Avoiding Dak Prescott extension may have huge repercussions on Cowboys future as well

Dak Prescott is entering the final season of his four-year deal with the Dallas Cowboys worth $40 million annually. He may not be the very best quarterback in football, but he usually resides in the top-eight to 12-range. Therefore, he should be at or near the top of the market whenver it is his turn to get paid. He should be making around $55 million annually, possibly even closer to $60 million annually.

There are a lot of unintended consequences stemming from the Cowboys not taking care of business when they should have when it comes to Prescott's contract situation. Reid Hanson at Cowboys Wire outlined five unavoidable repercussions that come from not paying Prescott on time. Some of which I already knew, whereas a few others made me think even more on the issue at hand.

Here are the five points Hanson wanted to make in the article about the Prescott contract situation.

• Extremely limited compensation
• It forces Cowboys to start over at QB
• Wastes best years of the best players' careers
• Waste an opportunity in wide open NFC
• Removes Cowboys from contender status indefinitely

Three of these I kind of already knew (start over at quarterback, wastes NFC opportunities, removes contender status). However, I think the other two (limited compensation, wastes best players' careers) were not unintended consequences I fully considered. No matter how you slice it, it is all bad that the Cowboys have not gotten out ahead of it when it comes to extending Prescott. What are they doing?

Let's unpack all five unavoidable repercussions in a bit more detail, especially the ones I did not see.

Even more ripple effects of Dallas Cowboys not paying Dak Prescott early

Because I do not follow this team as closely as does Hanson, it did not occur to me that Prescott's contract forbids the Cowboys from trading him, as well as using the franchise tag on him. This means Prescott would have to waive his no-trade clause to be dealt. Since it is all setting up towards him either getting extended ahead of time, or hitting free agency next spring, it is all about compensation.

Simply put, either the Cowboys pay him closer to $60 million or somebody else will. If the Cowboys do let him walk, they would only be recoupoing a third-round compensatory pick somewhere down the line. For a former fourth-round pick, you would think you would be coming out on top in most instances, but not when it comes to moving on from the former face of your franchise for a decade.

Starting over at quarterback resets the team's entire timeline. Anyone who is currently in their prime will see their talent wasted in a Cowboys uniform. Even if Dallas were to strike gold with someone like Shedeur Sanders out of Colorado in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft, he will not be a refined NFL product until he is near the end of his rookie contract, if that. Hitting the reset button means resetting.

In addition to not knowing about the many clauses supposedly baked into Prescott's contract, I failed to realize that not extending him and letting him walk makes other players who are still in their prime and still on the team far worse off. You would hope Sanders or whomever could come in and make a difference right away, but the Cowboys would go from a playoff lock to essentially the playoff fringe.

The Cowboys are every bit in win-now mode. This has everything to do with their finances, or lack thereof. They have to get it done this year because nobody has any earthly idea what tomorrow brings for this franchise beyond the 2024 NFL season. All I know is bringing Prescott back means they still want to try and win. If he is playing elsewhere next season, we can cross Dallas off for good.

Once again, Prescott is by far and away the most important contract the Cowboys must figure out.