ESPN reporter shares update on Cowboys, Dak Prescott contract standoff

For a mailbag published on Wednesday, NFL insider Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated wrote that his confidence level was at "a seven out of 10" regarding the Dallas Cowboys and quarterback Dak Prescott agreeing to a long-term contract extension.

On Thursday, ESPN NFL national reporter Dan Graziano teased that Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb inking a four-year, $136M deal makes it more likely that team owner and general manager Jerry Jones will lock Prescott down via an extension sooner rather than later.

"Lamb's deal was the front-burner item for the past several weeks, in part because he wasn't in camp and Prescott was," Graziano explained. "...Prescott has a historic amount of leverage thanks to a contract that prohibits the team from using the franchise or transition tags on him after this season and a $40.1M dead-money salary cap hit Dallas would absorb in 2025 if it lets him walk. But people close to this situation say talks in recent weeks have been positive, and there's at least some optimism that a deal can be struck either before or early in the regular season."

Both sides have millions of reasons to want to get this deal done before Dallas opens the regular season at the Cleveland Browns on Sept. 8. Prescott suffered a horrific ankle injury in October 2020 and, thus, fully understands every quarterback is one hit away from possibly losing more than just a game. Meanwhile, the 31-year-old who was a finalist for the 2023 Most Valuable Player Award could become more expensive by accumulating wins this coming fall.

Dallas' bye arrives in Week 7, so Jones and Prescott could use that October break to finalize the terms of an extension if Graziano's update about the two continuing talks through the first half of the campa ign is accurate. Graziano noted that Prescott should "become the highest-paid player in the league at more than $55M per year" whenever he signs, but some think that deal could be worth up to $70M annually.

"$100M. To a billionaire, this is peanuts. You can alter contracts later anyway," one anonymous agent recently told Ben Standig of The Athletic about Jones paying Prescott.

As recently as Thursday, The Athletic's Jeff Howe pointed out that Jones "isn’t afraid to go star-chasing" and could look to replace head coach Mike McCarthy with living legend Bill Belichick in January . McCarthy remains in the final year of his contract, and Belichick may only interview with clubs that have established quarterbacks considering he'll be 73 years old when the 2025 season gets underway.