Following the Cowboys' 48-32 collapse against the Green Bay Packers in the wild-card round of the 2024 NFL playoffs, a vocal contingent of the Cowboys' fanbase wanted to see quarterback Dak Prescott shown the door, especially after second-seeded Dallas got beaten soundly by the NFC's seventh seed.
That will not be happening. In fact, team executive vice president Stephen Jones revealed Tuesday at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis that the front office hasn't even considered the idea of Prescott wearing another uniform. Dallas "absolutely" wants to sign their quarterback to another long-term extension.
"Our whole thing with Dak is him being a Cowboy," Jones said, per The Athletic. "That's all that's on our mind ... "He [Prescott] certainly does everything in his way to make everybody better and hold people accountable. He sets a high bar and a high standard."
However, he made it very clear no one should be expecting regular updates on how contract talks are progressing.
"Hopefully, we'll continue to make progress and communicate, but it's not going to be something ... sorry to tell you guys, but we're not going to be giving reports on how things are going," Jones said, per the Dallas Morning News.
Prescott's $59.5 million cap hit in 2024 is the second highest in the NFL behind only Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson's $64 million. He enters the final year of his current contract (four years, $160 million) with a no-franchise tag clause and a no-trade clause. Prescott and his representatives possess all the leverage. A four- or five-year deal securing his services for his age 31 through age 35 or 36 seasons is the Cowboys' best path forward. Prescott produced his most efficient season of his eight-year career in 2023, registering a 105.9 passer rating, the second best in the entire league behind 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy's 113.0 rating.
Prescott became the first Cowboys quarterback to lead the NFL outright in passing touchdowns (36) in the 2023 season.
| Prescott (2023 season) | NFL QB RANK | |
|---|---|---|
Completion Pct | 69.5% | 2nd |
| Pass Yards | 4,516 | 3rd |
Pass Yards/Att | 7.7 | 6th |
Pass TD | 36 | 1st |
TD-INT | 36-9 | 2nd |
Passer Rating | 105.9 | 2nd |
| Expected Points Added/Play | 0.18 | 2nd |
Thanks to the latest round of Pro Bowl quarterback extensions signed by Joe Burrow (five years, $275 million), Justin Herbert (five years, $262.5 million), Lamar Jackson (five years, $260 million) and Jalen Hurts (five years, $255 million), Dallas will likely have to give Prescott a contract with an average annual salary of at least $50 million. Jerry Jones declared the Cowboys will operate differently in 2024 and be "all-in."
Signing not only Prescott, but also 2023 First-Team All-Pro wide receiver CeeDee Lamb -- entering the final season of his rookie deal in 2024 -- and three-time All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons -- extension eligible for the first time this offseason as he now has three years of experience -- would allow the Cowboys' front office to structure some of their largest cap hits to be distributed further down the line.
"We got ways to adjust his [Prescott's] cap number for this season," Stephen Jones said. "Obviously between Dak and Micah and CeeDee, the salary cap is real for us. We want to do deals with all three of them. Do you get to do everything you want to do with the salary cap? I don't think any team does. But we're certainly going to be able to go out and go to work and get the things done that we feel like we need to get done to be successful. We won't expand on any details -- timing, amount."
Jones was also asked about his father's stance that things will be different in 2024 following his all-in proclamation, and he insisted that has always been the Cowboys' mindset. Dallas is the first team since at least the 1970 AFL/NFL merger to win 12 or more games in three consecutive seasons and not make a conference championship game appearance in any of the seasons in that span.
"I've never known Jerry not to be all-in in any given year, but certainly we've got a great, I think great team put together," Jones said. "The last three years [we've] won a lot of football games -- I think 36 -- and I think certainly, where we have to improve is the postseason. ... We've gotta get the right kind of guys who step up and make big plays in the postseason. It's been a challenge in terms of our success there, and that's where we have to improve."
Dallas appeared to have what it needed to make a deep run in 2023 after having 10 Pro Bowl players: Prescott, Parsons, Lamb, left guard Tyler Smith, right guard Zack Martin, tight end Jake Ferguson, defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence, cornerback DaRon Bland, kicker Brandon Aubrey and punter Bryan Anger. Yet they fell short anyways calling into question the team's mindset or culture. Jones pushed back on the notion that their culture has anything to do with the team not advancing as far as the conference championship round since the 1995 season.
"I think from the organization on down, we feel good about our culture. You always want to be better, I will say that," Jones said, per The Athletic. "If your results aren't winning the Super Bowl, then it's 'Well how do you be the last guy standing?' I think overall between organizationally, between our coach, our personnel department. Our leadership on our team is outstanding. You're always going to have somebody who is going to say something. That's their particular thought process on why we may have come up short, but in general, personally I don't think it's an issue."
Now, the Cowboys' roster improvement process to address the issues they believe they have begins this week at the NFL Combine.
"Obviously being here at the combine is gonna be a great time to spend some time in terms of looking not only at the young players that are gonna be out there but just spending time together, internally, spending a lot of time talking about what we have to get accomplished, we think, in order to take the next step," Jones said.