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Dak Prescott is safely entrenched on the depth chart. Cooper Rush is … not.
Although the Dallas Cowboys recently tendered Rush, a restricted free agent, paying him $2.14 million for 2020, the team might be seeking an upgrade at the backup quarterback spot, as they’ve scheduled a top-30 pre-NFL draft visit with Northern Arizona prospect Case Cookus.
The source: Cookus himself.
A deep sleeper in a top-heavy QB class, Cookus appeared in 41 career games for the Lumberjacks, totaling 12,032 yards, 105 scores and 24 picks on 892-of-1431 passing (62-percent completion rate). He added six TDs on the ground across five contributing seasons (2015-19).
Cookus earned the Jerry Rice Award in 2015, given to the top Division I freshman performer, and was named Street & Smith’s Top NFL Prospect in the Big Sky Conference for 2019, when he threw for a personal-best 4,114 yards and 31 TDs over 12 appearances — a staggering 342.8 yards-per-game average.
Standing 6-foot-4 and with no discernible scrambling ability, Cookus is a prototypical pocket passer who boasts a big arm and the mental makeup to match.
“One big reason for Cookus’ success is the supreme confidence and leadership he shows on the field,” Pro Football Network’s Scott Gorman wrote in November. “He believes he can make every throw on the field, and sometimes that gets him in trouble.
Gormon loosely compared Cookus to 49ers star Jimmy Garoppolo and projected the 24-year-old to be selected in the fifth-to-sixth-round range of next month’s NFL draft.
The Cowboys own seven overall picks for the annual offseason spectacle, including two fifth-rounders (Nos. 164 and 179), after the league awarded an extra, compensatory choice.
It’s entirely possible, if not probable, Dallas brings in a rookie signal-caller this offseason. The goal being, create summer competition and perhaps supplant Rush as Prescott’s primary clipboard-holder, duties he earned in 2019 following a preseason battle with Mike White.
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Dak Earns Hefty Performance Bonus from NFL
Prescott got paid before (maybe) getting paid. The cornerstone QB is taking home a $234,019 performance-based bonus, the NFL announced Thursday.
The Cowboys ranked first in scrimmage yards (431.5 per game), second in passing offense (296.9 YPG), and sixth in scoring (27.1 points per game). The statistical output will lead to a long-term contract or a one-year franchise tag — a monstrous windfall in either scenario, the floor for which is $33 million, on the exclusive tag.
The league established performance-based perks to reward highly-active players who carry lower salaries. Prescott’s payout represents about 11.5 percent of his $2.025 million base salary for 2019, the final year of his rookie deal.
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Follow Zack Kelberman on Twitter: @KelbermanNFL
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