Picking up where the Cowboys left off last offseason, negotiations for a long-term contract with starting quarterback Dak Prescott is once again issue No. 1 on the team’s to-do list.
After the sides were unable to agree on a long-term extension last July, Prescott played the 2020 season on Dallas’ exclusive franchise tag worth more than $31 million. He appeared in only five games before suffering a season-ending injury, the first games Prescott has missed in his NFL career.
Let’s take a look at where talks between Prescott and the Cowboys currently stand and their options moving forward:
Negotiating window open
The Cowboys’ season came to an end Jan. 3 after a 23-19 defeat at the New York Giants. With the loss, the negotiating window for a franchise-tagged Prescott reopened. However, there have yet to be any official negotiations, a source told The News’ Calvin Watkins.
The sides remain hopeful an extension can be reached this time around. However, an additional (and more expensive) franchise tag is again available in 2021 for the Cowboys to use should they not come to an agreement.
More from The News’ Michael Gehlken: “Due to decreased revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 salary cap that will be lower than initially expected. Dallas plans to franchise tag Prescott a second time if no extension is reached by March. This $37.69 million tag would present a burden around which to build a 53-man roster. ... All $37.69 million would count against the 2021 cap.
“The Cowboys hope to lock up Prescott before mid-March. If forced to tag him again, they’d have another few months to reach an extension before the 2021 embargo comes in the summer.”
To review, here’s a breakdown of contract negotiations between the Cowboys and Prescott, as reported by The News’ David Moore:
July 2019: The Cowboys presented Prescott with a proposal that averaged $30 million and a guarantee of $90 million entering training camp, putting him among the top five players at the position at that time.
September 2019: In an effort to strike a deal before the regular season began, the club upped that offer to an average of $33 million with a guarantee of close to $105 million.
February or March 2020: The team offered a deal that bumped the average above $34 million with a guarantee of above that of Philadelphia’s Carson Wentz.
April 2020: The latest offer averaged roughly $34.5 million with a guarantee slightly above $110 million for five years.
June 22, 2020: Prescott signed the exclusive franchise tag, which carried a $31.409 salary for the 2020 season. It also contractually obligated him to report for training camp.
July 15, 2020: The 3 p.m. deadline to negotiate a long-term deal passed, and Prescott became only the third quarterback to play under the franchise tag.
Dates to remember
The affect of the COVID-19 pandemic will be felt into the 2021 season. Some of the NFL’s offseason schedule has yet to even be finalized. The dates which are known are considered tentative.
However, for players and teams with franchise tag concerns, there is at least some clarity.
NFL teams will be able retain the rights to one of its impending free agents in 2021 with the use of a non-exclusive or an exclusive franchise tag during an estimated two-week period starting Feb. 23.
Last offseason, Dallas placed its exclusive franchise tag on Prescott in March, but the quarterback had until the league’s July 15 deadline to officially sign the tag as the sides’ ultimately futile negotiations on a long-term deal continued.
This time around, should the Cowboys place the tag on Prescott again, the deadline to sign has not yet been finalized.
What they’re saying ...
The Jones family, even after Prescott’s injury, has been steadfast in their support of the Cowboys quarterback as well as his long-term future with the franchise.
At the end of Dallas’ bumpy season, Jerry Jones went as far as to say the leverage in contract talks had completely shifted to his quarterback’s side.
“I don’t know how you could have any more leverage,” Jones said on 105.3 The Fan [KRLD-FM] earlier this month. “Dak has absolutely been a, might be a picture postcard so to speak, but his evolving into an NFL quarterback has been nothing short of perfect picture.
“He has great ability in my mind to win games. He’s talented. He certainly has experience. And, so, he has all the things as substantiated by what we’ve offered Dak.”
A five-year offer that averaged $34.5 million and guaranteed just over $110 million failed to seal the deal last July.
Since then, both Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson have signed their own mega deals. The Eagles and Rams may be pondering their own futures that are saddled alongside large contracts already given to Wentz and Jared Goff, respectively. Even Lamar Jackson may be in line for an extension with the Ravens sooner rather than later.
But when it comes to Prescott, the uncertainty of the NFL quarterback market doesn’t seem to concern Jones.
“You wouldn’t be offering Dak what’s being offered in the past if you [had] not thought he was very special,” Jones said. “The issue is how do you come together and that’s no stranger to me.
“I’ve been doing it my whole life. I got here putting things together, and we got to get it together.”
The latest on Prescott’s health
The outlook of the Cowboys’ entire 2020 season changed as Prescott was carted off the field at AT&T Stadium in October after his gruesome ankle injury.
But luckily for the Cowboys, all signs over the past few months have pointed to the quarterback’s recovery going very well. Prescott made a surprise appearance at Cowboys practice in early December. Head coach Mike McCarthy said his recovery was “on course” earlier this month. The team’s initial recovery time frame placed Prescott back on the field in April or May.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport gave an update on Prescott’s recovery on Jan. 16:
“He’s coming along great,” Rapoport said. “He’s walking right now, which is a big step, working the anti-gravity treadmill and the HydroWorx pool, which takes pressure off his ankle but allows him to get in shape. He is making great progress, and based on the work he’s put in, what they think, he’s going to come back better than ever.”
Prescott is expected to return at some point during offseason workouts, and given a recent “Hold my Crutches” jab on Instagram to teammate Ezekiel Elliott, he appears to have some lofty goals for the Cowboys upon his return.
Aight @dak this was pretty good 😂 pic.twitter.com/47AfxJoyrj
— WASHINGTON FOOTBALL (@HogsHaven) January 18, 2021
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