Team-friendly deal? Dak Prescott explains why Cowboys shouldn’t need to go that way

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Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Amari Cooper can do more than just run routes and catch passes. He can solve a Rubik’s Cube insanely fast.
USA TODAY

DALLAS – Dak Prescott knows questions swirl about whether he’s worth the contract extension he soon will command and whether he can meet the sky-high expectations that come with quarterback megadeals in today’s NFL.

Can Prescott find the success that a team hopes for when writing such a big check?

To Prescott, the question isn’t simple.

“Success is such a big umbrella in my eyes,” Prescott told USA TODAY Sports. “I don’t even think about judging myself or taking the pros and cons, pluses and minuses of what I did to reach that until I hang up the cleats. So for me it’s about just being the best I can and making sure I’m getting better each and every year in all those aspects of life.

“It’s much bigger than to say I’ve reached success or I’ve earned my money or earned what people put the dollar amount as worth. It’s bigger than that.”

The question of what he’s worth must factor in more than just Prescott. Russell Wilson reset the average annual quarterback salary this offseason when agreeing to a four-year extension worth $35 million a year with the Seahawks. Four quarterbacks now average more than $30 million a year. All (Wilson, Ben Roethlisberger, Aaron Rodgers and Carson Wentz) own a Super Bowl ring. The league salary cap also increased roughly 6 percent ahead of 2019. It has jumped roughly $10 million per season since 2013. That all factors in to market value, Prescott said.

“For somebody to say you can only take so much because of the salary cap or you can only do this or that, I don’t know how fair that is to say,” Prescott said. “Because with gambling, with everything going into this league, everything is going to continue to keep going up.

“It’s important for all these guys to get every bit of their worth. I want to see Zeke the highest paid. I want to see Amari the highest paid. I want to see myself up there. And I don’t think any of that is too far-fetched. Because at the end of the day, when it’s all said and done, a year or two later, you’re not going to be the highest paid. That’s just the way the game goes.”

Still, the Cowboys and Prescott’s team of agents will determine what he’s worth and what he will accept as training camp and the Cowboys’ Sept. 8 season opener against the Giants near. The two sides exchanged first offers before offseason activities broke for summer.

Prescott hired CAA agent Todd France last summer to join a team that included NFLPA-certified agent Peter Miller and NFLPA-certified financial adviser Peter Wright. Discussions will continue.

“I mean, steps have to be made,” Prescott said Monday while working with ATT/DIRECTV, with whom he partners on products including NFL Sunday Ticket. “They’re simple steps. For the most part, obviously you want to get closure and obviously you want to get it done, but the Cowboys probably feel the same way that I do: Nobody wants to take anything that’s not fair to the other.”

Through three seasons, the Cowboys have received a steal on their 2016 fourth-round selection. Twenty-one teammates currently account for more of the Cowboys’ 2019 salary cap than Prescott. And his $2.1 million cap hit in 2019 if not extended still nearly triples his highest cost to date.

At that price, Prescott has been available for every game, holding a 32-16 regular-season record and winning one of three playoff appearances. He has completed 66.1 percent of passes for 10,876 yards, 67 touchdowns and 25 interceptions. Prescott has rushed for 18 more touchdowns.

After the Cowboys traded for wide receiver Amari Cooper in October, Prescott completed 72 percent of passes for 18 touchdowns and four interceptions as the Cowboys rode a 7-1 run at season’s end to their second NFC East title in three years.

In pursuit of defending that title – the last NFC East team to repeat was the Eagles in 2003-04 – Prescott will need teammates including Pro Bowl running back Ezekiel Elliott and Cooper. The Cowboys have picked up Elliott’s $9 million option for 2020. Cooper enters the last year of his contract. Saints receiver Michael Thomas also has one year left on his deal; the Falcons’ Julio Jones has two. Whoever commands an extension first will reset the market for the others. There’s incentive for Cooper to wait.

Prescott doesn’t see those factors as a reason to short-change him.

“I don’t think it’s fair to sit there and say, ‘This guy can’t get that because he needs the rest of the team,’” Prescott said. “The rest of the team can all get theirs with the way the league is trending.”

Follow Jori Epstein on Twitter @JoriEpstein

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