Cowboys QB Dak Prescott at TEU: Is he getting early start with his 2025 tight end?

From @ToddBrock24f7: Fans loved seeing Dak throwing at the tight end minicamp in Nashville. But could he be laying the groundwork with a new TE on a new team?

Social media clips out of Nashville this week showed Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott making a guest appearance at Tight End University, the three-day positional minicamp organized by Travis Kelce, George Kittle, and Greg Olsen.

Tight ends past and present from around the league are taking part in the fourth annual event, and that includes Cowboys Jake Ferguson and Luke Schoonmaker. Their attendance was perhaps to be expected.

But Prescott showing up to not only share his insights about the QB-TE dynamic but then also act as the unofficial camp arm during passing drills was a pleasant surprise to Cowboys fans. Of all the passers in the league, their guy was the one asked to join in. Now they can revel in short Instagram videos about how Dak looks to be in tip-top physical shape, about how his throws have an impressive amount of zing on them, about how his timing with Ferguson already looks to be in midseason form.

But is there an ulterior motive to Prescott’s TEU cameo?

He is, after all, in the midst of some high-level contract drama currently. Entering the final year of his contract, he is staring down the barrel of a season of monumental personal significance. Either he will get what is expected to be a groundbreaking contract from the Cowboys that could net him a league-record $60 million per year… or he’ll test the water of free agency in 2025 and end up earning that much- or more- from some other club…

…Throwing to some other tight end.

So why not get in a few reps with the cream of the crop now?

Prescott spoke to the group at Vanderbilt earlier this week about how critical the tight end position is to the offense in today’s NFL.

“Tight ends,” he said in a video posted by ESPN’s Stephen Holder on Tuesday, “y’all gotta know the offense, every part of it. I would say, I challenge you: you’ve got the run game, pass protections, all that. The next step is truly knowing what your quarterback is thinking when he’s throwing you the ball, because you guys are a quarterback’s best friend.”

That’s certainly been the case during Prescott’s time in Dallas. Since he joined the team as a rookie in 2016, a tight end has been the second-most-targeted receiver in four of eight seasons and finished with the second-most receptions in five of eight.

Whether it’s been Ferguson, Dalton Schultz, Jason Witten, or even Blake Jarwin, Prescott leans heavily on his TE1 as a security blanket. He’s always been up for a few extra reps with each of them whenever possible, whether at The Star, in Oxnard, at a lakeside retreat in Georgia, or even on his backyard practice field during the offseason. Any little thing to give him the edge.

So if Prescott believes- or even merely suspects- he may be wearing a different uniform next season, it would be the most Dak-like thing ever for him to start laying the groundwork now with his next tight end, even if he has no idea who it will be.

…Daniel Bellinger? Sure, I met him at Tight End U. last summer, and we hit it off right away. Now we can just pick up where we left off…

…Pat Friermuth? Yeah, we developed a good connection over a couple days in Nashville at TEU, so it’s great we already knew each other…

…Foster Moreau? I loved getting to throw to him up at Vanderbilt; looking forward to taking things to the next level with him on the field…

Obviously, this is pure early-summer speculation, an admittedly depressing (for Cowboys fans) worst-case what-if that would simply vanish with word that Prescott and Jerry Jones are sitting down to finalize a new contract that keeps him in Dallas.

But in the meantime, Prescott putting himself out there by doing summer work with some of the best and brightest up-and-comers in the league certainly won’t hurt him in the long run.

…Hey, when you go back to your team and your QB is noodle-arming out-routes to you on a big third down or isn’t even looking your way with a divisional game on the line, you just remember who was dialing up lasers to you and telling you you’re the key to the offense back in June…

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Prescott says he’s not worried about the money right now. He maintains his focus is on football, and the rest will take care of itself.

Maybe being at Tight End University is simply a chance to have some offseason fun with other players, score some sweet swag, and bank a quick getaway with the missus in a super-fun city.

But make no mistake, Prescott’s high-profile appearance in Nashville this week as TEU’s resident JUGS machine is an extraordinarily shrewd football move.

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