The Dallas Cowboys having intention to make a push to resign Dak Prescott ahead of the franchise tag deadline isn’t earth-shattering news, but it is relevant considering the current atmosphere. The sixth-year quarterback is seeing his most famous draft classmates moved around the league with Jared Goff being shipped from Los Angeles to Detroit and Carson Wentz reportedly on his way out of Philadelphia and possibly to Chicago. The quarterback class of 2016 doesn’t have many members left standing, but Prescott’s original team being intent on keeping him is newsworthy in that regard.
However it’s the news nugget that Prescott had a second surgery on his ankle, this one in December, that stands out most from the recent NFL.com article by Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport.
Sources say Prescott underwent a second — and previously unreported — procedure on the ankle about two months later to strengthen his deltoid ligament, clean out the ankle and make it more structurally sound. That procedure wasn’t directly related to the October surgery; rather, doctors then spotted issues related to past injuries to the same ankle, and so once the risk of infection was eliminated, they went back in to clean up the rest.
After the second surgery in early December, Prescott had to take about a week off from rehab to let the wound heal, but it improved the stability and integrity of the ankle and should accelerate his overall recovery, per sources. He’s now walking without issue, doing weight-bearing exercises and is expected to be ready for action long before the 2021 season begins.
Prescott can be hit with a second-consecutive franchise tag between the dates of February 23 and March 9. Somewhere around the end of the tag window, the actual amount of the 2021 salary cap will be revealed and the Cowboys (along with the other 31 teams) will know how much wiggle room they will have to sign their own or other club’s free agents.
Since Prescott was tagged in 2020, the amount of a 2021 tag is already known. It will be 120% of last year’s number, or $37.69 million. The two sides will then have until July 15 to work out a long-term deal, but the team’s free agency and draft decisions will be impacted by whether or not an agreement happens or seems imminent.
As reported, the surgeries should not be an issue. Prescott played 68 straight games to start his caeer prior to the compound fracture suffered in Week 5 against the New York Giants. The sides have not been able to reach an agreement on a long-term future since Prescott first became eligible for an extension prior to the 2019 season, when Goff and Wentz were handed huge deals they’re original clubs now regret giving out.
Prescott has outperformed both over the course of their careers, and his arc seemed about to reach monumental levels with they way he was shattering passing records through the beginning of the season. Volume stats are hardly the end-all be-all of evaluating quarterbacks, but Prescott was willing his team to wins as the rest of the club fell apart around him in 2020.
Now, the sides will continue working on a solution that will have Prescott with the team for at least 2021, and possibly beyond.
—COWBOYSWIRE