The Dallas Cowboys always have some of the most fascinating storylines in the NFL, but heading into 2024, it’s almost impossible to predict what Jerry Jones and company have planned.
If you listen to Jones, he’s sticking by his statement that Dallas is going “all in” for 2024 with the goal to finally get over the playoff hump and secure another Lombardi Trophy.
That logic made sense following the Cowboys’ early exit from the playoffs. They had a team loaded with talent on both sides of the ball and their franchise QB Dak Prescott, was leading the MVP conversation for most of the year and finished 2023 with one of his best statistical seasons as a pro. The Dallas Cowboys were undefeated at home and entered the playoffs as a No. 2 seed.
But as anyone with a pulse has come to expect, Dallas choked in the first round of the playoffs, falling to a young Green Bay Packers team who barely snuck into the postseason.
There were questions whether Jerry Jones would make significant moves after the loss, but he didn’t. He retained head coach Mike McCarthy for 2024 and made it clear Prescott was the team’s QB moving forward.
Almost every NFL Insider predicted the Dallas Cowboys would give Prescott a contract extension to free up cap space and add new talent in free agency — but instead — Jones hasn’t done a thing and is letting Dak Prescott play out the final year of his contract.
But there are questions surrounding the futures of the other two star players for the Cowboys, CeeDee Lamb and Micah Parsons.
As of now, the organization hasn’t reached a contract extension with either player but the belief is Lamb will get a new deal done with the Cowboys before the start of the 2024 season.
CeeDee Lamb is coming off a first-team All-Pro campaign and only has one year left remaining on his rookie deal. He has established himself as an elite receiver, and that’s why Bleacher Report writer Alex Ballentine believes the Dallas Cowboys will make him one of, if not the highest-paid WR in the NFL.
“Of the top receivers on the market, Lamb feels like the least likely to be on the move… A contract that pays him $31 million annually qualifies and the Cowboys have the future cap space to make it happen. He’s certainly earned it after putting in his first All-Pro season in 2023. Prediction: Lamb signs a five-year, $155 million extension this summer,” Ballentine wrote on April 6.
Dallas Cowboys QB Dak Prescott Gives Shocking Answer About Future With The Team
In 2021, Dak Prescott signed a four-year, $160 million contract. On Friday, the Dallas Cowboys quarterback pulled back the curtain on his expectations for contract negotiations in 2025.
“I’m not trying to be the highest paid, necessarily. We’ll wait until negotiations begin, and I obviously want to put this team in the best situation,” Prescott said.
Prescott is currently the 10th-highest-paid quarterback in the NFL. Prescott had an excellent 2023 campaign, leading the NFL in touchdown passes (36) and passing completions (410). Nonetheless, the former Mississippi State standout couldn’t lead his team to victory in the Wildcard Round of the NFL Playoffs.
It’s been widely reported that the Dallas Cowboys are risking letting Prescott play on the final year of his contract before starting negotiations, and on Friday, the franchise QB seemed to echo that sentiment.
“Honestly I’m focused on the moment right now When talks begin and when real talks get to happen, sure we can talk about that then. But in this case I’m focused on getting better now, and I’ll leave all that up to my agent and Jerry , but when those talks begin, I’ll be more involved obviously.”
Still, Prescott reiterated him and Jerry Jones are on the same page when it comes to the hear and now.
“I’ve talked to Jerry and so I understand where we are obviously and Jerry’s mentioned the same so there is no grey area there. We had a great conversation that put us aligned where we are in this moment and we will address moving forward as soon as that comes about.”
But then Prescott made a statement about his future in Dallas that was unlike anything we have heard so far in his career as the Cowboys starting signal caller.
Dak Prescott speaking like a man who knows he has all the leverage and is daring the Cowboys in their face not to sign him and let them see what happens if they don’t…aka F around and find out #DallasCowboys https://t.co/2cApK9jviJ
— Kevin Gray Jr. (@KevinGraySports) April 19, 2024
“I’m not going to say I fear being here or not, I don’t fear either situation to be candid with you,” Prescott said. “I love this game and love to play and love to better myself as a player and those around me. Right now it’s with the Dallas Cowboys and that’s where I want to be, that’s where I am that’s where I’m focused. And we will see after the season we will see where we are at and if the future holds that. If not, we will go from there.”
Thats’s the first time we’ve heard Prescott speak publicly about a potential career where he isn’t playing in Dallas. It may not seem like a big deal now, but depending on how the 2024 season plays out, it could become a massive storyline.