Cowboys futility on full display with latest change regarding Dak Prescott

The overall inaction of Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys at large this offseason has been maddening for fans. Most, if it were their checkbooks, wouldn't hesitate to find a way to lock up the trip of stars -- QB Dak Prescott, WR CeeDee Lamb, EDGE Micah Parsons -- to massive long-term contracts. The Cowboys, however, have certainly hesitated while also barely spending a dime in free agency.

If there was one piece of logic in the Cowboys process, it could've been with Prescott. The signal-caller has put up regular season wins and high-level stats in his career with Dallas. However, as is the case with this organization over the past three decades, playoff success has been massively elusive. Thus, with Jones' "all in" edict seemingly putting pressure on the quarterback and head coach Mike McCarthy to get over the hump, waiting on a deal would make some sense -- even if it's my belief that Prescott should be a no-brainer to extend given his level of play.

But if that was their logic, then their current and apparent state of panic after seeing the likes of Jared Goff and Trevor Lawrence sign lucrative extensions at $53 and $55 million average annual value doesn't align with that. And in fact, it's an infuriating sign of the futility of the Cowboys under Jones' watch.

Cowboys ready to show urgency with Dak Prescott months too late

Appearing on SportsCenter, ESPN NFL insider Jeremy Fowler reported that the Cowboys will now make the Prescott contract extension the priority ahead of Lamb and Parsons. The two sides still aren't close to a deal but they are now showing a sense of urgency to get the job done.

"You've got Dak Prescott. The Cowboys have a world of problems here financially with three players they have to sign—Micah Parsons, CeeDee Lamb as well—but the feeling around the league and sources I've talked to is that they want to start with Dak," Fowler said (h/t Bleacher Report). "They've put it on the table with Dak's people that 'Hey look, you're a priority. We want to try to get something done.' As far as hard dollars, not a lot of progress yet. I would describe their efforts so far as passive."

So the front office is showing a priority deal "passive" efforts. That in itself is maddening but so too is the logic behind now making Prescott top of mind in these negotiations.

To be clear, this isn't to say this shouldn't be the pecking order. Parsons is under contract through the 2025 season and, as great as he's been, Prescott and Lamb's deals are up at the end of this year. They are the ones who need to get pen to paper for the Cowboys' sake. The timing of this, however, makes Jerry Jones and the franchise look completely hapless.

It's hard not to view this newfound sense of urgency as nothing more than panic. Jones is, unfortunately, infamous for posturing when it comes to negotiations with stars, despite it rarely working out. Who could forget him doing the same with Ezekiel Elliott years ago and balking at the running back to unnecessarily extend Jaylon Smith. Lo and behold, both of those contracts backfired on the Cowboys.

So now that Jones has seen contracts at $53 million and $55 million AAV handed out to quarterbacks with less of a track record of success than Prescott, it would be hard to see this as anything other than him panicking and trying to scramble to get a deal before it's actually too expensive, not just him trying to puff his chest out to Dak to prove a point.

There is undoubtedly merit to having a sense of urgency right now. While any logical person would argue paying Prescott before Goff and Lawrence would've been best-case scenario for Dallas, they now certainly want to get this deal done before Tua Tagovailoa and Jordan Love also sign extensions, which would only further drive up the price for Prescott.

At the same time, though, this is a self-created problem. Mixed messaging from the Cowboys and posturing, if that's what it was, has served no purpose other than digging a grave so that the front office could now lie in it.

Sure, it's a good thing (at least by my estimation) that they've now come to their senses to try and lock up Prescott on a new deal. But how we got to this point has been bad business through and through, and at the end of the day, Jerry Jones is going to pay out the nose because of that.