Much has been made throughout 2024 about whether or not Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones wants to be married to quarterback Dak Prescott on a long-term basis after Prescott's career postseason record dropped to 2-5 this past January.
Jones seemingly addressed that topic during an appearance on "The Stephen A. Smith Show" that was released Wednesday night.
"What he is as a person and as a quarterback will age well," Jones said about a potential Prescott contract, as shared by Christian Arnold of the New York Post. "I think it will age well as he moves into the next five or 10 years of his life. I think he’s the kind of quarterback that gets better and better."
NFL insider Dianna Russini raised some eyebrows earlier this week when she said on The Athletic's "Scoop City" podcast that "the hold up" regarding a Prescott deal "is the years the Cowboys are willing to commit to."
Cowboys insider Jon Machota of The Athletic later wrote that fans should "expect" Prescott to remain in the final year of his current contract through the upcoming season if the two sides don't agree on a deal by the start of this Sunday's Week 1 game between Dallas and the Cleveland Browns.
Prescott is expected to become the league's highest-paid player either as a member of the Cowboys or as a free agent in March 2025. It's believed he could ink a deal worth up to $70M annually if he hits the open market.
"We have the challenge of not only recouping what we have spent on him over the last four years," Jones added about Prescott, "we’ve gotta add that to what we’re gonna be paying him for the future. 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 gotta 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."
For what it's worth, ESPN's Dan Graziano said in an article published on Thursday morning that he "would not be surprised to see quarterback Dak Prescott sign a long-term extension with the Cowboys this week."
"I've been getting more optimistic responses over the past couple days than I've gotten at any other point in the past calendar year," Graziano continued. "While the prospect of unrestricted free agency next March certainly looks enticing, I wonder if Prescott might just decide enough is enough and that staying in Dallas for the rest of his career is his best play."
Assuming Machota is correct, the deadline for a Prescott deal to get done is rapidly approaching.
