Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott has made it clear he wants to continue his career with the team that drafted him, but the two sides have been unable to come to an agreement with the mid-summer deadline looming to get a deal done. Cowboys VP Stephen Jones said last week the Dallas front office is doing everything it can to figure out a deal that works for both sides.
Speaking this week with the “K&C Masterpiece” program on Dallas radio station 105.3 The Fan, Pro Football Talk NFL analyst Chris Simms said that he’s been told the Cowboys have offered Prescott a five-year, $175 million contract. That figure would be in line with the numbers of years Prescott has reportedly been asking for and near his requested average per season.
Prescott played out the fourth and final year of his $2.7 million rookie deal last season and posted career-best numbers. He received the franchise tag in March from Dallas, but he hasn’t signed the tender yet.
Jerry Jones hasn’t been afraid of opening his checkbook to lock in key players over the past year after signing running back Ezekiel Elliot to a six-year, $90 million extension and defensive lineman DeMarcus Lawrence to a five-year, $105 million extension last summer. The Cowboys came to terms with wide receiver Amari Cooper on a five-year, $100 million extension last month.
Former Dallas Cowboys star Demarcus Ware said that if Prescott were to have won a championship by now, it would be easier for the Cowboys to pay him.
“I don’t know much Dak Prescott is worth, but I know that your play creates your pay,” Ware said this week on NFL Now. “He wants a lot, right now. And I think the Cowboys have offered him a lot of money. But, he wants that long-term contract. I feel like they’ve offered as much as they can for a guy like Dak. You can see how, yeah, he made it deep into the playoffs but you haven’t won any championships. If you maybe had one of those rings on your hand, you might get 40 or 50 (million) right now.
“We don’t know the state of the NFL. For me, I would be asking for as much guaranteed as possible to solidify that so I can go out and get ready to play.”
Former ESPN analyst Darren Woodson, who also starred in Dallas, says the time is drawing near for middle ground during the negotiation process. Both sides will have to give a bit and Dallas improving its offer to five years reflects that.
“I think a deal gets done, I really do,” Woodson said during a recent appearance on The Pat McAfee Show. “If you talk to the Jones family, they’ll tell you they’re in love with this young man. Great ones show up every day to work. I’ve seen Dak Prescott in June with the fifth guy, one of the special teams players running routes by himself. His work ethic is tremendous. His leadership skills within the locker room … he came in his rookie year and they called him a leader.
“I was there when Troy Aikman retired. We went through quarterback purgatory. We couldn’t find (expletive). The quarterbacks were terrible at that time after Troy left. (Tony) Romo came later. The Jones family has been there before, why not solidify? He’s the guy, he’s your future, why not get it done? Dak needs to give a little bit as well to get the contract done.”
—247SPORTS