According to one report the priority among Cowboys would-be extensions is quarterback Dak Prescott.
People often act as if this is not the case, but things are allowed to change. By referencing “things” we are noting that information, opinions and everything that falls in between are all permissible to be amended. As time goes on and circumstances are altered, anything and everything is allowed to be reassessed and reevaluated.
On Friday afternoon we got a report on the would-be extension front for the Dallas Cowboys. The news in question runs counter to what we have heard all offseason to this point.
According to ESPN, Dak Prescott is the priority among extension candidates for the Dallas Cowboys
Back in the early days of March it was reported by NFL Network’s Jane Slater that CeeDee Lamb was the priority for the Cowboys in terms of the main three extension candidates on the roster, the other two being Dak Prescott and Micah Parsons.
When this report first emerged we noted how even if you are someone who wants the Cowboys to ensure that Dak Prescott is around for the long-term future of the club, then this made sense given the markets at their respective positions. The wide receiver market had a much more likely chance of being significantly altered this offseason than the quarterback one, and even though signal-callers like Jared Goff and Trevor Lawrence received extensions that will likely impact numbers involving Prescott, that overall idea wound up to be true given the extension that Justin Jefferson got with the Minnesota Vikings. It unquestionably has an impact on CeeDee Lamb.
So you can see how the idea of Lamb being the priority of the team made sense. In the lead up to the NFL draft, ESPN’s Todd Archer made it seem like conversations with Lamb could begin the soonest of the three which doesn’t explicitly say that he was the priority, but it implies that his deal could have happened the earliest. To date nothing has materialized.
Circling back to our present moment, on Friday another ESPNer offered an opinion on this front as Jeremy Fowler discussed the subject on SportsCenter. Bleacher Report kindly transcribed what he had to say, and according to Fowler it could be Prescott who is now the top priority of the front office.
The Dallas Cowboys will reportedly prioritize reaching a contract extension with quarterback Dak Prescott before linebacker Micah Parsons and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler said Friday on SportsCenter.
“You’ve got Dak Prescott. The Cowboys have a world of problems here financially with three players they have to sign—Micah Parsons, CeeDee Lamb as well—but the feeling around the league and sources I’ve talked to is that they want to start with Dak,” Fowler said. “They’ve put it on the table with Dak’s people that ‘Hey look, you’re a priority. We want to try to get something done.’ As far as hard dollars, not a lot of progress yet. I would describe their efforts so far as passive.”
This runs counter to reports from earlier in the offseason (again, things are allowed to change) and also suggest that the Cowboys do want to lock Prescott down to an extension. If that is the case, as we have been saying all along with regards to this subject, then delaying matters the way that have has cost them money in the process. Put more frankly it has been done in about the least efficient manner possible, assuming this is in fact their intention.
Beyond that point though, why would the priorities have suddenly changed? Cards on the table here, it is my opinion and preference that Dallas brings Dak back, but why is he now a more pressing extension to take care of over Lamb? Especially if at some point in time that was not the case? Nothing has happened to change the status quo from a facts standpoint.
Consider that while Goff and Lawrence both received their extensions, there are much fewer boats left in the Quarterback Ocean that could rock the tide. Sure the Miami Dolphins could pay Tua Tagovailoa, but at this point what is one more market-setting (or whatever the Dolphins hypothetically give Tagovailoa) deal to exist among all of the already-known variables?
On the other side of things there are more threats at the wide receiver position from just a quantitative standpoint. Ja’Marr Chase and Brandon Aiyuk are both looking for new deals, and even beyond just two being larger than one, Chase has the potential to reset the wide receiver market himself in a way that Tagovailoa may not be able to at the quarterback position. The point is there is much more volatility lurking at wide receiver.
Now you can certainly argue that the Cowboys have more grains of sand in the hourglass of CeeDee Lamb given that he is entering only the final year of his rookie contract (his fifth-year option season). If Dallas wanted/needed to they could place the franchise tag on him. They are protected from losing him next offseason.
This is, as it has been well-established, not the case with Dak Prescott as he cannot be traded without his consent and cannot have the franchise tag placed upon him. In this manner he is certainly a more pressing situation, but those details were known back in March when it was reported that Lamb was the priority.