While a handful of other high-profile quarterback deals were completed this offseason, the Dallas Cowboys stood pat on Dak Prescott. With the 2024 season just a week from kicking off, Prescott still doesn't have a new contract.
It doesn't appear that there will be a new deal agreed to before the Cowboys' season starts Sept. 8 against Cleveland Browns. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones told reporters as much on Wednesday, and Prescott weighed in on the matter on Thursday.
"I think it says a lot if it is or if it isn’t (done)," Prescott said, via ESPN's Todd Archer, of his lack of a new deal. "Just how people feel."
This season marks the final year of a four-year, $160 million contract Prescott signed in 2021, which stood as a significant rate at the time, but has since been eclipsed by roughly a dozen newer contracts for quarterbacks.
Given the fact Prescott led the league in touchdown passes (36) last season, finished third in passing yards (4,516) and tossed just nine interceptions, it would make sense to work on a new deal with him, but that doesn't quite match where the Cowboys stand in their timeline.
Like coach Mike McCarthy, Prescott is entering his final year. Each will have to earn their future with their performance this season, putting an incredible amount of pressure on the club's leading figures.
"Dak's situation right now for me, from my mirror, has more to do with our situation than it does with the merits of Dak Prescott being the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys," Jones said on Wednesday.
So, Prescott is worth the money, then. The Cowboys just aren't sure they're ready to pony up.
“Yeah, I understand that. That's the business and the nature of this game that we play. Yeah, I mean, I stopped, honestly, listening to things (Jones) says to the media a long time ago," Prescott said, per Archer. "It doesn’t really hold weight with me.”
It hasn't been a great year for contract talks involving Jones, who earlier this month admitted he didn't feel a sense of urgency to sign receiver CeeDee Lamb to a new contract before doubling back to clarify his comments. Eventually, Dallas got a deal done with Lamb.
Prescott, meanwhile, enters 2024 with zero long-term security. That isn't stopping him from taking the ultra-competitive approach to this season.
“You gotta love it. You gotta embrace it," Prescott said of the added pressure that will come, per The Athletic's Jon Machota. "That’s the challenge. We as the players and the coaches don’t have the full say in whether we’re here or not. It’s about us controlling what we can. It’s about sticking together. … Yeah, it’s now.”
Prescott likely knows in most cases he'd already have signed a new deal. Tua Tagovailoa's and Trevor Lawrence's contracts stand as proof that other franchises operate differently than the Cowboys. But he's also acutely aware of the Cowboys' uncertainty as an organization entering 2024 -- and of the message it sends.
The rules have been laid out clearly for all participants this season. Dallas could continue into 2025 with Prescott and McCarthy as the central figures of their franchise if they produce in 2024. But the expectation remains unclear. After failing to advance past the Divisional Round in every season since their Super Bowl-winning 1995 campaign, Dallas is still running from its postseason ghosts. Is an NFC Championship Game appearance required to preserve the McCarthy-Prescott partnership?
Time will only tell. One thing is certain: Prescott isn't thinking about his contract at this moment in time. He knows what's on the line this season.