CeeDee Lamb‘s extension is in place, and Micah Parsons may possibly have to wait until next offseason to finalize one in all his own. The Cowboys still have the matter of a Dak Prescott deal to take care of in the times leading as much as their season opener, nonetheless.
Negotiations on an extension have taken place throughout the summer, and efforts to succeed in an agreement proceed before Week 1. During a recent Scoop City episode, Dianna Russini of The Athletic reported contract length is a problem between the parties (audio link). The financial element of a brand new Prescott accord remains to be expected to top the quarterback market, but Dallas might be hesitant about making one other long-term commitment (at the very least, by way of guaranteed money) within the 31-year-old. One 12 months stays on the four-year, $160MM pact he signed in 2021.
Nonetheless, DLLS’s Clarence Hill Jr. writes team and player are actually in agreement on contract length at this point. He adds that progress has been made recently and consequently a deal is “closer than it has been” at previous times within the offseason. Owner Jerry Jones said last week an extension doesn’t have to be in place in time for Week 1, but Hill describes Sunday as Prescott’s “arbitrary line of demarcation,” suggesting talks might be paused after that point if no deal is reached. ESPN’s Dan Graziano adds it could not come as a surprise for this case to be resolved in the approaching days, even when it resulted in Prescott falling wanting the $60MM AAV mark he has been connected to.
Prescott has joined Jones in making quite a few public comments on this case, one which can see him carry a cap hit of over $55MM in 2024 as things stand (together with a charge of greater than $40MM next 12 months if he were to depart). Last 12 months’s MVP runner-up has repeatedly hinted at a willingness to maintain his options open, citing the amount of high-profile quarterbacks who’ve played for multiple teams of their careers. He and Jones have, however, made clear their preference to proceed their long-running relationship in 2025 and beyond.
Lamb’s deal carries an AAV of $34MM, the second-highest figure for receivers. Each time Parsons’ deal is in place, it should little question make him at the very least one in all the league’s highest-paid edge rushers. Those commitments will make a brand new Prescott investment difficult to administer from a cap standpoint, but no clear successor is in place under center if he’s allowed to go away on the open market next spring. Playoff success has been elusive within the Prescott era, something Jones stays aware of upfront of head coach Mike McCarthy‘s lame-duck season.
“I don’t know that there’s any more urgency but I even have tried to have a look at places that we’re complacent or ways to not be complacent,” Jones said (via a separate Hill piece). “I’m in search of ways to be certain that they’ll’t say that I’ve got some form of structure that breeds complacency. It might be contracts. It might be conversations. It might be player decisions… I didn’t make many changes. But inside the realm of not making changes, totally changing people out, I attempted to show up the warmth on myself and everybody involved. And I feel that’s what’s being discussed.”
A brief window of time still stays for Prescott and the Cowboys to finalize an agreement. It would be interesting to see if talks proceed into the regular season if needed, but when the parties are settled on many elements of an extension the immediate future could breed further traction and an end to the uncertainty surrounding Dallas’ quarterback direction.
