What will Cowboys do with Dak Prescott’s contract?

FRISCO, Texas — The Dallas Cowboys' 2024 offseason will be defined by what happens with Dak Prescott's contract.

The quarterback has a salary cap hit of $59.4 million, the second-highest in the NFL behind Deshaun Watson of the Cleveland Browns. This is the final year of the four-year, $160 million deal Prescott signed after the 2020 season, which included $126 million guaranteed.

Prescott's contract states that the Cowboys cannot place the franchise tag on him in 2025. He also has a no-trade clause, although all that really means is that he can only be traded to one team which meets with his approval. Likewise, Russell Wilson had a no-trade clause and was traded from the Seattle Seahawks to the Denver Broncos. Such a Prescott trade would require a reworked contract to make him more palatable to the Cowboys' cap space, which is what happened to facilitate the trade of Aaron Rodgers to the New York Jets from the Green Bay Packers.

Still, a trade is unlikely for a variety of reasons, starting with the fact that the Cowboys really want to win in 2024 and believe Prescott can help them get there.

But Prescott's question isn't so much about 2024 as it is about 2025 and beyond.

The Cowboys have three options with Prescott and his contract: do nothing, add voidable years to his contract, or sign him to a massive contract extension.

Let's explore:

Do not do anything

Can the Cowboys hit Prescott's $59.4 million cap hit in 2024? Yes.

Does that make it harder to add players or retain the guys they want to keep? Yes.

But it is not impossible. And that puts Prescott on the same path to victory or otherwise as coach Mike McCarthy, who is also entering the final year of his contract. It also gives Prescott more leverage in negotiations, given the team can't tag him in 2025 and he would face true unrestricted free agency for the first time at age 31.

The Cowboys already plan to restructure the contracts of All-Pro guard Zack Martin and cornerback Trevon Diggs, who is returning from a torn ACL, which could net them about $20 million in cap space. They may also restructure right tackle Terence Steele's deal. They can designate wide receiver Michael Gallup after June 1 and earn $9.5 million, although they wouldn't add that cap space until June.

They can sign All-Pro receiver CeeDee Lamb to an extension that would actually reduce his cap hit by $17.99 million and make him the highest-paid receiver in the game.

The cap is not a myth, but there are ways to get around the cap and invest in the future.

Add other voidable years

Technically, Prescott is signed through 2026, but the final two years of the deal are void at the end of the 2024 season.

The Cowboys can restructure Prescott's contract again for 2024 and create about $18 million in cap space. They could create a few more if they converted his $5 million bonus. But that would increase dead money in 2025, bringing it to more than $54 million. And if the Cowboys sign him to a new deal after the 2024 season, the $54 million would be added to his 2025 cap hit.

The Cowboys can add two more voidable years to Prescott's deal in 2024 and create even more cap space this year, but the same dead money would be scheduled for 2025. Adding additional voidable years would allow the Cowboys to making 2024 all-in-one. season by spending money in free agency, but that would make things cost-prohibitive in 2025 and beyond.

When a Super Bowl drought approaches three decades, fans will be willing to do just about anything if it means having a better chance of winning a Vince Lombardi Trophy.

Sign Prescott to an extension

By signing Prescott to a four, five or six year extension, depending on what the quarterback would agree to, the Cowboys will have fixed costs at the quarterback position, which is always a good thing when the numbers get this big.

And it would provide them with salary cap relief in the short term.

It took a while for the Cowboys to sign Prescott in 2021. They thought they had a deal in place in 2019 and never really got close again. It's not that they didn't try to sign Prescott, which has become an oft-repeated narrative. That’s because Prescott chose to wait. He played one year with the franchise and got everything he wanted in his new contract, even after a terrible right ankle injury.

Theoretically, he's in this position again because the Cowboys can't use the franchise tag. And now, quarterback contracts have ballooned to an average of more than $50 million per year. At $40 million, Prescott's annual salary (as opposed to his salary cap) is tied for 10th among quarterbacks. Joe Burrow is at the top of the market with $55 million. He appeared in one Super Bowl and two AFC Championship Games.

After eight seasons as a starter, Prescott is still looking for his first appearance in an NFC championship game. Peyton Manning appeared in his first Super Bowl in his ninth year but already had two MVPs. Matt Ryan entered his first – and only – ninth season with the Atlanta Falcons. Since 1980, only Ken Anderson of the Bengals has started more seasons (10) before reaching his first Super Bowl.

Can Prescott turn things around and get one in his ninth season?

History suggests the answer is no.

And the Cowboys have to ask themselves this question: Would they pay Prescott because they want to or because they have to?