The Dallas Cowboys crossed off one big item on their to-do list by inking CeeDee Lamb to a long-term extension. Dak Prescott and Micah Parsons should be next.
Prescott is the more pressing, as he remains headed toward free agency in 2025 without a new deal.
Cowboys owner and GM Jerry Jones said Wednesday that negations with the star quarterback remain unchanged.
"It'll remain like it's been," Jones said via ESPN.
NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported way back in March that Prescott was expected to play out the final year of his contract. Nothing has changed the calculus as we barrel toward the 2024 season.
"We don't need to get this done before the season," Jones said per Clarence Hill of DLLS. "We just don't need to get it done before the season. Because it's in all of our interest, Dak and everybody, to have a great season. And as a matter of fact, that's probably not realistic to think before the season. But my thought sitting right here is we'll have Dak [as Cowboys quarterback in 2025 and beyond]. But all I'm going to say is this: It's not done yet."
Prescott hasn't indicated that he wouldn't play sans a new deal, and given the exorbitant amount of leverage he currently holds, why would he? Injury is the biggest concern at this stage, and given that that sort of issue didn't stop Kirk Cousins from cashing in during free agency, Prescott has little worry he won't get paid if he hits the open market.
Jones was asked what more he needed to see from the three-time Pro Bowl quarterback entering Year 9.
"You could easily say, 'If you haven't seen it by now, you haven't seen it,'" he said. "I'm such a fan of Dak's and appreciate all of the great things that we all know that is there. And I appreciate his work ethic more than anything out here. I can't tell you how proud I am that we've got him this year to start this campaign. ... When you look at a situation, you've got also got to weigh, 'OK, what are the consequences of the other side of the coin?' And so 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."
With a new deal for Dak continuing to appear unlikely before the start of the season, it will be a narrative that casts a shadow over the Cowboys 2024 campaign -- for better or worse.
