving forward. But Prescott welcomes the challenge.
“Pressure is privilege. And I am privileged to have it,” he said. “I am privileged that this organization believes in me. They put their faith in me. My expectations in myself are higher than anybody else’s out there. All this contract does is raise those expectations for everyone else. I think higher expectations create higher results. I am all for it. I am excited. It’s a privilege to have this pressure.”
Prescott’s biggest focus is getting healthy and being ready for the 2021 season.
By all accounts, he is ahead of schedule in his recovery from a compound fracture and dislocation of his right ankle. He is walking without a boot, running and working out every day.
“When I first got hurt, the one thing I said I wasn’t going to do was put a time point on it because there were so many different variables and things that could come up,” Prescott said. “I am ready and I am getting close. I feel good. You saw me walk out here. I can do a lot of things I couldn’t do weeks ago, or even days ago, that I am doing today. I will be ready when it matters. I will be more than healthy and better than I was before.”
The only apparent pain on Wednesday was the damage to the Cowboys’ bank account. But you wouldn’t know it by smiles on Jones’ faces.
Certainly, the Cowboys ultimately paid more to Prescott than they thought they would when Stephen Jones made the initial proclamation following the 2016 season.
The escalating quarterback market combined with the loss of revenue from the COVID-19 pandemic made the negotiations more challenging over the last year since Prescott turned down a five-year deal for roughly $35 million annually. He wound up playing the 2020 seasonon the franchise tag of $31.4 million.
“We knew we were going to do the deal,” Stephen Jones said. “There’s so much unknown out there in the quarterback market right now and you want to get this right. We knew it was going to be the biggest deal ever done in the history of the organization and we had to get it right. And I’m convinced we did. We did it with the right guy. And I know we’re going to be successful.”
In the end, the Cowboys were able to do a deal that made Prescott happy and allowed them to get room under the salary camp to continue to build a team around him.
The Cowboys continued the process on Wednesday by restructuring the contracts of tackles Tyron Smith and La’el Collins and guard Zack Martin to create $17 million in cap room that they can use when free agency begins March 17.
That Jerry Jones is helping the NFL negotiate new television deals with the networks gave him a better understanding of the finances of the league, thus freeing concerns about cap flexibility in the future.
But there was never a future without Prescott.
“It’s not as simple as Dak wins or Jerry wins,” Jerry Jones said. “The Cowboys win. Let me tell you one thing: The Cowboys won today. They won today. And I’m excited about this future. And that’s what we’re all interested in — the future.”
