Former NFL quarterback Carson Palmer seems to have stirred up controversy with his opinion on Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott’s contract negotiations. Former New England Patriots tight end Martellus Bennett expressed his strong disagreement with Palmer’s take.
Prescott has pushed Cowboys and owner Jerry Jones for a contract that would pay him (rightfully) as one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks. But while playing on the franchise tag in 2020, Prescott suffered a season-ending ankle injury. It’s exactly the kind of injury that players are afraid of suffering when they’re negotiating a long-term deal.
Palmer, however, doesn’t think Prescott should push for top dollar.
“I love Dak’s game. I think he’s great. I think he shouldn’t shoot for the moon (on his next contract),” Palmer said on Shan and RJ. “Being the Dallas Cowboys quarterback, there’s a lot that comes with that financially. So, you don’t have to be the top-paid quarterback in the league. You can make as much as the top-paid quarterback in the league when you’re the Dallas Cowboys quarterback if you do take less.”
Bennett took issue with this thought process. He told Prescott not to “leave a penny on the table.”
Dude could’ve had a career ending injury last year and you him to give the team that didn’t invest in his future the first time to give them a tax break. Lol. This is silly. If they wanted him for cheaper they should’ve paid him before he became the Dak Prescott of today.
— Martellus Bennett (@MartysaurusRex) February 4, 2021
Don’t leave a single penny on the floor. The idea of this narrative of guys taking less money for the team never sat right with me. They’ll not having cap space isn’t the players fault it’s theirs. Pay the man market value.
— Martellus Bennett (@MartysaurusRex) February 4, 2021
Palmer noted that Cowboys stars have graduated from the NFL to profitable positions in the media.
“You got Troy Aikman (Fox analyst), Jason Witten (former Monday Night Football analyst) and Tony Romo (CBS analyst) all on nationally televised games. Partially, because of their playing careers, but a majority of that is because they played for the Dallas Cowboys,” Palmer said. “They are a household name. You’ve seen Dak on tons of commercials and endorsements. You can make that same top-tier money if you’re Dak and you take a little bit less, and you keep all the players around you within the salary cap structure.”
Of course, Jones owns one of the most profitable franchises in the NFL. The value of his franchise is absolutely insane (roughly $5.7 billion), with the NFL instituting a salary cap that’s the same for the Cowboys as it is for a franchise that’s worth far less like the Bengals ($2 billion). If anything, Jones should have to pay his players more to play in Dallas. Even if playing for the Cowboys might open up other avenues of earnings, that doesn’t mean Dallas should ask players to take less than they deserve in a professional where they make significant physical sacrifices.
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