Dak Prescott is heading into the final season of his contract with the Dallas Cowboys and is set to become a free agent at the end of the year if the two sides can’t work out a deal. Simply put, the Cowboys are running out of time to sign Prescott to a new deal and risk losing their franchise quarterback to free agency, and it doesn’t sound like much progress has been made, either.
According to a report from Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News, there has been “little progress” on a new contract that would keep Dak Prescott with the team beyond this upcoming season.
It’s not clear whether or not this will result in Prescott holding out during training camp, though he did attend voluntary and mandatory workouts last month. Watkins reports that wide receiver CeeDee Lamb – who is also seeking a new contract – is expected to hold out if he does not have a new contract by training camp.
Obviously, this puts the Cowboys and head coach Mike McCarthy in a pretty difficult spot.
“McCarthy can’t control how contract extensions are distributed but has said in the past he understands how NFL business works, particularly the Cowboys’ way of handling contracts,” Watkins wrote for the Dallas Morning News.
“Cowboys’ officials have said the organization doesn’t want to set the salary market when it comes to retaining players. But the Cowboys received criticism for waiting too long to re-sign their own, particularly Prescott who seeks a third contract.”
The Cowboys may not want to set the market for player salary, but their lack of urgency to get a deal done in Prescott’s situation could result in them losing their star quarterback.
If Prescott does leave following this season, this would have severe salary cap ramifications for the Cowboys. Based on the way Prescott’s contract is structured, the Cowboys will be taking a significant salary cap hit multiple years after his departure even if he is no longer playing for the team.
Simply put, if the team does not sign Prescott to a new contract, the team will take a total cap charge of nearly $96 million in his name over the next two league years while he is not even playing for the team.
Needless to say, this is a major problem for the Cowboys, but there does not seem to be a lot of urgency to solve it.
