Dak Prescott absent from Cowboys 2021 hype video

In their annual hype video before the season, the Cowboys didn’t include Dak Prescott. It was said to be an oversight, but was it?

The Dallas Cowboys released a hype video after Super Bowl LV concluded, trying to instill some confidence and hope for the coming 2021 offseason. As expected, players such as Ezekiel Elliott, Amari Cooper, and DeMarcus Lawrence were a part of the package, as well as Cowboys legends Emmitt Smith and Troy Aikman. However, one player was absent from the video, and that was quarterback Dak Prescott.

The Cowboys Senior Director of Media and Programming Derek Eagleton responded to the criticism via his Twitter account.

“This was simply an oversight that should have been caught and corrected by us. Anyone who’s making it seem like Cowboys’ decision makers use social media videos to make statements doesn’t understand or take the time to understand how it all works. Trust me, there’s no story here.”

The contractual faceoff between the Cowboys and Prescott is entering its third round of negotiations. According to Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, the Cowboys will push to sign Prescott before the March 9 deadline for applying the franchise tag, and if no deal is reached, they’ll apply a second tag to Prescott of $37.7 million to keep him from hitting free agency and give the organization until the July 15 deadline to sign him long-term.

The fans of the Cowboys weren’t the only ones baffled by Prescott being left out of the video. His older brother, Tad Prescott, who has a history of blasting the fan base and organization, found it curious also that his brother wasn’t included.

Prescott isn’t currently under contract with the Cowboys, and maybe that could be a reason that he was left out of this particular video. However, the team has been adamant Prescott is their guy and that they are committed to having him for the foreseeable future, so it seems odd that he wouldn’t be apart of the organization’s attempt to get Cowboys fans excited for the 2021 season.

Team owner Jerry Jones stated in January that he felt Prescott couldn’t have any more leverage in terms of negotiations than he has right now, using his evolvement as a player and ability to win games as sticking points. Now, the question is whether or not that leverage will manifest itself into a lucrative extension.

The unknown of the NFL’s 2021 salary cap makes it difficult for the Cowboys to lay out a new deal for Prescott if they are trying to tie it to the cap, which makes a second tag the likely expectation.

Prescott and the Cowboys want a long-term marriage. The former wants a shorter deal so he can hit free agency earlier and cash in again, while the latter wants a longer commitment so that they can spread out the team’s finances. Now, it’s a matter of sitting back and watching dominos fall.

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