Overreaction Monday: Cowboys should treat Dak Prescott a little more like Trey Lance

The Dallas Cowboys signed All-Pro wide receiver CeeDee Lamb to a historic four-year, $136 million contract extension on Monday that makes him the second-highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history. The deal will ensure the Cowboys have an lethal receiving weapon on the perimeter for years to come, but the team’s future at the quarterback remains in doubt.

Like Lamb, Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott has been searching for a long-term contract extension as he enters the final year of his contract in 2024. While Lamb chose to holdout from the Cowboys’ mandatory offseason program, Prescott joined his teammates for training camp in Oxnard, California.

So far, Prescott hasn’t been rewarded for participating in the offseason workouts.

Jerry Jones shows Trey Lance the loyalty that Dak Prescott deserves

While the Cowboys have been reluctant to make any guarantees regarding Prescott's future in Dallas, team owner Jerry Jones has shown unwavering loyalty for quarterback Trey Lance. Jones guaranteed that the 24-year-old had already earned a roster spot, despite being the third-string option.

Prescott has certainly done more enough to deserve the respect that's being shown to Lance. Prescott put together one of his most impressive campaigns in 2023. The 31-year-old led the league in completion percentage (69.5) and touchdown passes (36) while posting career highs in passing yards (4,516) and passer rating (105.9). Prescott earned second-team All-Pro honors for the first time in his career and finished second in MVP voting.

Despite his success, the Cowboys leadership has seemed far less enthusiastic about Prescott than Lance in recent days.

Prescott's biggest flaw has been his inability to win in the postseason. He has a 2-5 playoff record through seven games. He has completed 64.5 percent of his passes for 1,962 passing yards with 14 passing touchdowns, seven interceptions, and a 91.8 passer rating. That equates to a per-game average of 280.3 passing yards with two touchdowns and one interception per game.

Regardless, it seems quite unlikely that Lance could elevate the Cowboys to greater heights.

With Prescott's future in doubt, Jones and head coach Mike McCarthy made the decision to allow Lance to play the entirety of the team's preseason finale against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday. The experiment didn't go as well as Jones may have hoped — Lance threw five interceptions, including one at the goal line on the final play of the game. Despite the disastrous outing, Jones remained unfazed about Lance's roster spot.

Perhaps Jones just doesn't want to admit that it was a terrible decision to trade a fourth-round pick for Lance, especially since quarterback Cooper Rush has remained ahead of Lance on depth chart. No matter what the reason is, the team should probably focus on retaining Prescott rather than Lance.

Dallas is risking the strong possibility of losing Prescott by allowing him to play out the final year of his contract. Under his current deal, the Cowboys would not be able to franchise tag or trade their quarterback, which guarantees that he would become a free agent next offseason. On the open market, Prescott could command a salary with an average annual value of $60 million in free agency.