The Dallas Cowboys are heading into the 2024 regular season without a new contract with quarterback Dak Prescott, and all eyes are on Dallas to see if they get it done. Now, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is opening up about where the team stands with the Prescott talks and if he thinks the Cowboys can “afford” the quarterback.
Cowboys’ Jerry Jones on Dak Prescott Deal: ‘I Think We Can’
Jones spoke with ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith on Wednesday, September 4, as part of a special episode of the “Stephen A. Smith Show.” Of course, the conversation didn’t take long to turn to the subject of the Cowboys working out a new deal with Prescott. The quarterback is going into the final year of his contract. If the Cowboys don’t work out a deal with him, he’ll be a free agent after this season.
When asked about Prescott, Jones had high praise for the quarterback, stating, “What he is as a person and as a quarterback will age well. I think it will age well as he moves into the next five or ten years of his life. I think he’s the kind of quarterback that gets better and better.”
Jones also discussed the ongoing negotiations between Dallas and Prescott and financial aspect of re-signing the player. He said money is a sticking point.
“We have the challenge of not only recouping what we have spent on him over the last four years, we’ve got to add that to what we’re going to be paying him for the future,” Jones said. “That’s not Dak’s problem on the end that it’s the Dallas Cowboys’ problem, because that money is not going to be there to spend on supporting cast. So, we’ve got to ask ourselves, can we have the kind of success that Dak deserves, we deserve, his teammates deserve, our fans deserve? Can we do that and get in the range to afford Dak? I think we can.”
Jones didn’t discuss how close the Cowboys are to coming to an agreement with Prescott. But, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, don’t expect to hear an announcement soon.
“My understanding is, right now, is the two sides are not close,” Rapoport said Wednesday, September 4, on NFL Network’s “NFL GameDay.” “The clock is ticking. Of course, he’s going to practice, he’s going to play this season. There’s no questions there. But if a deal that would, of course, make him the highest-paid quarterback in the NFL, highest-paid player in the NFL—if that doesn’t get done by Saturday, you really have to wonder: Is a deal going to get done at all?”
Jerry Jones on CeeDee Lamb
Jones also talked about the Cowboys’ deal with CeeDee Lamb. The wide receiver inked a four-year, $136 million contract on August 26. In the process, Lamb missed training camp, but Jones says that didn’t bother him.
“There was never any question about how we felt CeeDee Lamb was as a football player or what he could do to help out this team,” Jones said. “I don’t see any rewards or penalties on your timer on ‘Does he get on the field or is he on the field when he better be out there.’ I had no urgency at all about getting him to the field.”
