Replace Dak Prescott? Why Cowboys QB will be back long term, for better or worse

The Dallas Cowboys have a history of glory that spans decades. From their consistency in the '70s to their dynastic run in the '90s, the Cowboys have left their fingerprints throughout the NFL archives. Since Cowboys owner Jerry Jones last hoisted his fifth Lombardi Trophy after the 1995 NFL season, however, the franchise has been relegated to a mere footnote in the postseason, lost in the annals of NFL history.

The storied franchise hasn't won a Super Bowl for 28 consecutive seasons.

Along the way, Dallas has become synonymous with postseason meltdowns. In their latest debacle, the Cowboys suffered a 48-32 loss to the Green Bay Packers at AT&T Stadium. In one of the worst postseason losses in franchise history, the Cowboys found themselves in NFL history books for all the wrong reasons.

The upset marked the first time a seventh-seed team has won a postseason game in NFL history. The Cowboys became the first team to win 12 games in three consecutive seasons and fail to make a single conference championship game appearance. Perhaps worst of all, the Packers have now won more playoff games at AT&T Stadium (3) than the Cowboys (2).

After the Packers dismantled the Cowboys, the same message reverberated throughout the franchise: Shocked. Stunned. At a loss for words.

The Cowboys had a talented and experienced group of players across their roster. Nine Dallas players named first- or second-team All-Pro by the Associated Press. Quarterback Dak Prescott led the league in touchdown passes, linebacker Micah Parsons had a career-high 14 sacks, and cornerback DaRon Bland led the league with nine interceptions, five of which he returned for touchdowns — an NFL record. They were playing the game in Dallas, and they were the only team that didn't lose a single home game during the 2023 NFL season.

"We got everything we wanted in the seed, home field, everything," receiver CeeDee Lamb said. "We just didn't capitalize."

Ultimately, none of it mattered. The loss summoned a myriad of questions surrounding the future in Dallas. Now, Jerry Jones will have to reconstruct his beloved team from top-to-bottom. The Cowboys have 16 players on their roster who are set to be unrestricted free agents, while young phenoms like Lamb and Parsons will be looking for contract extensions.

Before any other contract is signed, the Cowboys need to figure out what they want to do with quarterback Dak Prescott, who is entering the final year of his contract with a $59.45 million cap hit and a dead cap value of $61.91 million. The Cowboys cannot realistically construct a winning team with Prescott's contract as it is, so they'll inevitably have to either extend him, trade him, or cut him.

What options do the Dallas Cowboys have to move on from quarterback Dak Prescott?

“If we get to March and the Cowboys, for whatever reason, have decided they don’t want to extend Prescott… then things get interesting,” ESPN's Dan Graziano said. “Prescott’s 2024 money is not guaranteed. The Cowboys could cut or trade him prior to paying the March roster bonus and save $34 million on their 2024 cap.”

Regardless of the salary cap, there isn't any clear path to a quarterback upgrade for Dallas. Kirk Cousins and Baker Mayfield will be the headliners of a lackluster free agency, and any trade will likely result in a downgrade at the quarterback position.

Finding a franchise quarterback is a daunting task, and Prescott is a three-time Pro Bowler who just had an All-Pro season. Only a handful of quarterbacks would represent an obvious upgrade, and none of them will be available for trade. All that leaves are the quarterbacks that Dallas currently has on their roster — Prescott and Trey Lance. San Francisco gladly traded Lance away just two years after spending multiple first-round picks to draft him third overall, so it's unlikely that he's a viable answer.

"The Cowboys know how hard it is to get a good quarterback and Prescott is largely considered a top-10 passer in this league," ESPN's Jeremy Fowler said. "So, it would be mildly surprising if they moved on from him, but with that 2-5 playoff record, certainly that could be a negotiating point for Dallas that comes up over the coming months."

Extending Prescott is the most reasonable move if Dallas wants to remain competitive. Then again, Jerry Jones has been known to be unreasonable at times.