Dak Prescott is the leader the Cowboys don’t deserve.

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott recently penned a letter to the Governor of Oklahoma and the Oklahoma parole board on behalf of death row inmate whose incarceration he believes was an egregious injustice. An article from TIME details the facts surrounding the case involving Julius Jones who was sentenced to death for the murder of Paul Howell in 1999. Jones was convicted despite a great deal of evidence that exists supporting his innocence. Jones is believed by many to have been wrongly accused and to have not received a fair trail. His case is receiving widespread attention in the wake of the recent social justice movement and Dak Prescott has taken notice. In the letter Dak states:

“The treatment of Julius Jones is the kind of miscarriage of justice African American men like myself live in fear of, and that is why I feel compelled to use the influence that God has blessed me with to speak up for what I believe is right and to give a voice to those who cannot speak for themselves. Julius Jones’ case is a clear example of what can happen to a person who cannot afford legal representation, and what can happen to a black person at any time in this country – which is exactly why so many are protesting for the changes we so desperately need. I ask for you to please do your part to help bring about this change by giving thoughtful and sincere consideration to your review of Julius Jones’ commutation application. My prayer is that he is able to salvage what remains of his life and that, through the righting of a decades-old wrong, he will be restored to his family soon.“

This is a strong stance from the young quarterback who is putting himself out there in order to stand up for what he believes is right despite the potential backlash. This is not the first time he has spoken out on social injustice and it is in stark contrast to the silence from a normally very vocal Jerry Jones. All of this has coincided with a failed long term contract negotiation where the Dallas Cowboys ownership has repeatedly painted a picture of Dak Prescott as being selfish. Stephen and Jerry Jones have gone on the record to say that they want to get a contract done with Dak Prescott and are willing to pay him. However, they have also said publicly things like “The team comes first”, “We need Dak to work with us a little bit”, “The pie is getting smaller”, and when talking about cap space saying “Dak, he wants what’s best for the team”. In addition to that, there have also been contract offer numbers released in what appears to be an attempt to villainize the agent Todd France along with the franchise quarterback.

That strategy, appears to have worked on a large portion of the fan base but all the while, Dak Prescott has stayed relatively silent on the subject. Using his influence and voice to try to affect change and do positive work through his foundation Faith Fight Finish which focuses on fighting cancer and offering assistance to those facing life-challenging hardships. He has always maintained that he wants to be a Dallas Cowboy. He went ahead and signed the franchise tag ahead of schedule instead of holding out as anticipated and he his agent have not released any details of what their proposed offers have been. The only consistent issue that has been reported is that the number of years and not the contract amount or guaranteed money is what has prevented the deal from getting done. If indeed that is the case, it would seem rather foolish of the Cowboys to allow that to be the deal breaker when the alternative is a $31 million franchise tag this year, another $38 million franchise tag in 2021 (or allow him to hit free agency), and then a potential $55 million franchise tag in 2022 if they wish to retain him. With the salary cap set to increase substantially in the next few years, even despite the possible effects of COVID-19 in 2020, and the leverage Dak Prescott has just because his contract has been played out, it appears there is only one logical explanation. That is, despite what Jerry and Stephen Jones are saying publicly, they have opened the door for Dak Prescott to walk away either next year or the year after that.

It is absurd to think that the Dallas Cowboys would allow a young franchise QB to get away. The team chanced upon Dak Prescott after failing to land Paxton Lynch and Connor Cook in the 2016 NFL draft. Then when Tony Romo went down with injury, all Dak did was take over as the starter his rookie year, won over the locker room, played exceptionally well and continued to improve over 4 seasons, and won 2 division titles and a playoff game. Despite what his critics will say, that is as impressive as a four year resume as there is in the NFL. There are still many that will claim that Dak Prescott is only an average quarterback and does not deserve the kind of money that Patrick Mahomes, Russell Wilson, or other top tier quarterbacks deserve. While I disagree, that is a valid argument. The major issue I have with that is if that were true and the Dallas Cowboys truly want to move on from Dak Prescott at that cost, why not rebuild then? Instead they signed their core players such as DeMarcus Lawrence, Ezekiel Elliott, and Amari Cooper, and hired an established head coach in Mike McCarthy in order to win now. For those that argue that they could just insert a veteran quarterback to win with all their talent, then why did they bother to franchise tag Dak Prescott at $31 million. Really they could have rescinded the tag once they realized the deal was not going to happen. The price will only go up next year because that is how contracts, inflation, and a rising salary cap work. The Cowboys brought in Andy Dalton but that was only on a one year deal and there were other free agent QB’s available on the cheap this year such as Cam Newton that they did not pursue. Some have suggested they look towards drafting and grooming a new young quarterback. Well, unless they plan on tanking, which their offseason moves imply that they do not, they wont be drafting a top tier young quarterback such as Trevor Lawrence in 2021. Besides, the Dallas Cowboys know very well that franchise QB’s do not grow on trees. The period between Aikman and Romo in the early 2000’s and the drafting of Quincy Carter along with the near misses on Johnny Manziel, Paxton Lynch, and Connor Cook speak to that. Simply put, with the variables considered, not signing Dak Prescott to a long term deal makes very little sense for the Dallas Cowboys. Meanwhile, expediting the path to true free agency by not settling on a respectable but not top of the market offer makes all the sense in the world for Dak Prescott.

Now, before any of you lecture me on the importance of team friendly deals and the benefit of being the quarterback of America’s team, let me just say this. First of all, the team had him on a team friendly deal for four years and were not able to win. You can blame that on Dak all you want to but you would be ignoring the fact that the team has not won a Super Bowl or even appeared in an NFC Championship game in 25 years joining the company of such fine organisations as Detroit, Cleveland, Miami, Buffalo, Houston, Washington, and Cincinnati. The Cowboys also just recently fired the coach but only after an entire decade without reaching those goals or even having back to back successful seasons. This is not the New England Patriots. Until the Dallas Cowboys can prove they can build a winning team, then the argument for the team friendly deal is fruitless. On the benefits of being the face of the Dallas Cowboys and the endorsement opportunities that come with that. I think most people forget that endorsements are conditional upon success, good health, and a solid reputation. All of those things are short lived and volatile (Just ask Cam Newton or Antonio Brown). Besides that, endorsements also require time, energy, and public appearances. Most people would prefer a bigger contract with more guaranteed money rather than a smaller contract with less guarantees only to have an opportunity to make up for that by working additional jobs selling yogurt, soft drinks, or mattresses. Finally, as a fan of the Dallas Cowboys, do you want your quarterback to focus his time and energy on honing his craft or fill his schedule doing commercials and making public appearances?

Dak Prescott is a very good quarterback. Dak Prescott is a leader. Dak Prescott conducts himself as a professional both on and off the field. Dak Prescott has proven to be very marketable for the Dallas Cowboys brand. In short, he is the type of franchise quarterback that most teams dream of having as their leader. Yet, the Dallas Cowboys are doing everything imaginable to hasten his departure from the organization. Clearly Dak Prescott deserves to be the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys; But, the Dallas Cowboys clearly do not deserve to have Dak Prescott as their quarterback.

Sean Gregory Exclusive: Dallas Cowboys Quarterback Dak Prescott Calls for Release of Black Death Row Inmate Julius Jones: Time.com published AUGUST 6, 2020 11:55 AM EDT https://time.com/5875257/dak-prescott-dallas-cowboys-julius-jones/

*Photo by Joe Glorioso All-Pro Reels https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/legalcode