Dak Prescott contract, salary, and no-trade clause – Dallas Cowboys options explored

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It’s among the most stressful times of the year for General Managers (GM) and owners across the NFL.

The offseason for Dallas Cowboys owner/GM Jerry Jones will come with many interesting decisions about who to keep, who to let go and what players he may want to extend long-term.

One decision which may or may not happen this offseason but will be watched closely is what Jones plans to do about Dak Prescott.

Technically, Jones doesn’t have to worry about extending or allowing him to leave until the end of 2024.

However, what he decides to do about his contract will affect their ability to sign new players or retain others.

In 2024, Prescott has a $59.4 million salary cap figure the second-highest behind Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson ($63.97 million).

Prescott has a no-trade clause, meaning he gets to pick his potential destination if he wants out.

They also can’t place the franchise tag on Dak in 2025.

Jones has a few choices on what to do with Prescott between now and the end of 2024: nothing, add voidable years to his deal or sign him to a significant extension.

Staying Put

Carrying Dak’s current salary would make adding or retaining players difficult, though not impossible.

Doing that would require a lot of moving parts, assuming Jones wants to keep the nucleus of this team intact.

Dallas is already considering restructuring the current deals for Zack Martin and Trevon Diggs.

Being able to restructure Diggs’ deal would free up $20 million of cap space.

They could make more room by designating Michael Gallup a post-June 1 cut, gaining $9.5 million in the process, though they wouldn’t get that money until June.

That would make it possible to sign CeeDee Lamb to an extension, lowering his $17.99 million cap figure while making him the highest-paid receiver in the NFL.

If this do nothing option is what Jones decides, it would put Dak in the same boat as Mike McCarthy, i.e. win-or-else.

Adding Voidable Years

In reality, Prescott’s contract runs through 2026, but those last two years will void at the end of next season.

Jones can restructure Prescott’s deal for 2024 and create close to $18 million in cap room.

They could make more space by converting Dak’s $5 million roster bonus, though doing that would increase the dead money in 2025, taking it up to $54 million.

If they add more voidable years on Prescott’s deal, the Cowboys could overspend on free agents in 2024.

The long-term effects of this might not be beneficial, but it could increase their chances of winning the Super Bowl sooner rather than later.

This would essentially be an all-in move, which given they’re in Texas might make sense.

Signing Dak to an extension

Giving Prescott an extension was rumoured to be in the works during the regular season.

Extending him for four, five or six years means the Cowboys have fixed costs regarding his contract, depending on what Dak agrees on.

It took them a while to ink Prescott to an extension in 2021, though that was because the Cowboys pivot chose to wait.

After a busy 2023 offseason, quarterback salaries have soared to an average of around $50 million annually.

We’ll see what kind of worth Jones truly sees in Prescott soon enough.