For a good chunk of the offseason, whether or not the Dallas Cowboys will be able to extend quarterback Dak Prescott has been perceived as a major mystery.
With the quarterback market exploding and the quarterback holding all the leverage, the Cowboys have taken it so slow that for a few months now and it's always sounded like wide receiver CeeDee Lamb was going to get his deal done before Dak.
Starting by the simple fact that we're not 100% sure Prescott will get his deal this year (or next for that matter), this was always something that made sense. But ESPN's NFL insider Jeremy Fowler dropped a major nugget over the weekend when he claimed that the quarterback's deal might come before the wide receiver's.
“My understanding is that the Cowboys will prioritize Prescott," Fowler reported. "They want to pay him. And probably want to pay him first before all of their other stars like CeeDee Lamb and Micah Parsons. But their actions so far have been described as passive.”
This might not seem like much but it's very relevant considering how the process has gone so far where an offer has yet to be made for the quarterback.
If negotiations heat up, chances are it'll happen leading up to training camp. Hearing that the Cowboys' intention is to extend Prescott before they get Lamb's deal done should ease concerns about Dallas' front office not being able to pull it off.
The Cowboys have publicly said that they want Prescott on the team and that's all fine and well but owners, coaches, and executives should never be taken at their word in the NFL. However, hearing a top insider suggest it'll probably happen before Lamb's deal is a good sign and shouldn't be ignored.
That being said, negotiations heat up and things could change: Jerry and Stephen Jones have said in the past that they don't set an order in which they want deals to happen and that a sequence isn't needed.
Getting Dak's deal done first makes sense just based on the fact that they don't control his future and can't avoid him getting to free agency in 2025. With Lamb, the franchise tag could be an option to secure him before negotiating a deal afterward.
