The Cowboys were expected to extend Dak Prescott's contract this offseason to lower his 2024 salary cap hit of $59.4 million. However, owner Jerry Jones left open the possibility that the quarterback would let his contract expire.
“That's not necessary [extend Prescott’s deal]“But we can if everyone wants to solve it,” Jones told beat reporters on Friday, via Nick Harris of the team website. “You can come in and get on the same page and see if you can come to an agreement. If you can't do that, what we have will work. And if you approach it that way, obviously you're going to work on some of the other areas of the team in a different way, but you can't really plan for that until you see when you're there.”
The Cowboys could do a simple restructure that would give them $18.52 million in cap relief for this season, but that would push the money into 2025 and 2026 since Prescott is up for nearly $55 million in 2025 would count against the cap even if he played somewhere else.
Without an extension, the Cowboys risk losing Prescott after this season.
He has a no-tag clause as well as a no-trade clause.
“No, I’m not afraid of that,” Jones said. “Every player you have has some time when their contract expires. If you were afraid of it, you would walk around with the vibrations. That doesn't work because they all show up. They can all get hurt. They can all lose talent, so that’s not a fear.”
Jones said the Cowboys could create enough cap space without extending Prescott's contract, allowing them to do whatever it takes to go “all in.” Or at least Jones' version of “all in.”
“Absolutely,” Jones said when asked directly if the Cowboys can be “all in” without an extension. “You just have to adjust where you go and how you go all in.”
The Cowboys will begin working on Prescott's contract in the near future, but Jones said the team has no timetable for deciding on an extension.
“What we do or don’t do there [with Prescott’s contract]“I can’t say at this point,” Jones said, “but the main thing is that he’s going to be our quarterback.” [in 2024].”
Prescott led the NFL with 36 touchdown passes and finished second to Lamar Jackson in MVP voting and was second-team All-Pro.
Jones said he believes Prescott can play even better than he did in 2023.
“As you all know, he had one of the best years,” Jones said. “But I would point out that we all think that has a lot to do with Mike McCarthy being directly involved in Dak's game, being more directly involved in the offense, and that we think there's a lot more to come.” “