The Dallas Cowboys have a new head coach and an entirely new coaching staff, the NFL draft is coming upon us, and yet the biggest story remains Dak Prescott’s contract negotiation. The Dallas Cowboys and Dak Prescott were unable to agree to terms on a long term deal last season and have still not reached a deal to date. The Cowboys missed the playoffs last year but Dak Prescott did have a career year statistically. More importantly, the NFL quarterback market has shifted substantially following new deals for Russell Wilson, Ben Roethlisberger, Carson Wentz, and Jared Goff. Now the quarterback market is on the verge of another potential explosion with a new collective bargaining agreement on the horizon and the likes of Patrick Mahomes, Deshaun Watson, and eventually Lamar Jackson nearing contract extensions. The end result of all that is now the price tag for Dak Prescott has risen substantially.
As to why a deal didn’t get done last season, there are plenty of opinions out there. Blame has been placed on Jerry and Stephen Jones for waiting to long to offer and extension and then trying to negotiate a team friendly deal. Dak Prescott has been widely criticized for demanding too much money. Finally, Dak Prescott’s agent has been accused of holding up the deal and sabotaging the relationship between the team and the player. Whatever the real reason is, the Dallas Cowboys find themselves in the predicament of having to get a deal done or place the franchise tag on their young star quarterback. A franchise tag would merely be used as a tool to extend the period of negotiations at this point because Dak Prescott has stated that he does not intend to play under the franchise tag in 2020. I do not blame him for that. Dak Prescott took a significant risk by playing the entire 2019 season without a contract extension and to gamble two years in a row would be extremely unwise on his part. One injury could cost him his only chance for a significant payday. Now that the negotiations have failed up to this point, rumors have been swirling over the possibility that the Dallas Cowboys will have to move on from Dak Prescott and seek out alternative options to the QB position. What should the Dallas Cowboys do about Dak Prescott?
OPTION #1: EXCLUSIVE FRANCHISE TAG
If a deal is not reached between the Dallas Cowboys and Dak Prescott by March 18th, the Dallas Cowboys will have no choice but to frachise tag Dak in hopes of getting a deal done by July 15th of this year. This is not ideal. Dak Prescott has stated that he will not show up for organized team activities without a long term contract in place and with an entirely new coaching staff he will miss out valuable opportunities to acclimate himself to potential changes in the offensive system. This scenario would also limit the Dallas Cowboys ability to use the franchise tag on one of their many other unrestricted free agents such Amari Cooper, Byron Jones, and Robert Quinn. Furthermore, by franchise tagging Dak Prescott, the Dallas Cowboys could potential add more fuel to an already volatile fire with the end result becoming a full-blown distraction of epic proportions for the entire organisation. As far as I am concerned, the franchise tag is not an option.
OPTION #2: NON-EXCLUSIVE FRANCHISE TAG
There is a large portion of people out there that believe the Dallas Cowboys should place the Non-exclusive tag on Dak Prescott and allowing him to openly negotiate with other teams. The Dallas Cowboys will have an opportunity to match any offer made to Prescott or receive 2 first round draft picks as compensation if he departs. At first glance this appears to be a great contingency plan but there are several problems with this approach as well. First of all Dak Prescott would likely refuse to sign such an offer as it severely limits his ability to negotiate a contract the same way he would be able to do so without any contract in place. It is also unlikely that another team would be willing to both pay a premium salary to a veteran quarterback AND surrender 2 first round draft picks. It would be more likely that a team would opt to either draft a young QB OR sign one of several available free agent QB’s while retaining the draft capital. The non-exclusive franchise tag really is not a viable option for the Dallas Cowboys.
OPTION #3: LET DAK PRESCOTT WALK
Another contingent of Dallas Cowboys fans are ready and willing to let Dak Prescott test free agency and sign a massive deal with another team. The Dallas Cowboys would likely receive compensation in the form of a 3rd round draft pick for 2021. In this scenario the Cowboys can potentially draft a young QB or more likely sign another veteran QB who would be willing to take a more team friendly deal. Tom Brady is the name that has been thrown out there by many such fans with this mindset but other names such as Philip Rivers, Ryan Tannehill, or Teddy Bridgewater have also been mentioned. Similar to option #2, this is another pipe dream scenario. These fans seem to forget how difficult it is to draft a capable quarterback that would be ready to play immediately. The Dallas Cowboys hired Mike McCarthy because they believe they can win now but drafting a young QB is a move reserved for a team attempting to rebuild their entire roster. These fans also mistakenly believe that any one of those QB’s (if available) are significantly better than or significantly cheaper than Dak Prescott. The reality is that any starting calibre QB who hits the open market is going to demand significant dollars. If the Dallas Cowboys are willing to let Dak Prescott walk, then they would have been better off not signing DeMarcus Lawrence and Ezekiel Elliott last season and hiring a young coach from the college ranks instead of a guy with several years of NFL experience and a championship pedigree like Mike McCarthy.
OPTION #4: PAY THE MAN
Since none of the previous options make a lot of sense for the Dallas Cowboys, the only viable option left is to agree to terms on a contract extension with Dak Prescott. Further to that point, the Dallas Cowboys must find a way to get this deal done quickly and avoid any more bad blood being spilled. The Dallas Cowboys want to win now and the Dak Prescott contract is the first domino that needs to fall in order for the team to address all of the other remaining roster concerns they have. Dak Prescott has all the leverage now and the Dallas Cowboys have to bite the bullet in order to make him happy. It is not widely known exactly what is separating both sides to this contract negotiation. It could be the exact dollar amount, the guaranteed money, the term of the contact, or any combination of several such factors. Whatever it is that is preventing Jerry and Stephen Jones from getting the deal done must be conceded. This may not be a popular decision for all the fans of the Dallas Cowboy out there. I am sure a great many will be outraged at the amount of money the former 4th round pick is going to earn over the next several years. They will say things like: “He is not a top 10 quarterback!” “He doesn’t deserve to be paid that kind of money!” To respond to that I can only quote a famous Clint Eastwood line from one of my favorite movies of all time (Unforgiven) “Deservin Ain’t Got Nothin to Do With It.”
*Photo by Joe Glorioso All Pro Reels https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/legalcode
Dam need and deserves to be paid. He has been paid the minimum for 4 years and just like the other NFL players deserved to get paid. He is a top Rated QB and he’s on the verge of being one of the greatest of all time (GOAT).
Dak needs and deserves to be paid. He has paid the minimum for 4 years and just like the other NFL players deserves to get paid. He is a top rated QB and he’s on the verge of being the greatest of all times (GOAT).
Dak needs and deserves to be paid. He has played 4 years for the minimum and just like the other NFL players he deserves to be paid. He is one of the top rated QB and is on the verge of being the greatest of all time (GOAT).