Dak Prescott was suspended for two months.
Dallas cowboy coach suspended Dak Prescott for two months because he was caught
The quarterback’s $59.4 million salary cap is the second highest in the NFL, ranking behind Deshaun Watson of the Cleveland Browns. Prescott signed a four-year, $160 million contract with a $126 million guarantee after the 2020 season. This is the last year of the agreement.
According to Prescott’s contract, the Cowboys are not allowed to give him the franchise tag in 2025. In addition, he has a no-trade clause, which essentially limits his trade options to teams he approves of. Russell Wilson was traded from the Seattle Seahawks to the Denver Broncos despite having a no-trade clause. A revised deal, similar to what happened to enable Aaron Rodgers’ transfer from the Green Bay Packers to the New York Jets, would be necessary for any such move of Prescott in order to make it more agreeable for the Cowboys against the cap.
For a number of reasons, including the Cowboys’ desire to win badly in 2024 and their belief that Prescott can help them do it, a trade is still unlikely.
However, the Prescott question is more about 2025 and later than it is about 2024.
Regarding Prescott and his contract, the Cowboys have three choices: take no action, give him voidable years, or sign him to a large contract extension.
Let’s investigate:
Take no action.
In 2024, would the Cowboys be able to afford Prescott’s $59.4 million salary cap? Indeed.
Does that make it harder to bring in players or hold on to the players they want to keep? Indeed.
However, it’s not unfeasible. Additionally, it places coach Mike McCarthy, who is also approaching the last year of his deal, on the same win-or-else path as Prescott. Given that the organization cannot tag Prescott in 2025 and that he would be entering real, unrestricted free agency for the first time at the age of 31, it also provides Prescott additional negotiating leverage.
In order to free up roughly $20 million in salary space, the Cowboys already have plans to restructure the contracts of All-Pro guard Zach Martin and cornerback Trevon Diggs, who is recovering from an ACL tear. For Terence Steele, the right tackle, they can also rework the contract. They would not add that room until June, but they would gain $9.5 million by designating wide receiver Michael Gallup as a post-June 1 cut.
They have the option to extend the contract of All-Pro receiver CeeDee Lamb, which would actually bring his cap figure down to $17.99 million and make him the highest-paid receiver in the league.
Although there are ways to get over the cap and continue funding projects into the future, it is not a myth.
By restructuring Prescott’s contract once more for 2024, the Cowboys will free up almost $18 million in cap space. If they converted his $5 million roster bonus, they could make a little bit more. However, that would result in more dead money—more than $54 million—by 2025. Additionally, the $54 million would be added to his 2025 cap amount if the Cowboys sign him to a new contract following the 2024 campaign.
The Cowboys have the option to give Prescott two additional voidable years in 2024 in order to increase their cap room this year, but in 2025, the same dead money would still be owed. By spending money on free agency, the Cowboys could make 2024 an all-in season by adding more voidable years, but doing so would make things prohibitively expensive for 2025 and beyond.
Fans will do almost everything to increase their chances of capturing the Vince Lombardi Trophy as a Super Bowl drought approaches thirty years.
Give Prescott a longer term.
The Cowboys will have fixed expenses at the quarterback position by signing Prescott to an extension of four, five, or six years, depending on what the quarterback would agree to. This is always a good thing when the numbers are this big.
They would also receive temporary reprieve from the pay cap.
The Finest in NFL Country
In 2021, it took the Cowboys a long time to sign Prescott. In 2019, they believed they had reached an agreement, but they never actually communicated again. The story that is often told is not that they did not attempt to sign Prescott. Prescott opted to postpone. Even after suffering a catastrophic injury to his right ankle, he played for a year on the franchise tag and earned all he wanted in his new contract.
He is back there theoretically because the Cowboys are unable to apply the franchise tag. Furthermore, the average annual salary for quarterbacks has skyrocketed to above $50 million. Prescott’s pay (as a percentage of his salary cap hit) is $40 million, which ties him for the tenth highest quarterback salary. Joe Burrow, with $55 million, is the market leader. He has attended two AFC Championship Games and one Super Bowl.
Prescott is still waiting to play in his first NFC Championship Game despite starting eight seasons.In his ninth season, Peyton Manning not only won two MVP awards but also made it to his first Super Bowl.It was Matt Ryan’s first—and only—in his ninth season as an Atlanta Falcon. Since 1980, only Ken Anderson of the Bengals has started ten or more seasons before to winning his first Super Bowl.
In his tenth season, is Prescott able to defy the odds and reach one?
It seems from history that the answer is no.
The Cowboys must also ask themselves if they would be paying Prescott out of obligation or out of want.
