It has been anticipated the Cowboys will extend Dak Prescott’s contract this offseason to lower his $59.4 million salary cap hit for 2024. Owner Jerry Jones, though, left open the possibility the quarterback will play out his contract.
“We don’t need to [extend Prescott’s deal], but we can if everybody wants to solve it,” Jones told beat reporters Friday, via Nick Harris of the team website. “You can get in and get on the same page and see if you can come to an agreement. If you can’t, what we have in place works. And so obviously, if you do it one way, you’ll be working through some of the other areas on the team in a different way, but you can’t really plan on that until you see when you’re there.”
The Cowboys could do a simple restructuring that would give them $18.52 million in cap relief for this season, but it would push money to 2025 and 2026 with Prescott counting nearly $55 million against the cap in 2025 even if he played elsewhere.
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 don’t fear that,” Jones said. “Every player you got has some time when his contract is up. You would walk around with the shakes if you feared it. You can’t because they all come up. They all can get hurt. They all can lose some talent, so all of that is not fear.”
Jones said the Cowboys can create enough cap room without extending Prescott’s deal, allowing them to do what they need to do to go “all-in.” Or Jones’ version of “all-in” anyway.
“Absolutely,” Jones said when asked directly if the Cowboys can be “all-in” without an extension. “You just have to adjust where you’re going and how you’re going all-in.”
The Cowboys will begin working on Prescott’s contract in the near future, but Jones said the team has no timeline on the decision for an extension.
“What we do there or don’t do [with Prescott’s contract], I couldn’t say at this time,” Jones said, “but the main thing is he’s going to be our quarterback [in 2024].”
Prescott led the NFL with 36 touchdown passes and finished second in MVP voting behind Lamar Jackson and was second-team All-Pro.
Jones said he’s convinced Prescott can play even better than he did in 2023.
“He had one of the best years as you all know,” Jones said. “But the thing that I would point out is we all think that had a lot to do with the fact that Mike McCarthy is right there involved in Dak’s play, more directly involved in the offense, that we think that there’s a lot more to come.”
