The Cowboys remain in talks with both Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb, but the standout duo remains a contract-year combination. Months into these proceedings, Lamb is holding out and Prescott continues to wield enormous leverage.
While Prescott has said the right things about another deal with Dallas, his asking price is justifiably high. The ninth-year quarterback is seeking a contract that breaks the NFL AAV record, with The Athletic’s Jeff Howe indicating the Cowboys are negotiating with a player aiming for more than $55MM on average (subscription required).
Given Prescott’s position, it is understandable his price point has reached this place. The parties are not believed to be close on terms, per Howe, though the Cowboys made an offer recently. COO Stephen Jones has also said the ball is in the QB’s court.
As mentioned regularly here (though, perhaps not quite as often as Brandon Aiyuk particulars), Prescott holds a no-trade and cannot be franchise-tagged in 2025. His 2024 cap number ($55.13MM) will break a league record — as Deshaun Watson and other QBs are poised to as well — and the Cowboys would take on $40.13MM in 2025 dead money if they let their QB’s contract expire by the start of the 2025 league year. Rarely in this position with players, the Cowboys are here because they could not come to an agreement on a second contract with the former Offensive Rookie of the Year until a third offseason of negotiations (2021).
The Cowboys “badly” want Dak back on a third contract, Howe adds, and have been trying to finalize a deal before free agency becomes a real possibility. But they are negotiating with a player who has outperformed a few of the QBs who recently joined the $50MM-per-year club. That said, all eight passers presently among that contingent have not yet turned 30. Prescott will turn 31 this season. Though, the 2023 second-team All-Pro remains squarely in his prime and just saw Kirk Cousins collect $100MM in practical guarantees coming off an Achilles tear at 35.
If Prescott pushes this toward free agency, suitors will be there. The Cowboys not playing ball now would run the risk of a historically rare development. On the other side, Dallas will need to again agree to player-friendly terms if it wants to keep Prescott. A deal that hits $60MM per year with a strong guarantee structure will likely be required if Dak is to sign before the season starts. Otherwise, this saga figures to linger to the point other teams will start becoming connected to the former fourth-round find.
Starting over is not exactly a sought-after reality for a Cowboys team that is riding three straight 12-win seasons, but the team does have two other top-market extensions — those for Lamb and Micah Parsons — on its radar. Describing Parsons’ pact as a backburner issue — which runs counter to a recent assessment of the All-Pro pass rusher’s situation — Howe indicates the Cowboys appear closer on terms with Lamb than they do Prescott.
After Jerry Jones said the team does not have urgency to extend the holdout wide receiver, Lamb offered an “lol” X response. Prescott, via The Athletic’s Jon Machota, indeed said he urgently wants the team to pay his top weapon.
The sides have exchanged offers, however, and Howe notes progress has emerged. This deal is viewed as being closer to completion. The Cowboys can waive the daily fines Lamb is accruing due to the fifth-year target being on a rookie contract.
A late-July report pegged Lamb as not being insistent on becoming the NFL’s highest-paid non-QB — a title Justin Jefferson holds at $35MM per year — and Howe indeed offers the Cowboys are hesitant about reaching the AAV the Vikings WR secured in June. Lamb would then stand to command a number between Jefferson and No. 2 on the current list (A.J. Brown‘s $32MM average).
While guarantees could then be a Cowboys concession if they are truly unwilling to go where the Vikings went regarding AAV, the team prefers longer-term deals compared to those receivers have landed this offseason. Dallas has not fully guaranteed a receiver more than $40MM — the Amari Cooper figure from 2020 — but surely realizes it will take more to wrap the Lamb talks. D.J. Moore securing $82MM in total guarantees from the Bears certainly should set a Lamb floor; only Brown ($84MM) is between Moore and Jefferson in this category.
The Cowboys still have some time, but the team has undoubtedly seen prices rise by waiting this long. Although Jones brushed off the notion urgency is needed here, it would surprise if at least one of the two stars was not extended before Week 1.
This is why you draft a QB every year. They give you so many options. Not necessarily with an early pick, but take a shot. If they pan out, you can always trade them. But when you’re QB gets a big head and has to play the game of being highest paid, you move on.
I know many aren’t worth their contracts, but Dak doesnt deserve to reset the market. It’s crazy how selfish these guys get every couple years. He’s made 160mill+ from the NFL alone. More in endorsements. Not sure why you have to play the game of getting 55mill per, when 48 would set you for life just as well. But give you a little wiggle room to help out elsewhere.
The Cowboys drove his price up by franchising him twice instead of extending him, just like Washington drove Cousins’ price up. Guys get paid based on how good they are combined with timing, leverage, and contract history. Why should he donate to the charity of Jerry Jones contract decision making?
That didn’t happen they franchised him one time
They franchised him a second time in 2021, then gave him a contract with a record signing bonus right afterward. He didn’t play on the franchise tag twice, but he got the franchise tag twice.
I just don’t wanna hear any more from him about how it’s “not about the money”.
Well it’s not going to be about the rings. He plays for the Cowboys.
Right so he don’t play on the franchise tag twice only one time….. so there you go not like cousins
You said they franchised him one time. They franchised him twice.
I’d say good bye to Dak. Let him
Walk and let someone else pay him. Reset the cap situation. Pay Parson. Let Lamb walk. Let these guys play out their current contracts and then reset the team.
@rd42
Having a revolving door at the QB position is the best way to ensure your franchise remains a bottom feeder. Ask the Panthers, Washington, the Jets or Bears. I don’t think you meant to say trade a player who pans out…a GM using that approach is going to be unemployed rather quickly.
If you’re going to ask a player why he needs $55MM when 48 would set him up for life then you also have to ask the owners why they need the revenue from an 18 game schedule when they can be absurdly wealthy with just 17 games.
I don’t think you’re considering the logistics of drafting a QB every year in hopes they can help you avoid paying a franchise QB. So many problems with that plan. The problem is when you’re trying to win every year these QBs your drafting don’t get reps. More importantly no game action unless there’s an injury or very poor play by QB1. Even then you can only give one guy a shot to prove himself. So when you let these guys walk every five years you’re really rolling the dice. You just can’t do that at by far the most important position. A number of teams would be willing to pay Prescott 60m a year and the Cowboys have Trey Lance and probably another maybe two guys of the type you suggest teams draft. With that team you wanna roll the dice that you’ve found a Prescott, Tom Brady, or Brock Purdy type miracle selection when 90%+ QBs drafted fizzle out of the league or are career backups? No way. What I could see if drafting players like WRs or RBs and not paying current players 30m+. That’s more feasible because there is more opportunity to get them reps and you don’t need a top 5 selection to find one you truly have faith in making an impact right away. I think the Cowboys should have selected a WR or two with the potential to come close to Cee Dee Lambs production that would save the cap space needed but I think the Cowboys plan maybe like the 49ers and put their best foot forward this year then offer them the tender tag or whatever it’s called where they get a mid draft pick if Lamb signs elsewhere then draft a WR but this year they wanna go for it. You cant pay them all but QB is not where you skimp. Without Lamb and a decent draft of WR the Cowboys could make another run. Without Prescott regardless of his postseason troubles they have no chance at a superbowl
I’d like to see those teams willing to pay Dak Prescott $60 million/year with four years guaranteed. All those Dallas Cowboy-centric endorsement contracts up in smoke. Very short-sighted. High time the Joneses called Prescott’s bluff once and for all.
$55 mil a year for Dakota?? LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL!!! Are you kidding me?
Have you not been paying attention to QB contracts recently? This is pretty in line with that.
League needs to step in and start capping how much money a player can earn relative to salary cap. Price tags are getting ridiculous.
Say max percentage is 10% of a salary cap.
In return nfl guarantees 70-80% of contracts
Good in theory but it will never happen. 10% would cap a player at 25 million this year.the players will never go for it.
Idk what the typical guarantee percentage is but feel like if they were guaranteed more money they’d go for it. Guaranteed money always seems to be a sticking point.
40 mill sounds like a lot but if teams are only guaranteeing 50% that’s 20 plus incentives. Vs if they make 25 this year 80% is still 20 minus the incentives.
Maybe they should start actually guaranteeing contracts, that’s probably the only way players and union would agree to any sort of cap %. Pretty silly that the most violent sport and prone to career altering injury still doesn’t guarantee the majority of contracts.
Wrong. The players who can hope to earn above $25 million are not more than 10% of the league. The rest of that money from the crazy $50 million contracts (salary cap stays the same) is distributed among the other 90%. Even accounting for the delusional among the 90% (“I’ll get there” from marginal starters), that player vote is still 75-25 in favour of a maximum salary for a single player.
Why? So the owners can just make more money every year off of the players and the players don’t get anything? Just not logical
How about this scenario. You work for T-Mobile, I own T-Mobile. The store you’ve worked at for 4 years is increasing profits yearly. You, as a hardworking employee, ask me for a raise to be the top paid employee and raise the bar since your store is making record profits year after year. I, the owner, say no you can only make X amount because I would prefer to pocket the rest and not pay you what your hard work is for.. I stay rich and make even more money, you stay where you’re at and watch and me spend my billions.
Why would anyone agree to that outside the owner?
Players get more financial security via more guaranteed money.
In the event of an injury or release due to poor performance players would see more money paid out due to higher percentages of guaranteed money.
Just curious. Is there risk of career ending injury working at T mobile?
I mean there’s career ending risk waking up and walking down the steps but for the sake of this scenario no there isn’t. But they make a boatload more money than said T-Mobile employee. The risk is represented in the reward. That’s why these guys make millions – they risk their lives on that field for our entertainment. The business they work is makes 20 Billion a year and is still growing.. The players deserve every bit they earn considering they put the product on the field…. The issue is 70-80% guaranteed is a great idea, but 10% of a cap will never happen and the 2 really don’t have anything to do with each other. They’ll never get more guarantees for a trade off in cap % because the players want as much as both as possible, not one or the other.
10% is a baseline idea.
NFL and NFLPA can haggle over the cap percentage but 10% was just an easy starting number. You could also throw in contract language like teams can spend past a certain percentage of cap space to resign their own players (something mlb does in their draft process, teams can spend a certain percentage over to sign guys).
You also have to factor in the NFLPA can request spending floors regarding cap space where teams have to spend a certain amount of cap space much like the NBA does each year.
Are the owners willing to accept more guaranteed money and spending floors in return for capping aavs? Id argue yes since they already did it to rookie contracts.
End of the day though theres definitely ways to cap these insane aavs going on while ensuring players are treated fairly.
It’s not the percentage, it’s the whole concept. Spending floors isn’t a bad idea, but once again most teams in the NFL are spending anyways. This isn’t the MLB where one team has less of a payroll than some teams top paid player.
They did it to rookie contracts because guys who never played a single snap were demanding contracts that veterans didn’t receive. It’s not because they wanted to accept more guaranteed money, it’s because they didn’t want to negotiate contracts with college kids who haven’t had a legal sip of alcohol yet alone demand 50M+ like Sam Bradford…
Also if they just throw in contract language what’s the point of even creating new stipulations? It’s fine how it is. Players and owners benefit. I mean these players already refuse to play out their full contracts they aren’t going to settle for less total dollars.
I mean if you’re a player why would you agree to that. Hypothetically 80% guarantees sounds great – at the amounts they make now.
This is all hypothetical – numbers can be fudged. But the top QB contract in total value is Burrow 285M – 70% is 192.5M
Salary cap is $255,400,000 and 10% of that is 25,540,000. If the players were to accept 70% of 25,540,000 they’d only make at a maximum of 17,878,000.. So the top player on a team is going to accept about $18M instead of 52M and allow the owner to pocket the other 34M? Sure they can spread the wealth to other players, but they wouldn’t. They don’t pay certain positions what they’re worth now why would they feel obligated to then?
This works for owners and owners only.. The players would rightfully want more guarantees and the same salary cap structure. Putting a cap on a players’ earnings only help the sport. Guys will choose baseball or basketball because the money is better.
Joe burrow signed a 275 mill contract with 219 guaranteed. Which is roughly 80% of the contract right around where I said guaranteed money should land for all contracts under capping aavs. Fully guaranteed money is around 146 mill which comes in around 53% of the contract.
But since there’s a difference between guaranteed and fully guarantee I’d like to change my 70-80% from guaranteed to fully guaranteed. I thought guaranteed was guaranteed but guess not.
link to overthecap.com
I also was going off of fully guaranteed in my little made up world. Yes it is roughly 80% of the contract, but the salary cap is less than 275 million so in this scenario the Bengals would employ Joe Burrow and not one other single player.. If a player cant go over 10% of said cap Burrow can at most make 27.5M which is a far cry from his 50 something million now.. Which is why I don’t ever see players going for this.
I’m not against any of these ideas or trying to be like rude I genuinely think this is a great conversation. Something needs to be done so guys like Jordan Love don’t see these astronomical contracts they came no where close to deserving. I just don’t think this is necessarily the best strategy. That being said I’m also not sure what is other than owners having some balls and telling these mid level guys they flat out aren’t worth it.
The salary cap stays the same, it’s about 50% of revenue. It’s just a question of how the same amount of money is spread.
It stays the same % of revenue yes, but the actual $$ amount increases since revenue does annually.
sign that deal, jerry! make him a cowboy for life!
-Eagles fans
just to help out a little here, I think dak is worth 75 million a year. do the deal, or as medicated pete would say, “done deal done deal!”
Honest question- what does Dak get from another team on the open market?like say The Raiders… what are they paying Dak next year?
More than $55 million. QBs as good as Prescott usually don’t hit the open market at all. Cousins got $45 per year despite being five years older and tearing his achilles last season.
Dak isn’t getting more than $55 on the open market unless he goes for a. short-term deal.
Probably at least four years. If a deal is too short, too much of it has to be guaranteed and it makes it too hard for teams to move money around if they need/want to. A version of the Cousins contract, where two years are basically fully guaranteed and two years could be turned into survivable dead cap hits makes sense.
From who? Cowboys fans always massively over value their players. Nobody with a brain is paying a choke artist.
Let dak see what the market is
Sign Lamb and Parsons now before their prices climb any higher. Let Dak play out his contract this year and wave good bye to him in the off season and use that money elsewhere. I’d say trade Dak right now for whatever you can get but if he’s got a no trade clause, Dallas is stuck with him this year.
What a joke 55M plus for a quarterback who has produce almost nothing throughout his career.
Since he entered the league, he’s eighth in passing yards, sixth in passing touchdowns, and third in wins. He’s not an elite QB, but saying he’s produced almost nothing is nonsense.
People will repeat that argument until they’re blue in the face. They say it about Prescott, Allen, Jackson, Cousins, Goff, Herbert, Burrow…they even say it about Super Bowl winners (Rodgers) and multiple time MVPs (Rodgers again).
What I’ve come to find out is that argument doesn’t really mean anything. It just means that the person doesn’t respect the player. It almost never reflects the actual accomplishments, because the person will never respect the actual accomplishments anyway. Prescott has led the top offense in the league, and offenses ranked close to it, on a double digit win team in his career.
Nobody said that Prescott ’s reached the top, or that there isn’t more that he (or more accurately, his team) needs to do, but acting like he’s an everyday, generic NFL player resume-wise is intellectually dishonest. It just is. He hasn’t done all that he needs to, but he’s done a lot. Much more importantly, he doesn’t look like he’s slowing down physically. He’s giving what you should want from the quarterback position-it’s up to the team now to make the right moves around him. Granted, that’s a lot easier with a lower cap hit, but that’s a totally separate issue that has a much livelier debate than this one, which is easily settled by checking Prescott’s history compared to his counterparts since coming into the league. We can quibble about how much he’s worth going forward, but there’s really no argument to accurately support the statement that he’s done “nothing” since coming into the league. That’s just unequivocally false.
How did that Russell Wilson signing work out for Denver? How did that Aaron Rodgers signing work out in New York? How did the Kirk Cousins bet work out for Minnesota?
Dak is a second-rate retread if he goes anywhere else. Guy is overvaluing himself and so are you Ak185.
Plus all that endorsement money which flows to a popular Dallas Cowboy starting QB has to be worth something. I.e. Jerry enables Prescott to earn more off the football field. Ungrateful, duplicitous hypocrite. “It’s not about the money, it’s about the respect”. Yeah, right.
Rodgers isn’t done yet, to be fair, and I didn’t mention Wilson, but no, I disagree that Prescott’s overvalued.
What I think most people don’t get is even how hard is to find even an average quarterback. Every statistical measurement and evaluative tool available says that Dak is, at minimum, better than that. And most of them project him close to the top. This whole “he hasn’t won anything” argument never has any factual data supporting it whatsoever. It doesn’t. It’s a thing that people say, and never back up. If the argument is that “[insert quarterback] hasn’t won a divisional game” let it be that. If the argument is that “[insert quarterback] hasn’t won a championship game” let it be that. If the argument is that “[insert quarterback] hasn’t won a Superbowl” let it be that. Those, at least, cannot be argued with.
Also, we are not even having the same argument, really. I am arguing that Prescott is good, and, much moreso, that the “hasn’t won anything” argument is the refuge of ignorance, bias, or lazy analysis. You are arguing that Prescott’s not worth the money. I actually agree, but not because of Prescott. I agree because it makes the team much better to spread money out rather than concentrate it in one player. Prescott “deserves” it just as much as these others, but in my mind, I actually agree with you that it is picking yourself over your team (more importantly, your chances to win) by pushing for market setting deals. This isn’t a normal industry where your money is independent from your coworkers’. This also isn’t an industry where you can get closer to your goal in spite of your team. The team helps you.
So, yes, I think that that players should weigh more heavily whether they actually do want to have a good team or whether they want to look out for themselves. If they choose the latter, I wish that they wouldn’t claim that it was about the former. This is no way an endorsement of owners not splitting money or something that will likely be construed as, for the record. I think that all contracts should be guaranteed, and I think that that would protect players and reduce the bloated contracts that we’re seeing now.
Even QBs who are “worth it” (which everybody only seems to agree is Mahomes) could further increase the chances of improving their teams by taking less money. I don’t think we can dispute that. But this is what QBs cost these days, right or wrong, and the idea that Prescott is especially egregious in this area or that he isn’t any good is just rooted in unbiased reality. As Oof said below, quarterbacks like Prescott rarely hit the open market in the midst of their careers. Cousins only did so after a major injury (as did Brees years ago). Manning did so with major questions about his ability to play again. If a team has a chance to sign a long term, above average quarterback straight up, most of them will take it, and at a heavy price. They don’t do that because they WANT to spend all that money in one place; they do that because they don’t find those players very often.
My argument is that Dak is not worth it as he’s always prioritised looking out for number one above all. With Dak on the team, with the kind of contracts he wants, the Cowboys will never win a championship.
So Dak is not worth it. Mahomes is worth it as despite his high annual cost (not league leading!), the Chiefs can and win championships. Mainly because with Mahomes on board, the Chiefs can economise on wide receivers (he throws well enough you don’t need all pros, most of the time).
I actually agree with you on the priority argument. I sort of agree as to whether Dak is worth it; I don’t think it’s him personally, though. He’s as good or better than the other guys up there. I just don’t think that taking up $60 million or so of your team’s cap space helps to win, generally speaking. So, even though it sounds counter-intuitive, Dak may not be worth it, but he’s worth at least as much as the others who are up there. It’s just what QBs cost nowadays, which might not be right, but it’s true.
If “paying the man” means you don’t win championships, then there’s no point to paying the king’s ransom, Ak185. There are lots of quarterbacks who cost less and are nearly as good as the guys making $60 million. Russell Wilson in Denver, Daniel Jones in New York and several others have put up very middling performances or just been absent.
The whole idea of paying a single player one quarter of your salary cap is just stupid. It’s even stupider when it’s Dak Prescott or Kirk Cousins. Kirk Cousins doesn’t care about championships, Kirk Cousins just wants to get paid the most possible for his limited gifts. Dak Prescott is a tiny touch better as he can occasionally lead a team to play better. But it’s pretty close.
It appears Dak is all about the bag, and not much of a team guy. The Joneses should just drop him here, but they can’t as there are some very nasty void years (which should be banned) to get back some of Dak’s excessive cash salaries in the hopes of winning now.
Almost all NFL teams are at a dead end. There’s just a few who manage their cap well enough to win for multiple years.
There’s not really anybody who will “cost less” on an extension who isn’t a backup or a rookie. The thing that you’re already discounting is that teams could win with any of these guys, despite how much money they take up or what their motivations are (or, more accurately, the agents who have pushed this obsession with being the highest paid for their own personal ambitions). For the Cowboys, that guy is Dak. They can win now, and if they let him go, they’ll spend the next seasons trying to find someone else to do what he does. If they had someone else to fill that spot, I’d agree, but right now they don’t, and don’t seem to have a way of finding someone else to do it.
Again, this is the money argument. I’m not really as committed to this argument as I am to the other, which is more rooted in fact than opinion on a certain direction. Prescott is a good quarterback, and the statement that he and other good quarterbacks “haven’t done anything” is simply not true. Arguments about what the Cowboys SHOULD do, while they are related, are not exactly the same topic.
Perhaps Dallas should’ve entertained the idea of grabbing Russell Wilson or trade for Fields so they can press the issue. They then have leverage to let him walk, even if they get hit with dead cap money since RW of JF can sign for the slotted amount available and escalate the contract from there. Dax is good, but hasn’t proved anything beyond being a solid in season QB.
I would take Lance over Dak any day.
That HAS to be an exaggeration.
Even if it isn’t, you have to admit that there is no history to support that decision.
And, even if you won’t, you have to know that no NFL team would agree-at least, not on 08/10/2024.
The Packers love Dak for all those interceptions!
Dak and Love are essentially the same QB. Subpar.
Dak is not worth even half that. He’s a choke artist. Good luck building a team around that contract, and that inept QB. The rest of the league is ROFL…
It’s time to trade and reboot for the Cowboys, they haven’t won anything with these guys and their getting expensive, they’ve got 3 huge pieces they can deal
I’ve seen a handful of people mention a “reboot” for the Cowboys, but I really don’t understand it. The Cowboys have talented players on that team. The biggest thing that holds Dallas back is the ownership and management, and a reboot won’t fix that. You’d only be reshuffling the deck so Jerry can once again find a way to sabotage it.
People just assume rebuilds are always good and make sense and eventually one will work. Thing is, when you rebuild, what exactly are you hoping for? You’re hoping that you pick a player like Parsons or even Dak. You might get a Dak, if you’re lucky, but chances are very slim that you might get a Parsons. I’m not a Cowboys fan, but I don’t understand all the emotion that comes with evaluating them. Realistically, they’re a team that is closer to winning than they are to losing. There are teams closer, but why not try to get better and win than blow it up because it’s too frustrating and start over? Is the lesson to just give up because it hasn’t happened yet?
They’ve done some stupid things these last few years, but they’ve been good enough to get close. They don’t need much to get over the hump. Two or three really good picks could be the difference between where they are and where they need to go. If Lamb is traded, they get to keep their quarterback and generational defensive player and maybe make those picks. So, they could rebuild if they wanted to, but they’re just going to be just trying to get to where they are now.
“Pay him. Pay that man his money.” Dak bet on himself and he won there’s no question. So with QB market value going up and up how does he not get to 60 with the combo of skill and leverage? Do the Cowboys think he created and fought for all that leverage to make the same as forth year QBs without the leverage? No sir he’s getting paid by someone and the Cowboys have a Super Bowl contender with Prescott and a team that likely misses the playoffs with Lance. They will be good again this year and won’t have the draft capital to select a top rated QB and even that’s an enormous gamble for a win now team
let’s just hold off on paying Dak lol dude is not it.
$55m a year for a QB who cant win a playoff game
Exactly
Let him walk. It’s not like they’re going to get out of the first round with him. Not worth the investment. Bye