Getty Cowboys QB Dak Prescott
The Dallas Cowboys are not trading Dak Prescott. Still, the offseason NFL quarterback carousel has at least one observer wondering whether the team would consider making a deal with its QB1. Dallas’ 105.3 the Fan’s Shan Shariff suggested some hypothetical Prescott trades to gauge Cowboys fans’ feelings about the team’s franchise quarterback.
“Dak Prescott’s stock has gone down since the second half of the Cowboys season and the playoff game,” Shariff said on the February 18 of the “Shan & RJ” podcast. “People are now saying, ‘Well, I should have trusted my initial gut instinct. He’s not the guy.’ And then after watching the playoffs, he’s worlds away from Josh Allen and Pat Mahomes. So, I just wanted to propose some different trades to see how [people] would react.”
One of Shariff’s proposals has the Cowboys trading Prescott to the Green Bay Packers in exchange for Aaron Rodgers, 38. Shariff’s cohost, RJ Choppy, responded by putting himself in the Packers’ shoes.
“If I’m Green Bay, you have to look at it from a similar perspective as Seattle,” Choppy said. “The quarterback wants out, you think. … You might as well get rid of him and trade him. Unlike Seattle and Arizona, where you can make a case where it’s a lateral move. This is a mega-step down if you’re Green Bay.
“The Green Bay Packers would go from Favre to Rodgers to Dak. That’s a hell of a 40 years. So, yeah, you have to make those difficult decisions. If they don’t believe in (backup quarterback) Jordan Love, then I would do this, but I would be very hesitant at first to walk away from Aaron Rodgers.”
Choppy added that he would “100%” do the deal if he were the Cowboys because it would likely get the team closer to winning a Super Bowl.
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Rodgers Is an Older, More Expensive Option for the Cowboys
It is hard to argue that Rodgers, who was named NFL MVP on February 10, is not the better quarterback now, but swapping a 28-year-old quarterback for someone 10 years older is less than ideal, especially given that as recently as January 25, Rodgers openly discussed the idea of retirement.
Rodgers’ $26.4 million salary is higher than Prescott’s $20 million. Prescott’s cap hit is $34.4 million, while the Rodgers is slated to count a whopping $46.6 million against the cap for Green Bay in 2022, per Spotrac. Rodgers has two more seasons remaining on his deal, while Prescott is under contract through 2024.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that the Packers have “optimism” that Rodgers wants to return to Green Bay.
“The relationship between QB Aaron Rodgers & the Packers is in as good a spot as it has been in a long time, leading to optimism and hope that he will choose to return,” Rapoport tweeted on February 13. “GB is willing to do what is necessary contract-wise to make it happen.”
Stephen Jones: ‘This Whole Thing Revolves Around No. 4’
The hypothetical trade would reunite Rodgers with Mike McCarthy, who was head coach in Green Bay from 2006 to 2018. However, the Cowboys remain committed to Prescott, who signed a contract extension in March 2021. Earlier this month, Cowboys vice president Stephen Jones emphasized that the team starts with Prescott.
“Well, this whole thing revolves around No. 4,” Jones told reporters on February 2, during Senior Bowl week. “That’s what this league is all about. It’s a quarterback-driven league. We feel like we got one of the best in the business – if not the best – and it’s all about him. And we’ve got to continue to put the pieces around him.
“That’s why I mentioned things like the running game and cleaning up the penalties. All those things are just going to put Dak in better situations to be successful and win football games for us, which he’s shown he can do at a high level,” Jones said.
Fans expect more from Prescott, especially in the postseason, where he is 1-3 in four games. Yet, the Cowboys’ 23-17 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC wild-card game had to do with more than just Prescott. During the regular season, he threw for 4,449 yards, 37 touchdowns and 10 interceptions last season while completing 68.8% of his passes.