Dak Prescott extension: Answering some FAQs about the Cowboys QB, contract negotiations

Dak Prescott is coming off the best season of his career and is in his prime.

He’s also entering the final season of his contract.

Cries of “what in the world are the Cowboys thinking?’’ have been echoing for months. How could the club let it get to this point?

A valid perspective. Here’s another.

Maybe Prescott and his representatives wanted it to get to this point because it increases his leverage even more.

Organizational inactivity or a shrewd strategy by Prescott and his representatives? Take your pick. When the conversation turns to the Cowboys quarterback, choosing sides publicly has become something of a mandatory exercise.

Let’s take a break from the debate that swirls between the Team Dak and Never Dak camps to look at some questions.

What are we talking about in terms of a contract?

Prescott is entering the final season of a four-year, $160 million deal. That’s an average of $40 million a year.

It’s safe to say the cost of doing business with a quarterback has gone up since Prescott signed his deal.

Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow currently tops the list with an average of $55 million a year. Justin Herbert of the LA Chargers is next at $52.2 million.

Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson found himself in a similar position this time last year. In May, he agreed to a deal with the Ravens that averaged $52 million.

That agreement was struck 10 days after Philadelphia’s Jalen Hurts reached a deal that pays him an average of $51 million.

You get the idea.

Are negotiations between the two sides acrimonious?

Not at all.

Jackson was engaged in negotiations with the Ravens for 27 months. He actually requested a trade 13 months ago before the club used the nonexclusive franchise tag on him.

“I wanted to be here,’’ Jackson told reporters once the agreement was finally reached. “I was like, man, OK, other team’s cool, but I want to be Raven.’’

The Cowboys and Prescott have kept the lines of negotiations open. No public demands have been made or timelines imposed. They will continue to talk.

Prescott has expressed confidence this will work out. Jerry Jones deflected questions about an extension from the NFL meetings two weeks ago but did have praise for No. 4.

“I think there are a handful or more of quarterbacks playing who haven’t won a Super Bowl that will win a Super Bowl,’’ Jones said. “I think Dak is one of them. I’m firm there.

“He’s one of the ones who can.’’

It’s easy to say the lines of communication are open, but is there any tangible evidence that’s the case and it could lead to an agreement?

Since you asked …

The Cowboys made a cap maneuver in March with a $5 million roster bonus Prescott was due. The alteration gave the club an additional $4 million in cap space this season.

It doesn’t sound like much. The team certainly hasn’t done much with it to this stage in terms of adding or retaining talent. But it was significant. Why?

The club had to add two voidable years onto the contract — on top of the two voidable years that already existed — to carve out that $4 million. Prescott and his representatives had to agree to add those years. Why would Prescott do that if he felt his time with the Cowboys was coming to an end?

It was a public acknowledgment that good faith negotiations are still taking place, regardless of reports that swirl indicating otherwise.

Is there any sense of urgency to get this done or has that time passed?

While there are no hard and fast deadlines until he reaches free agency, there are some practical flash points along the way. One has already been missed.

If the sides were close, a deal would have been struck last month that would have allowed the Cowboys to retain more of their own free agents while giving them the latitude for more targeted strikes in free agency. Since that has passed, there’s really no tangible benefit to the club to getting a deal done in the next few weeks.

The next flash point is training camp and the start of the regular season. If a deal isn’t done by then, the dynamics of these negotiations change dramatically.

At that point, the assumption must be made that Prescott’s time with the Cowboys is nearing an end. How will that play on a week-to-week basis during the regular season? It becomes even more of an issue for the team to navigate since the coaching staff finds itself on one-year contracts as well.

Good faith can unravel. The deeper this goes into the season without an extension, the less likely it becomes an extension will be reached.

What are the financial ramifications for Dallas if an extension isn’t reached and Prescott leaves in free agency next season?

Cowboys fans know just because a player is gone doesn’t mean his cap hit goes with him.

Ezekiel Elliott is an example. The Cowboys released the running back a year ago. He hasn’t stepped on the field for Dallas since January 2023, yet will count $6 million against the team’s cap this season.

That’s the price of doing all of those restructures.

If Prescott leaves in free agency at the end of this season, he would still count just under $40.5 million on the 2025 cap.

Gone, but not forgotten.

Catch David Moore periodically on The Ticket (KTCK-AM 1310 and 96.7 FM) during the off-season.

Twitter: @DavidMooreDMN

Find more Cowboys coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.