Piece by: Tyler Deakin
Dak Prescott, the Dallas Cowboys quarterback, signed a 4-year $160 million contract extension with the team on Monday night. This signing wasn’t as shocking & surprising as the JJ Watt deal with the Cardinals; however, this is still an important development in the 2021 NFL Offseason. Most analysts presumed that Prescott would either get franchise tagged again by the Cowboys or that he would be allowed to test free agency, but now it appears that neither of those scenarios will play out. Instead, the Cowboys have finally locked up their franchise QB for the foreseeable future. The obvious winners from this contract extension are the Dallas Cowboys franchise (they get long term stability under center) & Dak Prescott (he finally got paid). That being said, I’m going to discuss how this move affects all parties involved.
The Dallas Cowboys should be viewed as contenders to win the NFC East after making this move. Their roster still has several holes left to fill coming off a season where they finished with a 6-10 record; however, the other teams in the NFC East have deeper issues, such as Washington & Philadelphia’s QB woes. The main reason that Dallas finished 6-10 last year was that Prescott got hurt & their backup QBs couldn’t make the offense function. Washington will likely challenge them for the NFC East crown, with a deep defensive line & solid secondary. That being said, I believe Dallas could certainly emerge as a contender in the NFC in 2021.
Dak Prescott finally got paid after 5 solid seasons as the starting QB for the Dallas Cowboys. His 5th season in 2020 was cut short by injury, but he was playing very well 5 games into the 2020 season. Prescott signed the contract, offering him long term job security with Dallas & an opportunity to test free agency at age 31 after the contract expires; however, signing the contract also will put added pressure on him to perform like a franchise QB. This will also mean that Dallas needs to be smart & savvy in all of their offseason additions going forward, whether that’s through free agency or the draft, as they will face difficult financial decisions on re-signing or releasing players in the coming years. The price of contending in the NFL usually involves compensating your franchise QB at some point, a lesson Dallas has learned here.
Strangely, this move affects another NFC QB besides Dak Prescott and that is Russell Wilson. Wilson, though he has not directly requested a trade, told his agent to tell ESPN Insider Adam Schefter that he would accept a trade to four NFL teams. Those teams are the Dallas Cowboys, Chicago Bears, New Orleans Saints, & Oakland Raiders. Obviously, the Cowboys are now out of that discussion after signing Prescott long term instead of letting him hit free agency. The Raiders have publicly supported their QB Derek Carr, while the Saints are in cap hell & likely won’t be able to land Wilson. The Chicago Bears are really the only team on his list that still makes sense were he to be traded this offseason. Could Russell Wilson go to the Chicago Bears as an indirect consequence of Dak Prescott signing with Dallas?
The developing storylines from the Dak Prescott deal are absolutely stunning, and I didn’t even get to mention how this might impact the teams who would’ve chased after Dak in free agency had he gotten there. Unfortunately for those teams, they will now have to resort to Plan B at the quarterback position. This move immediately confirms the reemergence of Dallas as a contender in the NFC this year, though it might also create long term issues for Dallas as the contract weighs down their salary cap in future years. Prescott is certainly happy to have long term job security with the only NFL team he’s known thus far. Meanwhile, Russell Wilson is probably not a happy camper right now after 3 out of 4 of his preferred trade partners likely won’t acquire him this offseason. None of that matters much to Cowboys fans, who will be relieved to see Prescott back in uniform later this year.
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