If the Dallas Cowboys don’t pay Dak Prescott, someone will
The Dallas Cowboys and their star quarterback have themselves a contract. Kind of.
After months of negotiating, the two sides were unable to come to terms on a deal which means Dak Prescott will play the 2020 season on a one-year contract worth $31.4 million.
There was hope that the two sides could figure something out with Dallas making an offer in the $33-$35 million range but the sticking point was the number of years.
Dallas wanted him for five years whereas Prescott wanted four years, which would have allowed him to hit free agency quicker for another big payday.
The night before the deadline, it became apparent no deal would be struck, as tweeted by ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Barring a dramatic last-minute change, the Dallas Cowboys and Dak Prescott are not expected to reach agreement on a new deal before today’s 4 pm deadline, per sources. Prescott is expected to play this season on his on his one-year, $31.4 million franchise tag.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 15, 2020
While it’s not uncommon for the franchise tag to be used, this is a pretty rare situation when it comes to the quarterback position. More often than not, the two sides can come to terms considering the importance of the position but that simply wasn’t the case here.
It could end up being similar to the situation Washington had with Kirk Cousins, who played on back-to-back franchise tags in 2016 and 2017 before signing with the Minnesota Vikings in 2018.
In that scenario, Washington was unsold on their quarterback and the Cowboys’ unwillingness to commit beyond four seasons (especially when the Kansas City Chiefs just gave Patrick Mahomes 10 years) could indicate they too have doubts.
Should that be the case, there’s a real chance that feelings get involved and one side, or the other, could want out. In fact, Prescott is going to be just the third quarterback to play on the tag, with Cousins being the second and Drew Brees did so in 2005 with the San Diego Chargers making him the first. In both of those scenarios, the quarterback played well but ended up leaving their team.
For Prescott, it would be interesting to see him try to leave because there would be no shortage of suitors. With that said, here are four teams that should call Dallas and offer a blockbuster trade for the franchised player.