Dallas Cowboys: 5 things to know about the Dak Prescott negotiations

Dak Prescott #4 of the Dallas Cowboys (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
Dak Prescott #4 of the Dallas Cowboys (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /
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Here are five things you need to know about the Dallas Cowboys and their negotiations with Dak Prescott

Today, Wednesday July 15th, is the final day for the Dallas Cowboys to ink their franchise signal-caller, Dak Prescott, to multi-year deal. If no deal is made, Prescott will play on the previously signed franchise tag of $31.5 million and enter free agency again in 2021.

Today we take a moment to clarify five things everyone needs to know regarding this situation.

1.Communication lines are open

All indications are the Dallas Cowboys have not scheduled a time to meet with Dak’s representatives before the clock expires…

But that doesn’t, in any way, mean they can’t do so on a moment’s notice. Look, this is a huge day for both parties involved. Both are sitting by the phone ready to talk and each side need only press a button to begin discussions. This doesn’t have to be a formal face-to-face, or even a scheduled conference call. All it takes is a phone and the desire to talk.

2. Deadlines make deals

The reason we’re here is because the Joneses firmly believe “deadlines make deals” and they have a long and storied history of waiting until the final minute to even attempt to make a reasonable offer. Does that mean they intend to do that right before the deadline? We don’t really know, but we know they typically sit on their hands until that final moment so anyone expecting anything before today has been ignoring all recent behavior.

3.It’s about time, not money

A common misconception in this whole thing is that Dak Prescott is asking the Dallas Cowboys for more money and the Cowboys are unwilling to offer it. It’s actually the opposite. Dallas wants to lock Dak up in 5-year-deal while Dak wants just a 4-year deal.

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The Cowboys know the cap is going to go up under the new TV deal so they want the opportunity to underpay Dak for that last year. Not surprisingly, Dak doesn’t want to get underpaid, he wants to get properly paid. That’s why he wants a shorter deal. He wants to roll the dice on his health and ability and get paid market prices that 5th year.

4.Dak has all the leverage

Something we’ve said for quite a while is how much leverage Dak Prescott has in this whole thing. If he refuses to sign a multiyear deal he’ll be set up to make over $31M, $37M, and $45M on the tag over the next three years. The first two are uncomfortable but doable – The last year is absolutely undigestible meaning Dak is basically guaranteed to hit the market after the 2021 season.

Now look at the Dallas Cowboys roster and the offensive-minded coaching staff. It would be shocking if Dallas didn’t have a top-3 offense the next two seasons and perfectly reasonable to expect Dak to put up Mahomes-type numbers each year. As such, Dak is scheduled to be the best free agent QB (in his prime) to hit the market – ever.

Given his durability, there’s no reason for him to concede a thing just for the sake of financial security.

5.No deal means no Dak

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We basically outlined this above but it’s safe to say if no deal is made, Dak doesn’t have much of a future in Dallas. Sure, he’s locked in to play here in 2020. But beyond that, who knows? $37M in 2021 sounds doable but what if the cap drops 20-30% as some are projecting (since reduced fan attendance is going to negatively impact revenues which directly set cap limits)? Suddenly that $37M looks like $45M and Dallas would have to cut most of the roster in order to afford that percentage of the cap.

If no deal is made we can feel pretty confident Dak will only be in Dallas one or two more years and the Cowboys will essentially be rebuilding in 2021.

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Hopefully today brings good news to Cowboys Nation. Dak signs a multiyear deal to stay with the Dallas Cowboys and the Cowboys cement themselves as contenders for the next four-plus years. Buckle up.

  • Published on 07/15/2020 at 11:01 AM
  • Last updated at 07/15/2020 at 10:37 AM