Dak Prescott got the franchise tag, so what’s next for Dallas?
By Ryan Brown
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott got hit with the exclusive Franchise Tag. What does that mean for Dallas’s free agency plans as moving forward?
To be honest, probably not much has changed. With Dak tagged, the goal still seems to be to get a long term deal done for him, likely making him one of the top paid quarterbacks in the league.
But with Prescott with the team for at least the next year, the Cowboys can move on to sign some of their big name players set to hit free agency on March 18th, including wide receiver Amari Cooper and cornerback Byron Jones.
Since the new Collective Bargaining Agreement was ratified by players this past weekend, each team only has one franchise tag to use. So with the Cowboys using their only tag on Prescott, long term deals would have to get done with any player they want to sign.
Cooper and Jones will be highly sought after in free agency by any team needing to sure up their respective positions, but with a ton of cap space to spend, Dallas could make both players some of the highest paid at their positions.
Other players that Dallas may want to resign include their 2019 sack leader, Robert Quinn. Other defensive lineman set to be free agents include Michael Bennett and Maliek Collins. The defensive consistency last year was disappointing with a such a talented group, so resigning some players could help the continuity of the defense going into 2020.
The wide receiver group is also a need to address. With Cooper being the biggest target by far, the Cowboys have Randall Cobb, Tavon Austin, and Jason Witten all set to be free agents this year. It’s possible that new Head Coach Mike McCarthy who coached Cobb when he was the head coach in Green Bay could want to keep Cobb around for another year. Dallas also has Michael Gallup, who had a great campaign in 2019.
A smaller but possibly just as important position to address is place kicker. Kicker Brett Maher was released mid-season last year and replaced by Kai Forbath. Forbath didn’t miss a single field goal or PAT during his short time in Dallas, so it would be interesting to see if Dallas resigns the veteran, who is set to hit free agency, or if they look for someone new.
Whatever the Cowboys do from here in free agency and into the draft, they have their franchise quarterback for at least one more year and can possibly get a long term deal in place soon.