As March 9 looms, the Dallas Cowboys brain trust has a major decision to make that could impact the future of the franchise for years to come. That is the deadline for NFL teams to use their franchise tag and quarterback Dak Prescott is the topic du jour as he may play under a second consecutive tag.
The Cowboys have seemingly whiffed on every opportunity to lock Prescott down long-term, but, “deadlines make deals” as Jerry Jones always says, and things are at the very least looking better than they have before. After multiple years of stagnant negotiations, NFL Network’s Jane Slater reported some “encouraging” news on Tuesday. Prescott’s agent Todd France and Cowboys COO Stephen Jones have been in contact and talks are going “better than (they have) been”.
This is not quite the news of a franchise record-breaking contract being signed that most fans have hoped to see for the past two seasons, but any movement in these negotiations is positive movement. Slater also replied to a fan on Twitter saying it is her personal belief that the contract is agreed upon at some point.
Take it for what it is worth.
This year marks the third year the team has been able to negotiate a contract with Prescott and his agent Todd France but to no avail. Prescott is seeking to be paid the current market value for the quarterback position and the two sides will continue to work towards meeting somewhere in the middle. A lot would have to happen in the course of a week for the franchise tag to not come into play.
If tagged for a second consecutive year the value jumps up to $37.7 million compared to the $31.4 million salary Prescott played for before his season-ending ankle injury. The two sides will have until July 15 to work out a multi-year extension if Prescott is tagged.
For the Cowboy’s salary cap situation and the sanity of the fanbase, any news is positive news.
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