Six weeks after he began the offseason talking positively about staying in Dallas beyond this season, Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott appears to be much more receptive to the idea of taking his skills elsewhere after 2024.
“I won’t claim that I’m afraid to be here. To be honest with you, I don’t fear either scenario,” Prescott stated on Friday at the Children’s Cancer Fund Gala, as reported by Jon Machota of The Athletic. “I adore playing this game, improving both as a player and for my teammates around me. The Dallas Cowboys are where I want to be right now, so that’s where I am and what’s important. We’ll assess our situation at the end of the season we ‘all see where we’re at and if the future holds that. And if not, we’ll go from there.”
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Prescott, who signed a four-year, $160 million contract in 2021, has one year left on it. Earlier in March, Prescott expressed his “definite confidence” that he and the Cowboys could work out an extension.
But during the course of the month, that confidence was called into doubt. When asked if this season would be Prescott’s last in Dallas, owner Jerry Jones responded, “I don’t fear that.” This was in response to allegations that the team and the quarterback had an understanding that the quarterback’s contract would not be adjusted until the 2024 campaign.
Prescott stated on Friday that he and Jones had discussed the matter and were “aligned” with where things are right now, but they had not yet discussed a contract. Even though he is trying to focus on getting ready for the upcoming season, he did not completely rule out the prospect of the parties speaking in the future.
To be honest, my attention is here and now,” Prescott remarked. “In this case, I’m focused about becoming better right now—being better than I am right now—but if the talks start and actual conversations happen, we can speak about getting that done. I’m going to leave that up to Jerry and my agency for now.”
Following his most successful season in his eight years in Dallas, Prescott set personal records for completions (410), completion percentage (69.5), and quarterback rating (105.7). He also led the league in touchdown passes with 36. Additionally, Prescott led the Cowboys to their third consecutive postseason berth. Due to all of this, he came in second place to Lamar Jackson in the AP Most Valuable Player voting.
Nevertheless, Prescott stated that even with his current success, he won’t necessarily demand to be paid more than any other player should talks begin.
Yes, exactly, I’m not aiming to be the highest paid person,” he declared. “So I’ll wait till negotiations begin, and obviously want to put this team in the best situation.”
The Cowboys would undoubtedly prefer a less expensive contract because they still need to work out contracts with wide receiver CeeDee Lamb and linebacker Michal Parsons while having little salary room. Prescott will still count $40.46 million against the 2025 limit even if he does enter free agency in the spring of 2024, with a $55.445 million cap hit.
After agreeing to an extension in September of last year that granted him an average compensation of $55 million year, Joe Burrow presently has the highest average income. According to Spotrac, Prescott’s average annual salary of $40 million places him tenth on the list. If he’s hoping to get a raise on his next contract, there’s a big bit of room between that and the “highest paid” marker.
The likelihood that 2024 will be Prescott’s last season as a Cowboy, however, appears to be increasing as the offseason progresses despite the fact that no contract negotiations are scheduled and both parties have expressed acceptance of the current situation.
