The man reads defenses for a living. Anticipating where the heat is about to come from is literally part of his job description. So Dak Prescott had to know beyond a shadow of a doubt what the first question was going to be.
The Cowboys quarterback addressed a collection of media members via videoconference on Tuesday, just minutes after team owner Jerry Jones, chief operating officer Stephen Jones, and new head coach Mike McCarthy had delivered their state of the team press conference. And the top topic on everyone’s mind was the long-term contract between the team and the 27-year-old passer that didn’t get done over the summer.
On the July 15 deadline, Prescott got locked in to playing 2020 under the franchise tag in Dallas. Beyond that? Who knows. But Prescott explained that there are no hard feelings about not having a long-term deal secured.
“Business is business,” Prescott said, “and once I’m in the locker room and part of what’s going on now, I don’t focus too much on the future. It’s just more about today. That being said, I’m excited as hell to be a Dallas Cowboy. I’ve been a fan of this organization and been a fan of this program for years. I love every bit of the opportunity and the platform that I get to be the quarterback here. I love this team. I am excited about what we can do and accomplish this year. So, no frustration as far as that. Once again, I believe something will get done. It’s my hope I’ll be a Dallas Cowboy for the rest of my career.”
Many fans expected the two sides to reach an agreement as talks last month came down to the final hours. The club reportedly wanted a five-year pact; Prescott wanted four, to put him back at the negotiating table sooner. When it didn’t happen, Prescott says he simply moved on and shifted his focus to what’s right in front of him.
“I’m not a guy that looks at my future, to be honest,” said the two-time Pro Bowler. “I really don’t. I count my blessings every day. I walk in the day that I’m given and rejoice in it. I’m thankful for it. It can sound cliche and whatever you want to make it, but I can’t look at tomorrow without taking care of today, and that’s the way I’ve been throughout my life. That’s the way I have to be: even more focused that I live my life this way, as I said, with things that have happened to me personally, with the place this world is in, with the crisis we’re in with COVID, with social injustice. I don’t look too far ahead. I think you get in trouble and get derailed when you do that. I’m blessed to be a Dallas Cowboy, and I’m so thankful, and this is where I want to be. I love my teammates, I love my coaches, love the support staff and everything that’s going on here. So when that time comes again to negotiate, and get back at the table, that’s where my focus will be. But right now, it’s not even a worry on my mind or a thought that crosses my head.”
Prescott mentioned the coronavirus curveball that has upended almost everything thus far in 2020. That- specifically, the financial ramifications COVID-19 will have on the league’s bottom line- was a legitimate wrinkle that made finalizing a Prescott deal even more challenging, according to Stephen Jones.
“Obviously with the virus going to affect- and we were very aware it was going to ultimately affect- the revenue, which ultimately affects the salary cap, that was a challenge,” said Jones. “You certainly look at the long-term of the NFL, you feel so optimistic and great that our revenue streams are going to grow, so that’s certainly sitting out there. Everybody was pretty much aware, at the end of the day, that the term of the deal was a big part of this. But at the end of the day, it doesn’t change the way we think about Dak. Dak and I had a great visit right there at the deadline. He’s so fired up about this team, about this season, and about our future. We ultimately know that we’re going to have to figure out how to get this done. I’m more convinced than ever that we will get it done.”
Seeming to quash rumors that Prescott’s representation somehow bungled a layup of a deal or that there’s animosity now between agent Todd France and the club, the quarterback said he thinks this summer’s talks have only set the table for more productive meetings between the two parties next offseason.
“I have a great agent that I trust,” Prescott enthused, “and I think whatever happened this year between the negotiations, I think all it did was pretty much bring Stephen and my agent probably closer together and seeing eye to eye when it didn’t get done near the end. If I need to be involved, I’ll be involved, but I’m going to trust in Stephen, Jerry, and the Cowboys, and I definitely trust Todd.”
Prescott sounded like a man who’s got his head screwed on incredibly straight. And his boss sounded like a man who knows, admires, and respects that quality in the face of his franchise.
“The contract negotiations,” Jerry started. “I don’t even want to be glib or trite when I say that’s a part of professional sports, sitting down talking about the money. That’s a part of that. Dak is outstanding. He’s probably one of the top people I’ve been around for his age and his cumulative experience. He’s one of the top people that I’ve around as far as being aware, understanding.”
And as someone who prides himself on identifying top people to represent the star, Jones knows what he has in Prescott, long-term deal or not.
“We think he’s outstanding. We think he’s our quarterback of the future. We just couldn’t get together at this particular time. It’s easily worth noting that a lot of people this year in the franchise mode didn’t get together … This was just a less-than-stable time to be talking about serious, serious, generational- if you will, to use Dak’s term- dollars in an unknown period of time looking forward.”
As Prescott embarks on the follow-up to his career-best passing campaign, the lack of a long-term contract hasn’t put a chip on his shoulder. Not a bigger chip, anyway.
“My fire is burning, and my fire is big,” Prescott told reporters. “You can throw whatever you want in there for it to burn and for it to get bigger. I don’t know if I’m necessarily trying to prove something to the Cowboys or to this team, because I feel like everybody in this building, this organization, knows the player I am, knows the man that I am, knows where my heart stands. I just want to be great. And that’s what I do each and every day, is just try to come in here and do the best that I can to take another step to being that.”
And as far as Prescott in concerned, all of the steps he’ll take in getting there will come while wearing a silver and blue uniform.
“I grew up wanting to be a Dallas Cowboy, and I am, and I’ve got dreams of being a Dallas Cowboy ’til I’m done throwing the football. None of that’s going to change just because we couldn’t reach an agreement there for this season. But as I said, I’m a Cowboy right now, and that’s all that matters, and that’s my whole focus.”
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