Dallas City News

It once seemed like a certainty. Everyone knew that Dak Prescott was going to count roughly $55 million against the salary cap in 2024. So everyone believed the Dallas Cowboys would get a new deal done with Prescott to lower that number and keep him from hitting free agency after the season. A seeming certainty.

Now? Not so much. Prescott holds almost all of the cards in this game. He can’t be franchise tagged and he can’t be traded without consent. He is coming off a season where he was second in the MVP vote and had one of his best statistical seasons.

Somehow, we’ve gotten to this point in the offseason without a deal done, and the urgency to get one done just doesn’t feel like it is there. We shouldn’t forget, though, that the Cowboys have a penchant for doing deals at training camp, so there is still a solid chance something might get done.

Still, we have to entertain the possibility that the Cowboys might actually let Prescott get to free agency. That would be a dangerous game given the lack of talented QBs available, but Prescott’s failure to deliver on the big stage of the playoffs has muddied the picture.

Muddied it enough that only 24% of Cowboys fans in our recent poll think a deal will get done before the season starts.

It’s possible they negotiate something during the season, but the feeling is that if it doesn’t happen by Week 1, it could just be left undone until the season is over.

On the other hand, 73% of Cowboys fans believe that the team will get something done concerning their other pressing contract matter, a deal with CeeDee Lamb. This one feels like it has to get done, although the Cowboys still have a franchise tag in their back pocket for Lamb. Let’s hope they aren’t thinking that way.

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