The franchise-tag deadline passed, but the focus on quarterback contracts won’t diminish this offseason.
Two years into the four-year, $160 million contract Dak Prescott inked in 2021, the Dallas Cowboys quarterback could be in for another extension.
Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones expressed last week in Indianapolis during the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine that an extension for Prescott would make sense for the club. The Cowboys have zero plans to replace the 29-year-old as their starting quarterback. So with a $49.13 million salary cap figure this season, an extension could lower that number and give Dallas more wiggle room this offseason.
Prescott was asked by The Dallas Morning News on Tuesday about the possibility of a new deal coming down the pike.
“I’m excited to be a Dallas Cowboy,” Prescott said at the Grant Halliburton Foundation’s Beacon of Hope luncheon about mental health awareness. “Always dreamed to be here. Now that I’m here, I don’t expect to play for any other team. Now it’s just about winning and now it’s about to get that done and just to hear the [support from the] front office. Looking forward to an extension. When that time comes, it will happen. I’m with Stephen (Jones), it may just happen overnight. When it happens, it happens. It will be great.”
The size and parameters of any extension will be interesting. It took two franchise tags for the Cowboys and Prescott to come to a long-term deal last time.
Prescott is currently one of nine QBs to make $40 million per year -- a ground NFC East rival Daniel Jones just joined Tuesday. How much higher Prescott’s figure will go, and the length of the pact (the big sticking point in previous negotiations) will be key to getting a new deal done.
The Cowboys currently sit well over the salary cap with the new league year approaching. A new deal for Dak would go a long way to giving the club room to make upgrades this offseason while ensuring the signal-caller is the future of the franchise.