Getty Cowboys QB Dak Prescott
Dak Prescott’s hideous ankle injury and subsequent surgeries have not squelched his value to hypothetical NFL suitors.
Citing multiple front-office sources, Dallas Cowboys insider Bryan Broaddus was told that Prescott likely would garner two first-round draft picks in a would-be tag-and-trade involving the 27-year-old quarterback.
“The early statements from these guys – everyone thinks you can get two (first-round picks) out of this, for sure,” Broaddus said Tuesday on 105.3 The Fan. “One guy thinks you might have to look at the deal (like the one Indianapolis did on the Carson Wentz trade), where you have to take a (second-round pick that could end up being a first-round pick based on Prescott’s performance). … I had one guy tell me if you get (two first-rounders), you might want to take that.”
Using Wentz as a barometer, if Dak were dealt, the Cowboys would stand to receive a non-first-round choice this year and a conditional selection in 2022 contingent on playing time or other performance escalators.
But such a trade probably falls closer to the Matthew Stafford Scale — that is, two firsts and a third-round pick thrown in for good measure. Because if Stafford, 33, can garner premium capital, Prescott should, too.
However, this is merely mental masturbation until (or unless) the Cowboys place the franchise tender on Prescott. After which point the two-time Pro Bowler must formally sign the tag and, in essence, approve the blockbuster.
“To do [a tag-and-trade], they need a certain level of cooperation from Dak Prescott,” ESPN’s Adam Schefter explained last month. “He’s got to come in and sign that franchise tag knowing he’s being traded somewhere. If they had a deal worked out with somebody to a place where he didn’t want to go, what would be his incentive to sign that?
“This is, really, an unofficial no-trade tag that Dak Prescott has by getting the franchise tag, if indeed the Cowboys do put that tag on him. That would be his unofficial no-trade clause. They could not just trade him without his consent.”
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Deadline for Dak to Sign Long-Term Deal: Report
ESPN’s Todd Archer reported Monday that Dallas has held “discussions, if not actual negotiations” with Prescott’s agent, Todd France, who could score his client an ever-elusive long-term pact by March 9, the final day to use the 2021 tag.
“Between Tuesday and March 9, the Cowboys hope to work out a long-term deal with Prescott. There have been discussions – if not actual negotiations – with Prescott’s rep. Without a long-term deal by March 9, the next deadline to watch is July 15, the final day the sides can reach an agreement or else Prescott has [to] play the season on the tag,” Archer wrote.
Rather than engaging in protracted, deja-vu negotiations with Prescott, reported NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Cowboys want to sign the cornerstone quarterback to a long-term contract “now.”
Rapoport explained, however, that Prescott’s camp holds a majority of the leverage as he is guaranteed to make no less than $37.7 million for 2021 — the cost of the exclusive franchise tag and a monstrous cap number the team hopes to lessen.
“The job of an agent is to get the best deal for his player, and letting it play out like this certainly will result in Dak Prescott making a lot more money than he would’ve had the Cowboys and Prescott agreed to a contract before last season. Probably would have been in the low-30 [millions per year] then. Now looking up around probably $40 million [per year],” Rapoport said Tuesday.
“The most significant thing that is going on here, as far as my understanding, is the Cowboys want to get this done now. The reason why that’s significant is obviously Dak Prescott is coming off major surgery from a serious ankle injury. The fact that they are confident enough in his rehab to do a big-time, long-term deal now speaks very well to how he’s coming along, his future, and how badly they not just want — but need — him to become the franchise quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys for the foreseeable future.”
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