Dak Prescott didn’t want a contract that technically would have made him the highest paid player in league history. So the Cowboys are trying again.
Todd Archer of ESPN.com reports that the Cowboys have sent a new proposal to Prescott. No numbers have been reported regarding the latest offer.
Presumably, the Cowboys received a response from Prescott to the last offer. The etiquette of negotiation contemplates a back and forth; when one side makes two moves that side is said to be bidding against itself.
The clock is ticking for the Cowboys. If a deal with Prescott can’t be reached by Thursday, the Cowboys reportedly will apply the franchise tag. And it reportedly will be the exclusive version.
That’s what drives Prescott’s leverage. If he’s going to make $31.6 million in 2020 under the exclusive version of the tag and, by rule, $37.9 million in 2021, why not go year to year and make more than $69 million over the next two seasons, especially since the Cowboys likely wouldn’t apply the franchise tag in 2022, when his one-year tender would spike to $54.6 million?
It’s hard not to wonder whether the Cowboys eventually will reach the end of their rope with Dak, especially with other options on the free-agency market and with more and more college quarterbacks thriving at the next level. Could they tag and trade Dak? Could they decide simply not to tag him at all? Could they pivor to the transition tag, which would give him a chance to test the market and provide the Cowboys a chance to match?
Here’s a potential wildcard: Tom Brady. A week ago, he wasn’t being linked to any teams in the NFC. Now that the 49ers chatter seems to be real (the 49ers still haven’t shot it down, and they easily could), maybe Cowboys owner and G.M. Jerry Jones will decide that life is all too short to not go all in, and maybe Jerry goes all in with Brady.