With the 2024-25 NFL season set to kick off next week, it’s becoming increasingly likely that the Dallas Cowboys and quarterback Dak Prescott will not reach an agreement on a contract extension before the start of the season.
As a result, Prescott’s contract status will hang over the Cowboys like a dark cloud for the entire season. If Prescott doesn’t play well or disappoints the team, the question will be whether Dallas should move on. If he plays well and the Cowboys live up to expectations, many will wonder if team owner and general manager Jerry Jones should have signed Prescott before his price went up.
Now the situation has reached the point where the player and management are attacking each other through the media.
On Wednesday, Jones was asked about the status of negotiations with Prescott after the Cowboys gave receiver CeeDee Lamb a four-year, $136 million extension. But the longtime owner took a hard line in answering that question, essentially saying that Prescott has established himself as the quarterback he is and thus his financial market.
“It’s easy to say, if you haven’t seen it by now, you haven’t seen it,” Jones told reporters. via Jon Machota of The Athletic“I had to see it, I just gave an explanation where when you look at a situation you also have to consider, ‘Okay, what are the implications of the other side of the coin.’ Dak’s situation right now, to me, has more to do with our situation than it does with Dak Prescott’s merits as the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys.”
Dak Prescott: “I honestly stopped listening to what (Jerry Jones) says to the media a long time ago. It doesn’t really affect me.” https://t.co/wT742UnccH
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) August 29, 2024
“I stopped doing it a long time ago because I got angry about whether I had someone under contract or not,” he added. “There are all kinds of things, other than a contract, that can change the outcome of his contract: injury, level of play. So you can’t just pick something and say that should make you feel better about our team or that should make me feel better. There are a lot of moving parts to the whole thing.”
Naturally, Prescott was asked Thursday what he thought of Jones’ comments. Like many NFL fans and media, the eight-year veteran knows Jones likes to talk and he dismissed the remarks as noise.
“I honestly stopped listening to things [Jones] said to the media a long time ago,” Prescott said. “It really doesn’t make any sense to me.”
Dak Prescott: “I honestly stopped listening to what (Jerry Jones) says to the media a long time ago. It doesn’t really affect me.” https://t.co/wT742UnccH
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) August 29, 2024
Or, to put it this way: money talks?
Prescott arguably holds the power here. He led the NFL with 36 touchdown passes last season while completing 70 percent of his passes for 4,516 yards.
Meanwhile, the starting quarterback market skyrocketed with Jared Goff, Trevor Lawrence and Jordan Love signing huge contract extensions, setting team or league records for their respective total values. Jones could have re-signed Prescott before the price went up (way up).
Prescott is being paid $29 million in the final year of his four-year, $160 million contract. The deal also included clauses that said he couldn’t be franchise tagged or traded. So if the Cowboys don’t sign him, Prescott will be an unrestricted free agent after the season at age 31, an age at which he still has effective seasons ahead of him.
This stalemate could be resolved within the next week. For now, each side may be trying to look tough. But the Prescott-Jones exchange also shows that this situation has the potential to get ugly — if it hasn’t already.
