The NFL’s twice-delayed franchise-tag deadline looms near.
Teams have until 11:59:59 a.m. Monday to designate a franchise-tagged player, leaving the window to negotiate a long-term deal open until July 15.
In Dallas, each day brings the Cowboys closer to tagging quarterback Dak Prescott, whose rookie contract is expiring.
Hall of Fame ex-Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman warns against that.
“I’d hate to think what might happen or how Dak might feel if they end up going the franchise-tag route,” Aikman told SiriusXM NFL radio on Wednesday. “I just don’t think that’s going to be in the best interest of all parties, and ultimately I don’t think it’s in the best interest of the Cowboys.
“It could have damaging effects, in my opinion. So I’m hopeful they’ll get a deal done.”
Cowboys ownership has made clear that deal or no deal by next week, they will “absolutely not,” executive vice president Stephen Jones said, part ways with Prescott.
“Certainly have and going to keep his rights,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones told beat writers Feb. 27 at the scouting combine in Indianapolis. “That’s just the reality of the thing. I am not in any way going to not have his rights, for one minute.”
Jerry Jones on why Dak Prescott’s Cowboys deal will get worked out: pic.twitter.com/yUlyB8fb5a
— Jori Epstein (@JoriEpstein) February 27, 2020
For that reason, Jerry Jones said, he views the franchise-tag deadline as a mere “technicality.” Jones said he doesn’t consider that cutoff as a reason to negotiate more urgently, even if tagging Prescott could increase odds of losing another valuable free agent. Cowboys starters hitting free agency include Prescott, wide receiver Amari Cooper, cornerback Byron Jones and defensive end Robert Quinn.
Signing Prescott also would quiet concerns that the quarterback could hold out of offseason activities as he waits for a contract. The Cowboys will install new offensive principles under first-year head coach Mike McCarthy in offseason training. Installing those without Prescott would be unideal. In the last year, Cowboys stars DeMarcus Lawrence and Ezekiel Elliott took hardline stances in negotiations. When the Cowboys placed a second consecutive franchise tag on Lawrence, he delayed shoulder surgery. By early April, the team had signed him to a five-year, $105 million extension with $65 million guaranteed. Elliott, who had two years remaining with the Cowboys, held out of training camp for 40 days. The Cowboys settled on a six-year, $90 million extension with $50 million guaranteed, just five days before the season opener.
Prescott discussed with USA TODAY Sports in January what message playing 2020 on a tag would send.
“Hopefully it sends the same message that this year sent,” Prescott told USA TODAY Sports. “But obviously, I want to win. I’m somebody that I’ve gambled on myself my whole life. That’s kind of what it is. I’ve been doubted and told people they’re wrong.
“When you’re playing out a situation, when you’re playing out a contract, there’s no different mindset than that.”
If Cowboys tag Dak Prescott, what message would it send?
"Hopefully it sends the same message that this year sent," Dak told @usatodaysports. "But obviously, I want to win.
"I’m somebody that I’ve gambled on myself my whole life." pic.twitter.com/yU4MIxaX4L
— Jori Epstein (@JoriEpstein) March 5, 2020
Negotiations between the Cowboys and Prescott’s camp stalled from September around season’s start until a combine meeting late February. Stephen Jones said at the combine he was surprised the two sides hadn’t finalized Prescott’s deal before the 2019 season. The Cowboys had offered Prescott a salary that would place him among the top-five highest-paid quarterbacks in the league. But the parties fell short of an agreement. Sticking points extended further than average annual value—the Cowboys also seek a lengthier contract than Prescott and his representation prefer, people familiar with negotiations told USA TODAY Sports. Those people were granted anonymity due to the sensitive nature of negotiations.
Prescott posted his best statistical year in 2019, completing 388 of 596 passes for 4,902 yards, 30 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. But the Cowboys, at 8-8, missed the playoffs. The discrepancy between stats and win-loss record was stark, Prescott agreed.
Still, Aikman said Wednesday, Prescott’s teammates “love playing for him.”
“He has an energy and charisma about him that I haven’t seen in very many guys,” Aikman said. “And then I think that for the most part he’s matched it in his play and the progress he’s made.
“I’ve never seen him in a situation where he’s not been totally authentic, and I think that’s what endeared him to the players. He’s old school in the sense that he honestly, in a time when I think more and more players are worried more about themselves, he’s an old-school guy that truly only cares about winning football games. It’s been refreshing.”
Prescott said he doesn’t worry his teammates will balk if his deal isn’t done by the July 15 deadline.
“My teammates know me well enough that they know that’s actually not a thought in my head,” Prescott told USA TODAY Sports. “They know that’s not why I play the game. That that’s part of it and it will be a blessing when it comes, and that’s the nature of our game and nature of our business. But they know that’s not my motives, that’s not what gets me going and so.
“I think it frustrates them probably as much as it frustrates me.”
— USA TODAY SPORTS