Will a deal get done? That is likely the biggest question at the heart of many Dallas Cowboys fans this offseason, and it isn’t exclusive to just one player. The question can be applied to two-time All-Pro left tackle Tyron Smith, quarterback Dak Prescott, and even receiver CeeDee Lamb, who is heading into the final year of his rookie contract.
However, the question is most relevant to Prescott, who is currently set to cost nearly $60 million against the Cowboys cap if an extension is not signed. That is certainly a heavy burden for any one player to bear on a team financially heading into potentially a very important offseason in Dallas.
Yet, even while time is seemingly running out on the Cowboys to get a deal done with Prescott before the beginning of free agency, which officially kicks off on March 11 with the “legal tampering period,” he remains confident it will get done.
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“I’m definitely confident,” Prescott said when asked about a potential contract extension during Monday’s Children’s Cancer Fund event. “It helps the team, and it’s important for the numbers… It’s a process, and both sides understand that. Everything is great. It’ll happen.”
It is a more optimistic answer from Prescott than the one that Jerry Jones gave reporters while at the NFL Scouting Combine.
“We don’t need to, but we can if everybody wants to solve it,” Jones said about extending Prescott. “You can get in and get on the same page and see if you can come to an agreement. If you can’t, what we have in place works.”
And Jones isn’t wrong in his assessment that the Cowboys “don’t need to” re-sign Prescott. While letting Prescott go into next season on an expiring contract may not be the most comfortable option, the Cowboys can function without an extension.
If that is the avenue Dallas goes down, then there is the “band-aid” option where the Cowboys can utilize the two void years on Prescott’s deal through restructuring to reduce his $59.4 million cap hit.
And while that may be appealing to those in the fanbase who don’t believe Prescott is worth another extension, it is hard to deny the fact that signing him to a new deal is the most cost-effective solution.
Per OverTheCap, the Cowboys’ “band-aid” option would only net them $18 million in additional cap space, compared to $26 million if a new deal is signed. Combine that with Prescott’s current contract already giving him a no-trade and no franchise tag clause, and the ball is truly in his court when it comes to who has the leverage.
However, even after a season where Prescott finished as the runner-up for the league’s MVP award while throwing for 4,516 yards, 36 touchdowns, and nine interceptions, an extension is still uncertain.
