Fansided

Cowboys' contract negotiations with Dak Prescott literally came down to the wire

There isn't much Jerry Jones loves more than drama.

By Zachary Rotman

Sep 8, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (4) runs off the field before the game between the Cleveland Browns and the Cowboys at Huntington Bank Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images
Sep 8, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (4) runs off the field before the game between the Cleveland Browns and the Cowboys at Huntington Bank Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images / Ken Blaze-Imagn Images
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If there's one thing we know about Jerry Jones, it's that he has a flair for the dramatic. We saw that when he signed CeeDee Lamb to a contract extension less than two weeks before the regular season, and we saw that again when they gave Dak Prescott an extension mere hours before the regular season.

Prescott's deal, a four-year extension worth $240 million with $231 million guaranteed, was announced hours before the Dallas Cowboys were set to take the field, but a deal had to have been essentially agreed to prior, right?

Well, not exactly. According to Dan Graziano of ESPN (subscription required), negotiations did literally come down to the wire.

Cowboys waited until bitter end to seal deal with Dak Prescott

"The Dak Prescott contract extension in Dallas really did go down to the wire. Cowboys vice president Stephen Jones called Prescott's agent, Todd France, at 8:30 a.m. ET on Sunday morning to try to finalize the deal. Jones had yet to leave for Cleveland, where the team was playing Sunday, so it was 7:30 a.m. in Dallas when the call was made. Prescott and France hadn't ruled out continuing negotiations into the season, but the season opener was sort of a soft deadline, because Prescott's position was that the price was likely to go up with every week leading into potential free agency."

Jerry Jones' son, Stephen, called Prescott's agent at 8:30 a.m. ET to try and finalize the deal. The game was scheduled to kick off at 4:25 p.m. ET, so it was roughly eight hours before that the call was placed, and that was with Jones not even in Cleveland.

What's really interesting about this revelation is that the season opener was considered a soft deadline of sorts because Prescott believed his price would go up every week heading into a potential free agency appearance.

That doesn't quite add up for a couple of reasons. First, what would've happened if Prescott had gotten hurt? That would've tanked his value immediately. Second, what more did Prescott need to prove in the regular season? He's pretty clearly a top-10 quarterback, if not better. The only reason this dragged out as long as it did presumably was because Prescott had not come big up when it mattered most, in the postseason.

Third, how much more could Prescott have realistically gotten? Prescott's total guaranteed money is the most of any player in NFL history. He maybe could've gotten a bit more, but can it get much more expensive than roughly $60 million annually in a capped sport?

It feels like the Cowboys were always going to give into Prescott's demands, they were just hoping he'd come down from his ask. Clearly, Prescott and his agent deserve a ton of credit for never budging.

In the end, everyone involved won. Prescott got the long-term deal he coveted at a price that valued him like one of, if not the best quarterback in the sport. The Cowboys got their franchise quarterback back for another four years. Jerry Jones even got some extra drama out of it by waiting until the last second to do what he likely would've done in June if Prescott made him.

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