The Dak Prescott contract is the hot issue in the NFL right now. It has reported (true or untrue) that Dak wants big-time bucks. There are a lot of ways to look at this. If Dallas was 100 percent sold on Dak, this deal would have been done. So… how much is Dak actually worth? We asked our writers this question. If you’re the Cowboys, how much would you pay Dak Prescott before you are willing to walk away? Let’s ask the staff how they feel.
Trey Daubert
I would offer Dak Prescott the Teddy Bridgewater contract. 3 years for $63 million take it or leave it. Dak would obviously turn it down given his demands. I would have shopped him prior to the 2020 NFL Draft trying to get ahead of Miami to draft Tua Tagovailoa. That’s how I would have handled it. Yes, I’d trade Dak right now. Let Andy Dalton take the wheels. Let Dak kick rocks.
Dak Prescott is the 2nd quarterback in the last 15 years to have 30 touchdowns and zero game winning drives. Dak is 13-3 against the Giants and Redskins. Last year he threw 14 of his 16 touchdowns against them. He beat up bad teams last year because Dallas’ roster is excellent. Put him in New York with the Jets and they have the first pick in the draft. Last year, Dak was 0-8 last year when trailing at halftime.
This Cowboys team is built on Ezekiel Elliott and the run game. If they get leads, Dak wins games. Prescott does not have an ability to carry a team and that’s what $35 million per year quarterbacks like Russell Wilson do. It’s also clear that Amari Cooper has really changed the perception of Prescott. He doesn’t get sneezed on either because of his offensive line. Move on.
Andy Dalton has a winning regular season record. What could he do with Dallas’ roster? The minute Dallas caves and they give Prescott that money, they are screwed. Dak Prescott is not Russell Wilson. Not even close. The reason why Dak beats up on bad teams is because the Cowboys roster is so good. He’s terrible against the good teams because he doesn’t have the roster advantage. At the end of the day, he’s a very limited quarterback. You don’t back up the brinks truck for limited. You can’t pay a mediocre quarterback big money and win a Super Bowl.
Scott Logush
I’d be willing to pay Dak $28 million a year. It would put him in the top 10 for annual average but below quarterbacks such as Russell Wilson, Aaron Rodgers, Carson Wentz, Big Ben, Kirk Cousins and Matt Ryan who are all better quarterbacks than Dak Prescott. The only quarterbacks who make more (Assuming Dak is at $28 million a year) and are either not as good or very debatable are Jared Goff and Ryan Tannehill. The Goff contract was simply the Rams bidding against themselves, and the Tannehill contract is debatable because he’s had multiple years of crap and then this year in Tennessee. The reason I’m saying $28 is because Dak needs a lot of great players around him to play well. Even with the best roster in the NFC East he still couldn’t beat the Eagles who had practice squad players playing. We saw what Dak was without Amari Cooper, Dak is unable to elevate the talent around him to perform well. Dak isn’t a slouch at quarterback, but he needs a lot of help around him to win games. I wouldn’t feel comfortable paying Dak over $28 million a year.
Jackson Law
The Cowboys should let Dak walk. Dalton is by no means a top QB but that roster is loaded and Dak can’t get it done. True, part of the problem was coaching, but I still have not bought into Dak. Let him go and stick with Dalton, sign Cam or try to make a trade for Rosen or Winston and resign Cooper. Regardless of the rumors of $45 million are true or not, any penny given to Dak is too much.
Alex Chick
Let Dak walk. That roster is so talented and he hasn’t provided the results needed that warrants such a big contact. Before the Stat Warriors come for me I’m talking about where it really matters: wins and playoff wins. For God’s sake, the Eagles beat the Cowboys with a much more inferior team. Dak is overrating himself and how much he’s worth. You can blame the coaching, you can blame everyone else around him, but there’s no reason why Dak even deserved a 5 year 175 mil contact.
I’m not saying Andy Dalton is a better QB, but usually with rosters that talented, as long as you manage the game, you’ll have some type of success. Find another QB, Sign or draft, but overpaying Dak Prescott is the worst thing the Cowboys can do.
Zach Black
I’d honestly be comfortable paying Dak the 35 million dollars a year throughout 5 years. But why’s that? Some people say Dak Prescott isn’t a great quarterback, I on the other hand disagree last season in almost every Quarterback stat he was top 5. Now, sure some people say oh he had Amari Cooper and Micheal Gallup and Randall Cobb but let’s look deeper into that what was Amari Cooper before he paired up with Dak Prescott. Amari Cooper was coming off a season in which he had 48 receptions for 680 yards and 8 games into the season before the trade 22 receptions for 280 yards. Now since he partnered up with Dak Prescott once again he’s been shown as a top 10 reciever so the argument oh Dak Prescott can’t elevate his teammates might have taken another hit there. Now Randall Cobb coming off a season with 33 receptions for 383 yards in 2018 and his numbers consistently slipping since 2015 arrived in Dallas last season. Once arriving with Dallas he seemingly bounced back with a 55 reception 800+ yard season which allowed him to earn big money from the Texans this off-season.
Another reason why I have zero issue paying Dak Prescott that amount of money is every year in this league he has gotten better and better and he’s not that old either only being 26 as of right now. Now I know the counter to this is look at the o line and Zeke. Well yes Ezekiel Elliot is a great runningback and when the o line plays well it makes Daks job easier, well obviously when other players play well it makes the quarterbacks jobs a lot easier. But now I know people cling onto the fact that the Dallas Cowboys went 8-8 well allow us to look back at the season I can maybe point to two games where Dak Prescott was the reason they lost them the game. But if you are being honest you can do that without about any quarterback in the league not named Patrick Mahomes and Russell Wilson.
Dak Prescott wasn’t the only reason the Dallas Cowboys missed the playoffs last year and even if he played a part it wouldn’t matter. We over-complicate this whole contract thing anyways oh he’s not worth that amount of money, no he’s worth this amount of money but it doesn’t matter because he is up next to get payed he’ll reset the QB market until Deshaun gets paid then Mahomes gets paid. By the way that 35 million a year for 5 years isn’t even nearly as bad as people think especially when the cap jumps again.
I’m aware I’m higher on Dak than most people here at Vendetta Sports but if you don’t pay him now you run the risk of rolling with Andy Dalton and who knows what he’s going to do. Pay the man don’t overthink this oh and responding to those who say wins and playoff wins he currently has more playoff wins then Carson Wentz and Lamar Jackson and the same amount as Deshaun Watson. (No that’s not saying Dak is better than Deshaun but if you want playoff wins stats say Dak is just as likely to win you one as Deshaun is.) Just pay the man Jerry it’s simple sign him and move on with this.
Jordan Dangle
Based on what he’s done before last year, I say pay the man! The Cowboys did a good job by using the franchise tag on Dak this season making it seem one of two ways. One way being we want to pay him but don’t have the money right now. The other is a hint to Dak to show up and do something with the loaded roster we have. The best QB available for this year is Cam Newton. I am fully confident that Dak is better than Cam. Oh and next year, the top free agent QB’s after Dak is Rivers, Trubisky, Fitzpatrick, or Jameis. The team is to good to tank for Lawrence or Fields. Dak will be the best option for the next several years. It all just depends on how he performs this year.
