Getty Cowboys owner Jerry Jones (left) with Micah Parsons. Rumor has it that Jones won't give QB Dak Prescott an extension.
Few people spend more time at the Combine each year than NFL Media host Rich Eisen, who is typically on site from the opening of the festivities straight through till the weekend’s end. Over the course of the week, anyone in the media is going to hear some rumors worth chewing on, but Eisen says he heard multiple top rumors of interest to the Cowboys, including a stunning one about the team’s plans on Dak Prescott and the much-needed contract extension the team needs to work out with him.
In recounting his “Top 5 Rumors Heard at the NFL Combine,” Eisen recounted one that is both jaw-dropping and potentially hugely frustrating for Cowboys fans everywhere: Jones is not going to do an extension with Prescott. Instead, Eisen stated, the rumors he’s heard have Jones letting Prescott play out the final year of his deal at a whopping $59.5 million.
Remember, in January, Jones told reporters the Cowboys were going, “all in,” in 2024. That made sense, because the team obviously is frustrated by its continued playoff failures, including the 48-32 loss to the Packers at home in January. Most took “all in” to mean they were going to renegotiate Prescott’s contract to have a smaller number in 2024, allowing the Cowboys the flexibility to sign some top-notch talent.
Nope, according to what Eisen is hearing.
“According to people at the Combine, his definition of all in is to make Dak play out his walk year and not extend him, at all,” Eisen said on the Rich Eisen Show” on Monday. “Just eat the cap hit. And the free agents they might go get aren’t the big names you might think because they won’t be able to afford them.”
Rich Eisen ‘Gob-Smacked’ by Cowboys Rumor
That would be a stunning turn of events. Eisen admitted he was, “gob-smacked,” when he chatter because it went so contrary to the assumptions we’ve been making about the Cowboys’ offseason intents. But Eisen says we’ve all been misinterpreting Jones.
Here’s what Jones said at the Senior Bowl: “I would anticipate, with looking ahead at our key contracts that we’d like to address, we’ll be all in. I would anticipate we’ll be all in at the end of this year.
“It will be going all in on different people than we’ve done in the past. We’ll be going all in. We’ve seen different things from some of the players that we want to be all in on. And yes, I would say that you will see us, this coming year, not building for the future, is the best way I can say it.”
But apparently Jones may have meant the Cowboys were going “all in” only in the sense that they would have to pay Prescott so much.
“This is what he means by all in,” Eisen said. “He means, ‘Hey Dak, you haven’t won a playoff game except a couple around here, last year was so dreadful, I’m gonna make you play it out and I’ll eat the $59 million.’
“I was just gob-smacked when I heard that.”
Make Dak Prescott Finish Mega-Contract?
The advantage of that approach from the Cowboys is that it allows the team to simply part ways with Prescott if he can’t lead the Cowboys to the Super Bowl next season. The disadvantage is twofold. First, if Prescott plays well, the Cowboys will be dealing with an unrestricted free agent who could head off elsewhere or force his price up.
Second, leaving Prescott’s number where it is means the Cowboys have no flexibility entering the 2024 free-agent market.
Forget Derrick Henry or Josh Jacobs. Forget Calvin Ridley or any other top free agent who might make sense for the Cowboys. If Eisen’s rumor is right, the plan is just to stick with the status quo and cut corners to stay under the cap. Already, word has come out that the team won’t keep star tackle Tyron Smith.
Keeping Prescott on his current deal means there is no room for improvement on the Cowboys roster. But, somehow for Jones, that adds up to mean “all in.”