As it is said during the trading season, the sooner you decide, the less you spend in the market! However, it seems Jerry Jones and his franchise haven’t understood this fact, or if they have, they are not taking it seriously, despite his “all-in” approach. As a result, the Dallas Cowboys and their quarterback, Dak Prescott, are reportedly in a bewildering situation.

Prescott is currently entering the 2024 season with the final year of a four-year, $160 million deal he signed in 2021. Reports indicate that there has been little to no advancement in contract negotiations between both parties. One notable aspect of Prescott’s contract is that he holds a no-trade clause, meaning the Cowboys cannot trade him without consent. Additionally, after the 2024 season, the team will not be able to use the franchise tag on the QB, potentially complicating future negotiations. Hence, this situation highlights the urgency for both parties to reach an agreement before Prescott becomes a free agent. So, what should they do? Among multiple suggestions by many analysts, broadcaster Mike Florio comes up with another.

3 reasons behind this difficult contract situation:

In a recent episode of NFL on NBC, on July 2, broadcaster Mike Florio explained the salary cap problem and revealed the reason behind this situation. Additionally, Florio highlighted the pressing issues facing the Cowboys regarding their key players, particularly Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, and Micah Parsons. He emphasized that the Cowboys are in a precarious situation due to their failure to secure long-term contracts for these stars. With Prescott’s contract situation looming large currently – threatening significant cap charges – Florio criticized the Cowboys for their 3 major mistakes.

He expressed, “I’ve said time and again, throughout this offseason, when it comes to figuring out how to properly pay their young star players, the Cowboys are cheap, shortsighted, and not as smart as they think they are, otherwise, they wouldn’t be in this current conundrum with Dak Prescott, who has them over a barrel even in a more precarious state than they were three years ago, when they did his current contract.”

The 59-year-old host also pointed out the risk of discontent among players like Lamb and Parsons, suggesting that their absence from training camp could escalate into a major problem for the team. To overcome the issue from Prescott’s side, Florio suggested Ezekiel Elliott’s last approach. This implies that Prescott should consider ‘holding out,’ similar to Elliott’s stance, to pressure the Cowboys into meeting his contract demands.

Although the exact value of his demand isn’t disclosed, it’s reported that it might be around $60 million. Meanwhile, it seems Prescott isn’t interested in either holding out or making any specific demands.

Dak Prescott isn’t interested in money?

Even though this storyline continues to hit Dallas and the NFL regularly, with many tiring of it, quarterback Dak Prescott has kept his patience level up to the mark. After the Cowboys’ OTAs in May, the quarterback admitted, “I don’t play for money. Never have never cared for it, to be honest with you, yeah. Would give it up just to play this game. So, I allow that to the business people to say what it’s worth, what they’re supposed to give a quarterback of my play, a person of my play, a leader of my play. For me, it’s about, as I said, control what I can control and handle that part and the rest will take care of itself.”

The Cowboys have disappointed fans for decades due to their lack of postseason success. Although Prescott may not be the same as other top QBs, he has impressive regular season stats. Over eight years in the league, Prescott ranks third in wins, eight in yards and sixth in touchdowns among all NFL QBs. However, his failings in the postseason, has led to criticism. Delaying a deal poses significant risks for the Cowboys. The longer they wait, the more leverage Prescott gains to demand a higher salary. If they let him go, other teams will be prepared to dish out the demanded cash to acquire him. And here, Cowboys will be left with Trey Lance as a backup with limited experience, who would also need a contract extension at the end of the season.

Hence, Dallas must decide if they want to have an arguably low-quality quarterback for an unknown number of years; or they prefer to keep a quarterback who at least leads the team into the playoffs consistently.