The Dallas Cowboys seem to be preparing for a world without Dak Prescott as early as 2025. Prescott and the Cowboys are reportedly in a mutual agreement about his current contract, which expires after the 2024 season. Prescott counts nearly $56 million against the Cowboys' salary cap this year, but his future with the organization has frankly been in question for quite some time now.
As Ian Rapoport of NFL Network spells out for everyone, the latest development with Dallas and its franchise QB seems to signal he will be able to hit free agency in 2025. "The path is cleared," as it were.
This appears to clears the path for Dak Prescott to test free agency in 2025. https://t.co/HAA34sKKjF
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 26, 2024
So what might the future hold for Prescott? Him hitting NFL free agency in 2025 would be the premier storyline of the offseason, and many teams would be interested. But Dak would almost certainly have his list narrowed down to teams with the best foundation already laid, the best coaching, and the best offer financially.
Depending on how this coming season goes, Prescott could set an NFL record with his next contract, a deal north of $55 million per season. Who would be willing to pay that? Let's look at a handful of teams in position to afford it.
1. New England Patriots
The New England Patriots are in a unique situation with the 3rd overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. Do they stay put and take the best quarterback on their board, or do they start loading up future assets and preparing themselves to make a pitch to Dak Prescott in 2025?
As things currently stand, no NFL team has more projected 2025 salary cap space than the Patriots with nearly $160 million in total cap space. There's no doubt that this franchise will be motivated to find the long-term answer as they've been drifting in purgatory at the QB position since Tom Brady left for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
With more cap space than any other team, and the potential that they might not take a QB with that third overall pick (instead trading it to the highest bidder), maybe the Patriots would be the most motivated to make a deal with Prescott next offseason.
2. Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers have been a really good football team these last few years despite the fact that their offense has been a problem. And to say the offense in Pittsburgh has been a problem would be putting it kindly.
In all honesty, Kenny Pickett was a horrible first round experiment. The Steelers took a swing and missed badly on Mitchell Trubisky. This is a team that wasted two years of a championship-caliber defense on those quarterbacks. This year, they are taking a shot on either Russell Wilson or Justin Fields. Maybe we'll see both.
Either way, there's not a guarantee that any of those guys will become a long-term solution. The Steelers are equipped with $102.2 million in projected 2025 salary cap space.
3. Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings seem poised to trade multiple draft picks to move up in 2024 to get the guy they want, but who knows if that's ultimately going to happen?
With Kirk Cousins leaving Minnesota for Atlanta this offseason, there's no doubt that the Vikings -- who have been aggressive under Kwesi Adofo-Mensah at GM -- should be considered one of the biggest threats to make a move like this.
Plus, having a weapon like Justin Jefferson could give them a massive recruiting edge. Even with Jefferson's future extension in mind, the Vikings have over $102 million in projected 2025 cap space.
4. Las Vegas Raiders
The Las Vegas Raiders have the least 2025 cap space of any team on this list, but they are still projected to have over $54 million in available space to work with. That's plenty to work with and plenty to comfortably go after a player of Dak Prescott's caliber.
The Raiders have one other big advantage over every other team on this list: Prescott wouldn't have to pay any income tax in the state of Nevada.
They could offer him a record-setting contract and get that elusive franchise QB as they look to compete in the AFC West with Justin Herbert and MVP Patrick Mahomes.
5. Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos have over $90 million in projected cap space for the 2025 offseason, and they're looking to get the bitter taste of the Russell Wilson deal out of their mouths as quickly as possible. Sean Payton would be a fantastic fit for Dak Prescott and the Broncos would have the assets to be able to properly surround Dak with talent.
Denver has assembled a strong offensive line and they are poised to further strengthen their roster by finally getting back into the 1st round of the 2025 NFL Draft. Even if the Broncos go after a QB with that first-round selection, it wouldn't be shocking in the slightest to see them go all in on a player like Prescott next year.