The clock is ticking for Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys as the July 15th deadline to reach a long term deal is now less than 48 hours away. While it has been stated that deadlines make deals it would take nothing short of a miracle for the two sides to reach an agreement at this point with neither side reported to have made any recent contact. How did it get to this point, and what is the real reason that in nearly two years an agreement could not be reached? Contrary to what many fans and experts believe, it has nothing to do with the quarterbacks greed, the teams lack of faith in Dak Prescott, the stubborn pride of the owner, or even the salary cap. This is a predictable outcome of a recent and disturbing trend displayed by the Dallas Cowboys front office which may likely extend the longest Super Bowl drought in franchise history.
Jerry Jones has a reputation of being a risk taker but he is also proved to be innovative, creative, and a shrewd business man. An outside the box thinker, he has had tremendous financial success as the owner of the Dallas Cowboys . He also achieved unparalleled success with the football team when he purchased the team following a 3-13 season to building a Super Bowl dynasty in only four years. Now, while Jerry’s financial success has grown exponentially over time, he has not been able to sustain the same level of success as far as winning football games. Why is that?
Ask any Dallas Cowboys fan and they will point out that Jerry Jones has failed to produce a winner in nearly 25 years but yet he refuses to relinquish his title as general manager. It seems as though it is his life long mission to prove he can build another Super Bowl team without Jimmy Johnson. In his desire to achieve this goal and emerge from Johnson’s shadow, Jerry Jones has made a few mistakes along the way. To his credit, he has often learned from those mistakes instead of repeating them but he has also done this to a fault at times. I believe the biggest obstacle preventing the team from achieving championship glory once more is that Jerry Jones has become an “over corrector”. He has become reactive instead of proactive as a general manager which is completely the opposite of how he operates the business aspect of the Dallas Cowboys. This is very likely the reason he has failed in one area of ownership and thrived in the other. How does this all relate to Dak Prescott? I’ll get there shortly but first I would like to provide a few examples of Jerry Jones “over corrections” throughout the years:
- DEION SANDERS: Following the 1994 season and the dismissal of Jimmy Johnson, Jerry Jones was outbid by the San Francisco 49ers for the services of free agent corner “Neion Deion”. San Francisco wound up winning the Super Bowl that very same season. Jerry Jones subsequently made the reigning defensive player of the year the highest paid defensive player in NFL the following season and sealed the deal by agreeing to allow PrimeTime to play on offense. This deal did pay off immediately for Jerry Jones and perhaps set the tone for his tendency to over correct in subsequent years.
- RANDY MOSS: The Dallas Cowboys passed on WR Randy Moss in the 1998 draft due to character concerns and that blunder was Jerry Jones single biggest regret. As a result, Jerry was not going to miss out on Dez Bryant in 2010 and so he actually traded up to draft the “troubled” future All-Pro. Jones has since become one of the more willing GM’s to take risks when it comes to talented players with character concerns or behavioural issues such as Ryan Leaf, Adam Jones, Terrell Owens, Greg Hardy, Randy Gregory, Rolando McClain, David Irving, etc. He has also proven to be extremely aggressive in his pursuit of a top tier wide receiver by paying excessive amounts of draft capital to acquire the likes of Joey Galloway, Roy Williams Jr, and Amari Cooper. I believe those deals were heavily impacted by Jones’ regret over missing out on Randy Moss.
- CHAIN GAILEY: When Jerry Jones fired Chan Gailey after two seasons, only to endure three straight 5 win seasons under Dave Campo, he expressed regret that he had pulled the trigger too quickly. Vowing to not make the same mistake, Jason Garrett ended up lasting 10 years before the Dallas Cowboys finally moved on from him. That despite Garrett having no prior head coaching experience or pedigree beyond one successful season as an OC. Furthermore, during that time, Garrett was the only coach tenured that long to have NOT won a Super Bowl, NEVER appeared in a conference championship, and failed to EVER produce back to back successful seasons.
- SALARY CAP HELL: While some argue the salary cap does not truly exist, that is only valid to some degree. The salary cap does actually exist and can result in some difficult decisions if mismanaged. That happened to Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys several years ago. Aggressive spending in free agency, over rewarding current players for their success, and penalties for tampering made life quite difficult for Jones and the Cowboys. Jerry Jones had to cut one of his All-Time great players DeMarcus Ware and he never forgave himself for that. He also blames himself for failing to build a winning team around a quarterback he believed was a championship calibre player, Tony Romo. Ever since Jerry Jones has confessed these regrets, the Dallas Cowboys have non coincidentally become one of the more frugal teams in free agency. The have become a team who refuses to overpay in free agency and builds through the draft. This is the root of the problem when it comes to the Dak Prescott contract negotation.
Since the aforementioned days of “Salary Cap Hell”, Cowboys fans have become accustomed to the team refusing to overspend in free agency. Instead the team has consistently found a way to pay their homegrown stars, so why not Dak Prescott? Quite simply, the Dallas Cowboys have been spoiled up to this point. They have gotten players to agree to extremely team friendly deals such as those for Tyron Smith, La’el Collins, and Jaylon Smith. They have been able to lure free agents on short term deals at bargain prices such as Andy Dalton, Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, and Gerald McCoy simply because they want to play in Dallas. Jerry Jones tries to sell the value of being a Dallas Cowboys to his star players but the trouble is players have become very savvy and less likely to be taken advantage of with these team friendly deals. The players protect their own interests and hire capable agents to represent them. Agents whose job it is to get the best deals for their clients, themselves, and to negotiate contracts that take into consideration the growing market, future revenues, and the collective good of all the players in the NFLPA. Dak Prescott’s agent is once such agent (Todd France) and he is more than willing to play hard ball with Jerry Jones.
Given, Jerry has played hard ball with his other star players but was still able to eventually negotiate extensions when he wants to get a deal done. Why did those deals get done but not Dak Prescott? Upon further review, those negotiations have not exactly gone smoothly:
- DeMarcus Lawrence: Tank played under the franchise tag after his breakout 14.5 sack 2018 season. After following that up with another strong season, the Cowboys reluctantly paid him in the range of the top players at his position. The negotiation dragged on and did eventually get done but not before D-Law forced the Cowboys hand by refusing to get offseason shoulder surgery until a new deal was reached. Ultimately, Lawrence was not fully recovered before the season began and although he played well last season, his disappointing sack totals may be attributed to that injury.
- Ezekiel Elliott: The Cowboys star running back held out from training camp prior to last season seeking an extension in his first year of eligibility. Things got rather ugly with Jerry Jones constantly making comments in the media at the expense of Elliott. Although a deal was reached, the motivating factor was likely the fact that Jason Garrett was on the hot seat and Jerry wanted to give him every opportunity to either succeed or justify his dismissal. If Elliott was holding out this season, I do believe that the Cowboys would have been willing to let him sit out games.
- Amari Cooper: When the Cowboys traded for Cooper in 2018 and spent a first round pick to acquire him, it was only logical that they would extend the young wide receiver long term. That is why it was so shocking that they actually allowed Amari Cooper to reach free agency this offseason. Luckily, Cooper agreed to a deal to stay in Dallas even though Washington offered more money. A foolish decision by the head office to let it get to that point but once again, they were rewarded for their incompetence due to the players preference to stay in Dallas.
- Byron Jones: This may have had more to do with the fact that the Cowboys undervalue Jones due to his inability to create turnovers during his career with the Cowboys. Either way, it infuriated many fans that Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys did not even attempt to retain their number one cornerback. The team had set themselves a budget that they were willing to spend (one far below market value) and when Byron Jones predictably declined it, they simply let him walk without putting up a fight. Jerry Jones is the ultimate decision maker but the commitment to not overpay or reset the market value is most assuredly influenced by Stephen Jones.
The issue concerning the Dak Prescott contract extension is not necessarily money. The main issue separating Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys seems to be number of years with Dak wanting a four year deal and the Cowboys wanting a five year term. Certainly, guaranteed money, guaranteed money at signing, injury guarantees and possible incentives are other points of contention. At this point, the Cowboys should just cave and given him what he wants. It seems ludicrous for a franchise to be so inflexible when it comes to a position as crucial as quarterback. The last team to treat their quarterback similarly, Washington, is not exactly a shining beacon to follow as an example. Yet that is exactly what the Dallas Cowboys are doing. They are refusing to make the deal happen, are costing themselves money in the process, and worst of all are creating bad blood and a huge distraction for the football team. The fact that both sides are digging their heals in and neither side is communicating with each other, leads me to believe that both sides have resolved to let the season play out on the franchise tag. Not an ideal situation for the club for salary cap implications ($31 million) and not an ideal situation for the player due to injury concerns. Worse still, if Dak Prescott does play under the cap this year, the cap hit increases to $38 million if he gets tagged again. This amid a potential loss in revenue due to the pandemic. Dak’s leverage only increases next year and if he reaches free agency he will break the bank without a doubt.
Given all the variables concerning Dak Prescott and his contract extension, all signs point to the franchise quarterback playing under the franchise tag this season. Unfortunately, as we have seen clearly with the extensions for Carson Wentz, Jared Goff, and now Patrick Mahomes, a long term deal is going to cost the Dallas Cowboys more money the longer they wait. Will Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys swallow their pride and pony up? Or, will they actually allow their young franchise quarterback to eventually reach free agency and walk? On thing is certain. If Jerry does actually allow that to happen, it will be a painful “over correction” process after squandering a quarterback.
*Photo by Kieth Allison KA Sports Photos https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode