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The Dallas Cowboys plans to go ‘all in’ this off-season could be ruined by Dak Prescott’s contract, the team has been warned.
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones promised in the wake of the team’s playoff exit that next season will be different.
The buzzwords used by Jones were ‘all in’, with the Cowboys determined to attack Free Agency and bring in new additions to the team. The only coaching change was at defensive coordinator, with Dan Quinn leaving, and Mike Zimmer his replacement.
The problem is finances. Dallas do not know where they stand until Dak Prescott’s contract is sorted out.
Dallas face Dak Prescott problem
Dak Prescott is not one of the top paid NFL quarterbacks, but he will feel like he should be. And the problem is, the Cowboys are in a weak negotiating position. Nobody in Dallas is of the mindset to cast Dak aside and start again, especially Jerry Jones.
NFL expert Mike Florio told The Rich Eisen Show, that Dak Prescott has all the power right now, and the organisation have themselves to blame.
He explains: “Dak Prescott has a tonne of leverage, this is all the Cowboys fault. They didn’t pay him after his third year in the NFL. They rode out the fourth year of his rookie fourth round contract. Then year five, they paid him out of the Franchise Tag. year six is when they realised they were over a barrel.
“And they put a contract in place that has them over a barrel now as he enters the final year of his four year deal that he did after that first Franchise Tag, and technically when the second one had been used. He has them over a barrel now.”
Florio warns that he has no sympathy for Jerry Jones for a situation he later went on to describe as a ‘mess’.
He said: “If Jerry Jones had someone in this kind of posture in any type of business relationship, he would take full advantage of it. So I shed no tears for Jerry Jones. They created this mess and now back Prescott has a chance to exercise full leverage.”
Dallas can’t go ‘all in’ yet
This is a major problem for the Dallas Cowboys entering Free Agency. Typically, negotiations with quarterbacks can drag on for weeks, months. The Cowboys need this sorted out quickly.
Florio adds: “Until you do a new deal with him, you really can’t go ‘all in’.
“They have to hope that Dak Prescott decides to give them a break some way somehow, do a reasonable deal, and leave enough cap space to take care of CeeDee Lamb. Micah Parsons is going to want to get paid. And that’s even before you start thinking about who else might be out there. So, ‘all in’ can have a lot of different meanings.”
There is history in the NFL for quarterbacks taking ‘team friendly’ deals, which enables more star players to join the roster. Tom Brady did this for years at the Patriots. But Dallas have to sell this to Dak Prescott, and he will feel he has already been patient enough, coming out of his rookie deal.
This really is a tough dilemma for the Cowboys to solve, coming out of a very disappointing playoff loss, where fans need something positive to be excited about.