Why does owner Jerry Jones say QB Dak Prescott controls his own Dallas Cowboys future?
It was a simple question to owner Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones that came with a complicated and seemingly convoluted answer.
With Dak Prescott heading into the last year of his contract and Jones seemingly not close to signing him to a contract extension, have the Cowboys considered that this might be the quarterback’s last season in a Dallas uniform?
Prescott, coming off a career-best season in which he led the NFL with 36 touchdown passes and finished second in NFL MVP balloting, is looking for a deal could approach $60 million annually, making him the highest paid player in NFL history.
He is in the unique position of getting his demands met by the Cowboys or in free agency after the season.
“I don’t think so. Just to be very specific. I do not think that this will be his last year with the Cowboys at all,” Jones said, beginning what turned out to be three-minute soliloquy. “Am I being psychotic relative to my mirror. No, no. It’s pretty clear. I think I want to say it if it hadn’t been clear of how much we appreciate what Dak Prescott has meant to this team in a positive way. And the players do play better when he’s out there. He does make his teammates play at a higher level. There’s no question about it. So I’m right there in line with his best with his best fans.”
That’s when Jones began speaking out of both sides of his mouth.
“But believe it or not in my life, I’ve had a lot of things I wanted that I couldn’t get because I couldn’t afford it,” Jones continued. “Now have I learned to live with that in 80 something years? You better have. And sometimes when you get a bump like that you turn around and do better than you would have had you got what you wanted. You would have never known it had you not had to go to get there. There’s been some of my life with the Dallas Cowboys that that’s reflected. That had gotten what I was sick about and ready to jump that I didn’t get. Had I gotten it it wouldn’t have turned out as positive as it’s turned out. . .The point I’m trying to make is there is nothing new about not having these questions answered that you reflect and we’ve reflected in this off season. And yes, I have gone in with my wish list fully completed and I’ve been a part with the Cowboys and been a part of it in the other parts of my life.”
The facts are that Jones has never really lost a player in free agency, a franchise player, that he really wanted to keep.
But he acknowledges the Prescott situation is pretty much out of his control. Prescott has a no-trade clause and no franchise-tag clause in the four-year, $160 million deal he signed in 2021.
He had a $55.4 million cap hit in 2024, a reason why the Cowboys need to get an extension done, and salary-cap constructing dead cap number in 2025 if he is not on the team.
Complicating matters are the situations with receiver CeeDee Lamb, who is currently holding out of a new deal, and edge rusher Micah Parsons, who will be looking for a new deal next offseason.
Both have their eyes set on being the highest paid non-quarterback in the NFL.
If Jones appears to be talking out of both sides of his mouth, it’s because he is.
“Exactly, exactly. And Dak very artfully has positioned himself to where he makes the call,” Jones said. “And you have to, at the end of the day we’ll have to live with that.”
Jones, a veteran of thousands of business deals, is not feeling sorry for himself. It’s just the reality of the situation.
It’s also little bit of negotiating in the press.
Now, contrast Prescott’s laid-back and care-free demeanor to the situation.
He knows he is in the catbird’s seat.
A photo of him dancing on social media at former teammate Tyron Smith’s wedding portrayed as much. He said he was feeling himself as he did the hip-hop Dougie dance and rolled phantom dice in hands.
Prescott has always bet on himself. He did that the first time during a protracted contract situation.
And as a player, who has dealt with the death of his mom to cancer, a brother to suicide, and has himself battled depression and criticism. And no, as a new dad, who is coming off the best season of his career, his mind is free.
He is focused on continuing to get better, improving on last season and helping the Cowboys finally breakthrough in the playoffs this season. He wants to stay with the Cowboys and continuing a childhood dream.
“Yeah, I’m free. Yeah,” Prescott said. “To your point, that that is the freedom in and that’s why you have to focus where your feet are. And as I said, it’s a two way street that they have and I have once. I think I’ve deserved that understanding that this is a business and obviously I wouldn’t be here talking about growing up. This is this is where I become a man. So that’s the freedom that I have is, ‘Be Where Your Feet Are,’ make the most of it. Be confident in yourself, make your team better.
“I love my teammates. I love that locker room. I love everything about being out here in Oxnard and being a Dallas Cowboys. So that’s what allows me to be free and focus and understand that and time comes who knows what comes. I’ve been through a lot of adversity personally and that’s about being thankful for your hugging and loving on your loved ones and taking it one day at a time and handling the rest when it approaches.”
But he also knows that the great quarterbacks of his era have played with other teams, including Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Cam Newton.
It’s why he can come to camp and let his agent handle the negotiations with the Jones family.
“I want to be here, but when you look up all the great quarterbacks I watched played for other teams,” Prescott said. “So my point in saying that is that that’s not something to fear that may be a reality for me one day may not be my decision.”
Prescott said it’s not about the money, but he acknowledges he owes it to his family and the other players in the NFL to get the best deal he can get.
He wants Lamb and Parsons to get all their money.
And Jones understands as much.
The question is can he talk Prescott into taking less.
“I don’t know that because Dak is looking at well, what if I could go accomplish everything with a team that don’t have those two top players on offense and defense, so they will allocate more to me,” Jones said.
“Now, I will say to everybody, is because this is not like a boxing match. You got to have a supporting cast around you and nobody knows that more than Dak Prescott. His style causes people do better around him. He is that kind of leader. But same token, when you’re sitting out here with all of the Pro Bowlers we got him and the supporting cast that Dak has had during his career, especially. over on the offensively, it has been outstanding by any measuring marks you want to have.
“You gotta weigh that. Can you do that? Allocate that much money to that few people and still get to the playoffs and get to the end at the end of the day, the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl is bigger than anybody or any player. So we got to always be looking at the Super Bowl.”
The Cowboys haven’t gotten there with Prescott, though they believe he can led them there.
It’s unlikely they could get there without him.
This story was originally published July 25, 2024 at 5:12 PM.
