Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott is entering the final year of his deal, and the general expectation is that the Cowboys will ultimately give him an extension this offseason.
There are more reasons than one for Dallas to do just that.
Of course, the primary cause is to keep Prescott locked up for the long haul. He just led the NFL with 36 touchdown passes and finished second in MVP voting, so in spite of his lack of playoff success, he has proven that he can be a franchise quarterback.
But one of the other main reasons that it would make sense for Dallas to get a long-term contract done with Prescott now is that it would lower his cap number for 2024.
The 30-year-old is slated to earn $29 million in base salary next season and carries a whopping cap hit of $59.455 million, which will make it very difficult for the cash-strapped Cowboys to sign any free agents in the coming weeks.
You would think that Dallas owner Jerry Jones—who recently said the team would be “all in” this offseason—would want to ensure he gives Prescott a new deal as soon as possible to keep the signal-caller under wraps for the next several years as well as opening up some wiggle room financially, but Rich Eisen of NFL media is hearing differently.
“According to people at the Combine, his definition of all in is to make Dak play out his walk year and not extend him, at all,” Eisen said on his show this week. “Just eat the cap hit. And the free agents they might go get aren’t the big names you might think because they won’t be able to afford them.”
It really doesn’t add up from Jones’ standpoint. Unless he really does not think Prescott is the answer long term and is considering parting ways with him after next season, why not just give him an extension now and do your best to fill out the rest of the roster to have a better chance of winning?
Maybe Jones really doesn’t think Dak Prescott is the quarterback of the future. Or, maybe he really has no clue what he is doing anymore.
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