Dak Prescott carries all the leverage in negotiations with Cowboys — and he knows it (2024)

FRISCO, Texas — On Thursday, a few days after the Dallas Cowboys handed CeeDee Lamb the monster contract extension the superstar wide receiver was seeking, quarterback Dak Prescott was asked whether he’s next.

“Not really sure,” Prescott said. “Not in my focus anymore, to be honest with you. Told you guys that, really, can’t say ever was really my focus.”

Prescott said he’s “not going to be a part of them here as the season starts,” leaving those talks up to agent Todd France and the Cowboys.

“My job and my focus now is to control what I can,” Prescott said. “As I said well back in camp, it’s two parts to this. Both sides have to come to the agreement.”

During a three-question exchange that followed, Prescott was asked whether he needed a contract extension done before the season begins.

“I don’t need a — no,” Prescott said. “No.”

Would he like a deal to be done before the season?

“I think it says a lot, if it is or if it isn’t,” Prescott said. “But however, it doesn’t really matter to me, to be honest with you.”

Well, what does it say?

“Just how people feel,” Prescott said.

When pressed on who are the “people” he’s referring to, Prescott cracked a smile.

“Go write about that,” Prescott said.

Dak Prescott on the uncertainty heading into this season for so many Cowboys players and coaches and winning now: “You gotta love it. You gotta embrace it. 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… pic.twitter.com/SNhzDgdo6F

— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) August 29, 2024

Since Dak Prescott arrived in Dallas in 2016 as a rookie fourth-round pick, thrown right into the fire as the face of a quarterback controversy for America’s Team, the Cowboys quarterback has been calculated. He doesn’t say everything in front of microphones and cameras, but he’s intentional about what he does say.

After the aforementioned exchange, Prescott was told he opened the door to that line of questioning.

“Yeah, I know,” Prescott said, shrugging it off.

Prescott understands the unique dynamics that come into play with the franchise, not only at his marquee position but also all of the hoopla around it, often from within the building.

When Prescott was asked about his reaction to owner and general manager Jerry Jones saying Prescott’s extension was more about the cap ramifications than Prescott’s merits, the 31-year-old started off diplomatically.

“Yeah, I understand that,” Prescott said. “That’s the business and the nature of this game that we play.”

Then, Prescott added: “I stopped, honestly, listening to things he says to the media a long time ago. It doesn’t really hold weight with me.”

Prescott understands his leverage — he has virtually all of it. Aside from the misfortune of a catastrophic injury, Prescott is staring at perhaps the biggest payday in NFL history. That can happen now, by virtue of an extension with the Cowboys, or in 2025, with the Cowboys or with any other team jostling for his services.

In Mike Sando’s annual quarterback tiers, Prescott checked in as the league’s No. 9 quarterback. He’s been a Tier 2 quarterback for each of the past five iterations of the comprehensive project. This year, one executive from an NFC East rival placed the 2023 MVP runner-up in Tier 1. One defensive coordinator demoted him to Tier 3 status.

The Prescott evaluation was best summed up, though, by an offensive play caller who spoke to Sando.

“Dak can roll out of bed and throw for 450,” the play caller said. “It’s unbelievable. It’s just those moments in the playoffs against the Niners or Packers where, if you want to be Tier 1, one of these times you’re going to have to put that team on your back and will your team to a win.”

In five of his seven seasons as a full-time starter, Prescott has led the Cowboys to the playoffs. In each of the last three years, the Cowboys have won 12 games per season, winning the NFC East twice.

For all of that success, Prescott has two playoff wins to show for it.

The dilemma is that evaluating Prescott’s success as a quarterback and evaluating his next contract don’t completely go hand-in-hand. In a matter of supply and demand, quality quarterbacks are low in supply.

Right below Prescott on the quarterback tiers is Jared Goff (No. 10). The Detroit Lions just made him the fifth-highest-paid quarterback in the league by average annual value (AAV) with an AAV of $53 million. The last quarterback in Tier 2 is Jordan Love, ranked 14th overall. The first two quarterbacks in Tier 3 are Tua Tagovailoa and Trevor Lawrence. Love and Lawrence each received contract extensions this summer to tie them with Joe Burrow for the highest AAV in the NFL at $55 million. Tagovailoa is right behind them at $53.1 million AAV.

Love and Lawrence are ranked lower than Prescott, but one can explain the top-dollar contract by their perceived upsides as young quarterbacks. Even though Tagovailoa is a little older, maybe a similar argument could be made for him. But Goff is Prescott’s 2016 draft mate. He’s a guy the Los Angeles Rams traded away to win the Super Bowl, despite reaching the Super Bowl with him.

On Wednesday, Jones dismissed the notion that the risk of losing Prescott worried him. When he was asked what else Prescott needs to show him to earn the extension, Jones said, “You could easily say, if you hadn’t seen it by now, you haven’t seen it.” So far, what the Cowboys have seen from Prescott is high-quality regular seasons followed by quick playoff exits. That’s not what Jones’ goal is, but as the Cowboys aim to go even higher, a dark reality looms.

“Without (Prescott), they would be a very average or marginal team,” one exec told Sando.

Prescott sounds like a man who knows that.

(Photo: Cooper Neill / Getty Images)

Saad Yousuf is a staff writer covering the Dallas Cowboys and Dallas Stars. He also works at 96.7/1310 The Ticket in Dallas after five years at ESPN Dallas radio. Prior to The Athletic, Saad covered the Cowboys for WFAA, the Mavericks for Mavs.com and a variety of sports at The Dallas Morning News, ESPN.com and SB Nation. Follow Saad on Twitter @SaadYousuf126