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Dallas Cowboys star quarterback Dak Prescott is entering the final year of his current contract, but the team reportedly has no intentions of letting him hit the open market.
According to Josina Anderson of CBS Sports, “While there’s currently no offer or imminent talks, the team is not presently charting a path to let Prescott go to free agency, despite some chatter to the contrary.”
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported on Tuesday that Prescott and the Cowboys “have a mutual understanding that there will be no adjustment to his contract entering the 2024 season.” Anderson noted that Dallas “has not closed off [the] potential to consummate a deal for him this year.” Team owner Jerry Jones said Tuesday that he’s not worried about Prescott’s future with the Cowboys.
“We are where we are. We have our contract,” he said. “We’re locked and loaded for this year, and we can see as we move along how we are thinking.”
After signing a four-year, $160 million contract in 2021 that included no-trade and no-tag clauses, Prescott is set to count for a $55.45 million cap hit this year. Many expected that the Cowboys would look to put together a new deal that would extend Prescott while also reducing his cap number for 2024, but that doesn’t appear to be happening anytime soon.
Prescott has produced at a level comparable to some of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, so he is likely hoping to be paid as such with his next deal. Per Over The Cap, four quarterbacks make an average annual salary of over $50 million, led by Cincinnati Bengals star Joe Burrow’s $55 million per year.
Prescott still has a ton of leverage in contract negotiations, so it will be interesting to see if he chooses to play out the year and test free agency next offseason, which would surely make the Cowboys sweat.
