There’s a potential fight looming over $3.07 million in Dak Prescott’s franchise tender.
The NFL Players Association is prepared to take the position that, because the recently restructured contracts signed by Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins and Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger weren’t filed on Monday, March 16, their reduced cap numbers do not alter the exclusive franchise tender applied to Prescott by the Cowboys on Monday.
A union source described the situation as “an open question here possibly,” one that could allow Prescott to avoid having his franchise tender reduced by the cap-managing devices that removed both Cousins and Roethlisberger from the five highest 2020 quarterback cap numbers.
One portion of the CBA specifies that the exclusive tender comes from “the average of the five largest Salaries in Player Contracts for that League Year as of the end of the Restricted Free Agent Signing Period that League Year” for the player’s position. Elsewhere, the CBA provides that the calculation excludes “any Player Contract amount resulting from a renegotiation of an existing Player Contract between the time of the designation and any applicable later date.”
The question becomes one of timing. If, as it appears regarding both the Cousins and Roethlisberger contracts, the deal were executed before the Cowboys tagged Prescott, the NFL’s argument would be that the lower cap numbers apply. But since the contracts weren’t filed with the league until a day after Prescott was tagged, the union’s argument would be that the restructured deals don’t count.
It’s what the lawyers would call a question of first impression, one that never has been contested or resolved through the available procedures under the labor deal. And even if the Cowboys were willing to tag Prescott at the higher amount, the NFL’s Management Council may take the lead on this one, in order to create a precedent that would apply if/when the issue arises in the future.
Regardless, there’s $3.07 million cash and cap space riding on the question for 2020, and another $3.684 million hinging on it for 2021, if Dak were to be tagged again. That’s $6.754 million over two years, an amount that necessarily would influence the valuation of a long-term contract based on the tags to be applied to Dak over the next two seasons.
That said, any further renegotiations (if, for example, the Rams reduce Jared Goff’s sky-high $36 million cap number) would not impact Prescott’s franchise tender. The only question is whether Prescott’s franchise tender will be $31.62 million based on the prior Cousins and Roethlisberger cap numbers or whether the restructurings cut the tender to $28.55 million.