Dallas Cowboys: Dak Prescott On No New Contract, “It Says A Lot”

The Dallas Cowboys made one of the biggest deals of the NFL offseason/preseason when they agreed to a four-year $136 million contract with First Team All-Pro wide receiver CeeDee Lamb. The agreement ended what was a months-long standoff between Lamb and the organization that saw the three-time Pro Bowler hold out of the entirety of training camp.

As great of a thing as it was to finally have Lamb under contract, the Cowboys are still entering the 2024 NFL season with two of their other star players in the final years of their own current deals. Linebacker Micah Parsons and quarterback Dak Prescott each are due to make record-setting money for their respective positions on their next contracts.

Unlike Lamb, both Parsons and Prescott have been present for all of Dallas’ offseason programs.

Dallas Cowboys Quarterback Dak Prescott Has Seen 4 Star Players at His Position Sign Massive Extensions

Jul 31, 2024; Oxnard, CA, USA; Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (4) throws during training camp at the River Ridge Playing Fields in Oxnard, California. Mandatory Credit: Jason Parkhurst-USA TODAY Sports

Prescott is entering the final season of a four-year $160 million contract that he signed with Dallas prior to the 2021 season. Part of that contract states that the Cowboys cannot place their franchise tag on him after the 2024 season. In other words, he will be able to explore free agency if the team does not lock him up before next offseason.

Obviously, Lamb’s absence from training camp enhanced the urgency to get his deal done. While those negotiations were taking place, though, four different NFL quarterbacks signed massive contract extensions that only drove up Prescott’s price.

The Detroit Lions and Jared Goff agreed to a four-year $212 million ($53 million a year) that made him, at the time, the second-highest paid quarterback in the NFL. Not long after, though, the Jacksonville Jaguars gave Trevor Lawrence a five-year contract worth $275 million ($55 million a year) that tied him with Joe Burrow of the Cincinnati Bengals as the highest-paid quarterback in the NFL.

Not long after teams began training camp, the Miami Dolphins announced they had come to a four-year agreement with Tua Tagovailoa worth $212.4 ($53.1 million a year). Hours later, the Green Bay Packers announced they had agreed with Jordan Love on a four-year $220 million deal ($55 million a year).

All of these deals have led many to believe that Prescott’s next extension could be worth upwards of $60 million annually.

Dak Prescott Believes “It Says a Lot” about Dallas Cowboys That He Does Not Have a New Contract

Aug 24, 2024; Arlington, Texas, USA; Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (4) throws a pass before the game against the Los Angeles Chargers at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

On Thursday, Prescott spoke to the media and answered questions regarding the status of his own contract negotiations with the Cowboys. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, when he was asked about whether or not he wants to get a deal done soon, Prescott said, “I think it says a lot if it is or if it isn’t. But ‘however’ doesn’t really matter to me, to be honest with you.”

When asked what it says that a deal is not done yet, the star quarterback responded, “Just how people feel.”

Earlier this week, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones told the media, “When you look at a situation, you’ve also got to weigh, ‘OK, what are the consequences of the other side of the coin?’ And so Dak’s situation right now for me, from my mirror, has more to do with our situation than it does with the merits of Dak Prescott being the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys.”

In other words, both Jones and Prescott are well aware that there may be a future in which Dallas’ star quarterback plays elsewhere in 2025.

And while Prescott knows that the NFL is business, that does not mean he is not feeling some sort of way about it. He will play at a high level for his teammates and because that is what he is paid to do.

But it may not be the Cowboys who pay him the big money on his next contract.