\nEditor's Choice<\/h2>\n 2 Related<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n
“But there are other guys that sometimes it takes time to continue to learn the game, to get better. I certainly think Dak falls into that category, and I think Tony was in that category before the injuries .”<\/p>\n
Age favors Prescott's opportunity for at least one more run.<\/p>\n
Romo was 34 for his last chance in 2014, his last full season, with a body that was faltering mainly because of back problems that required multiple surgeries.<\/p>\n
Although the lasting memory of that 26-21 divisional-round loss to the Packers was Dez Bryant's overturned catch late in the fourth quarter, there was one from Romo that day, too. About an hour after that crushing defeat in sweltering temperatures outside Lambeau Field, he shared a long hug with his family before boarding the team bus, as if he knew he wouldn't have not a better chance.<\/p>\n
Prescott turns 31 in July and has played every game this season for the first time since 2019, while leading the NFL in touchdown passes (36). Like Romo, he suffered serious injuries, such as a dislocated and fractured right ankle in 2020, and a broken right thumb that forced him to miss five games in 2022, but he believes his off-field habits made him stronger and more durable.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou always look at the greats and what they do, and you see guys like LeBron [James]Tom Brady, have these methods and spend millions of dollars on their body every year, and you wonder why,” Prescott said. “And it's obvious when they play as long as they have played at such a high level that this is what I need to do to feel comfortable.”<\/p>\n\nJust like they did with Tony Romo, the Cowboys will have another significant contract decision with Dak Prescott this offseason. AP Photo\/Michael Ainsworth<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/aside>\nTHE BIG QUESTION<\/strong> For the Cowboys regarding Prescott, this offseason is not about health, but about the contract.<\/p>\nHe is about to enter the final year of his contract and will count $59.4 million against the 2024 salary cap. Dallas' options this offseason include:<\/p>\n
\n\nExtend Prescott's contract, which would make him one of the highest-paid quarterbacks in the NFL, but give them space to retain their own players or add free agents.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
\nSimply playing out Prescott's final year, knowing they won't be able to use the franchise tag on him in 2025, which would make him an unrestricted free agent.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
\nAdding more voidable years to his contract to make his 2024 cap number more palatable, while also knowing they will add more dead money to the cap in future years.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\nThe best of NFL Nation<\/h2>\n
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In 2013, the Cowboys faced a similar contract dilemma with Romo. They were unable to put the franchise tag on him due to contract terms, and he signed a six-year, $108 million extension through 2019 that included $40 million in guaranteed money. At the time of signing, the annual average of $18 million made Romo the sixth highest paid quarterback.<\/p>\n
Like Romo then, Prescott now holds leverage in negotiations \u2014 although, unlike in 2013, the Cowboys have a young quarterback that intrigues them in 2021, third overall pick Trey Lance, whom they acquired from the San Francisco 49ers early in the season for a fourth-round draft pick. Lance, 23, hasn't taken a snap this season and has 102 career pass attempts.<\/p>\n
Three years ago, Prescott outlasted the Cowboys in contract negotiations, turning a year of franchise play into a four-year, $160 million deal with $126 million guaranteed despite a serious ankle injury. His annual average of $40 million currently places him as the 10th highest-paid quarterback.<\/p>\n
Owner and general manager Jerry Jones, along with Stephen Jones, have said they envision Prescott being the Cowboys' starter in the future.<\/p>\n
But will that future include a Super Bowl appearance?<\/p>\n\n\u201cI wish I could give you that answer.\u201d — Dak Prescott explains why the Cowboys haven't translated their regular season success into the playoffs. Tom Pennington\/Getty Images<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/aside>\nJERRY JONES SAID<\/strong> his biggest regret as owner and general manager is not winning the Super Bowl with Romo as quarterback. After beating the Philadelphia Eagles in December, Jones said he would be “just as” disappointed if Prescott didn't make it to a Super Bowl.<\/p>\n\u201cDak is a qualified player in every way to win a Super Bowl in his career,\u201d Jones said then.<\/p>\n
Romo's best chance to make the Super Bowl came in 2007, when the Cowboys finished 13-3 and had home-field advantage in Wade Phillips' first season as coach. The Cowboys lost in the divisional round to the New York Giants, whom they had beaten twice in the regular season and won the Super Bowl.<\/p>\n
In 2014, when Romo had his best season, he was in his ninth year as the Cowboys' starter (eighth full season). The Cowboys went 12-4 and won the NFC East. He threw 34 touchdown passes and was intercepted just nine times in 15 starts. He led the NFL in completion percentage (69.9%), QBR (79.2), quarterback rating (113.2) and yards per attempt (8.5).<\/p>\n\nWelcome to the NFL offseason<\/h2>\n
\u2022 Team-by-team offseason guide (ESPN+)
In 2015, Romo broke his left collarbone twice and started four games. In 2016, he injured his back in a preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks and played one regular-season drive \u2014 a touchdown \u2014 because Prescott played so well. In 2017, Romo joined the CBS broadcast booth.<\/p>\n
“I know deep down he felt he was at his best mentally when it came to the game, that if he was healthy he could play the game as well as he does. never could have,\u201d said Stephen Jones. \u201cBut health got him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prescott just concluded his eighth full season as the Cowboys' starter. Dallas went 12-5 and won the NFC East. He led the NFL in touchdown passes with 36 and was intercepted nine times. Among full-time starting quarterbacks, he led the NFL in completion percentage (69.5%) and was second in QBR (72.9), quarterback rating (105.9) and in passing yards (4,516).<\/p>\n
The Cowboys were primed for a run to the NFC Championship Game with two home games at AT&T Stadium as a No. 2 seed, only to fall apart on Sunday. Prescott was intercepted twice in the first half, including one that was returned for a touchdown and increased Green Bay's lead to 27-0 late in the second quarter.<\/p>\n
FOR EVERYONE <\/strong>After his success in the regular season, Prescott was unable to match that level in the postseason. That's something Romo didn't do either.<\/p>\nThis leaves the lingering question: \u201cWhy?\u201d \u00bb<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s hard to give you that answer when I\u2019ve just been there and we\u2019ve just done it,\u201d Prescott said. “Unfortunately, that's what the offseason is for \u2014 and it's a long one. Yeah, I wish I could give you that answer.”<\/p>\n
Prescott's performance against the Packers was unlike any other in a 17-game regular season.<\/p>\n
“Dak's arrow is still straight,” Stephen Jones said a few days before the Packers' loss. I think the best football<\/a> is in front of him. He keeps getting better, and then he has all the other intangibles that go with his skillset, which are strong enough to be special.”<\/p>\nBut Prescott knows what Romo knew before him: Nothing matters if you don't win a Super Bowl in Dallas.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s about winning and winning the playoffs,\u201d Prescott said after the Packers\u2019 loss, \u201cand getting to the last game and winning it, too.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Why Dak Prescott has become the Cowboys’ new Tony Romo\u060c Todd Archer, ESPN editorJanuary 18, 2024, 11:00 a.m. Close Todd Archer is an NFL reporter at ESPN covering the Dallas Cowboys. Archer has covered the NFL since 1997 and Dallas since 2003. He joined ESPN in 2010. You can follow him on Twitter at @toddarcher. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20530,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[198,5895,5896,9369,1064],"class_list":["post-20529","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-sports","tag-cowboys","tag-dak","tag-prescott","tag-romo","tag-tony"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20529","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20529"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20529\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20531,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20529\/revisions\/20531"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/20530"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20529"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}