Anonymous exec says Jerry Jones could be sabotaging Dak Prescott

The Dallas Cowboys' predicament with Dak Prescott isn't news at all. The franchise quarterback counts for $55+ million on the books in the 2024 season, the final year of his current contract. And with that, Prescott is likely to become the first player in NFL history to get a new deal with an average annual value of $60 million or more.

So in that light, there has been some warranted hesitancy and posturing from Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones about paying Prescott on that type of new contract. But also while that's been a heated topic of debate both externally and likely internally as well, Dallas has been notoriously frugal in their spending this offseason.

Dallas has signed just one outside free agent so far this offseason, linebacker Eric Kendricks. The rest of their resources have been spent re-signing players but also seeing key players like Tony Pollard, Tyron Smith, Michael Gallup, and more. Even if the Cowboys have a roster that could still contend, especially with the draft still looming, there is a good chance this roster is simply worse than a year ago.

And one NFL executive believes that might be by design.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones believed to be sabotaging Dak Prescott by NFL exec

Mike Sando of The Athletic ($) spoke with numerous anonymous NFL executives about the free agency moves for all 32 teams this offseason. And for the Cowboys, one exec didn't go as far as to say that Jerry Jones was sabotaging the roster to depress Dak Prescott's price, but he certainly insinuated as much describing the situation around the QB's potential $60 million AAV on his next contract.

"If the guy wants $60 million a year, you know what we are going to do instead?" an exec from another team hypothesized. "We are going to have an average team, and you are going to play worse and we are going to get you at a better price."

That's diabolical but would also explain quite a bit about how the Cowboys have operated this offseason. After another playoff disappointment, Jones now-infamously said that the organization would be "all in" this offseason, but the approach has been anything but. In fact, it would be more apt to describe Dallas' activities as "hardly in it at all".

To be sure, there is plenty of action still to happen. Late free agent signings, post-draft trades, and the draft itself offer the Cowboys opportunities to upgrade the roster and remain a contender. However, the state of the roster after the early waves of free agency give some credence to this anonymous exec's hypothesis.

And if there is even a speck of truth to that approach, that's a terrible look for Jerry Jones and the Cowboys. But hey, what's new there?