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The Dallas Cowboys have “made clear to the player privately” they want to extend the stay of quarterback Dak Prescott, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
Fowler reported Sunday on SportsCenter the Cowboys want to have a contract in place before Prescott his free agency next spring. However, there’s “not a lot of progress as of yet” between the two sides.
“Here’s a little bit of a wrinkle,” Fowler explained. “You still have Tua Tagovailoa in Miami who needs to get a deal done. You still have Jordan Love in Green Bay who needs to get a deal done. Dak Prescott has the most leverage of those three, so he very well could be waiting for those two to go first and then he bats clean up with a huge deal that could be a market resetter.”
This comes a day after the Dallas Morning News‘ Calvin Watkins reported the Cowboys are focusing on wide receiver CeeDee Lamb as “their No. 1 priority.”
“According to a person with knowledge of the front office’s thinking, the Cowboys are putting Lamb’s contract extension talks ahead of quarterback Dak Prescott’s,” Watkins wrote.
Between Lamb jumping ahead of Prescott on Dallas’ offseason checklist and Fowler citing the continued lack of headway at the negotiating table, it doesn’t sound like anything will be formalized with the three-time Pro Bowler anytime soon.
Speaking on The Athletic’s Scoop City podcast, Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones hedged when asked by Dianna Russini about the contract situations for Prescott, Lamb, edge-rusher Micah Parsons and head coach Mike McCarthy.
Jones praised the work of Prescott over eight seasons but acknowledged the cost of an extension will be high, adding Dallas has to “play Houdini in how to keep all these guys around Dak and keep these players we were fortunate enough to draft.”
Jones ultimately said the Cowboys remain “optimistic” they’ll make a breakthrough with Prescott, who “understands the challenges” from a salary cap perspective.
The franchise doesn’t have a viable successor lined up — backup Trey Lance didn’t take a single snap in 2023 — and the 2025 free-agent market will be thin at QB if Tagovailoa and Love stay where they are. There simply isn’t a seamless way to replace Prescott ahead of next season.
Re-signing Dak will almost certainly require a salary of $50 million or more based on the current landscape, and Dallas will face a serious crunch if Lamb and Parsons ink market-level extensions as well.
Given how badly the Cowboys want to win another Super Bowl, it’s nonetheless tough to envision Prescott suiting up for anybody else in 2025.