Cowboys Send Message on Long-Term Future of QB Cooper Rush

Getty Images Cooper Rush of the Dallas Cowboys.

Cooper Rush keeps winning as the starting quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys but his future beyond this year is still uncertain.

Rush has no doubt earned himself some money for the future with a sterling 5-0 overall record with the Cowboys — four of those wins coming this season. Rush will be a free agent at the end of the season but the team is not yet ready to start talking about the prospect of offering the 28-year-old QB an extension of some kind.

“That’s a conversation for upstairs and in the off-season,” Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said this week, per Sports Illustrated. “Right now we’re just focused on trying to win a football game.”

When Rush hits free agency, teams will be interested. Proven winners are hard to come by and he could be a player that teams with uncertain situations under center covet. Rush has passed for 839 yards and four touchdowns over his four starts this season and has yet to turn the ball over.

While Rush has stepped up for the Cowboys, they’ll likely be hard-pressed to match the offers he’ll get on the open market. Dallas is already paying Prescott a healthy sum on the four-year, $160 million contract he signed last offseason and additional investment at the quarterback position would be tough to fit in with needs elsewhere on the roster.

Prescott Questionable for NFC East Clash With Eagles

That “football game” the Cowboys are trying to win is the most important of Rush’s career, with Dallas traveling to Philadelphia to take on the undefeated Eagles. Prescott has practiced this week in a limited fashion and is listed as questionable for the matchup as he continues his journey back from thumb surgery.

If Rush does end up as the starting signal caller for a fifth consecutive week, Jones is confident the Cowboys can pick up the victory as long as they stick to the script of riding the running game and their stellar defense.

“I think Cooper has done an amazing job, hats off to him first and foremost. He’s protected the ball, he’s done his job, he knows the offense and knows what we need to do to win games,” Jones said 105.3 The Fan. “If we had to be, we could be more aggressive with him but right now the winning formula seems to be to run the football, be conservative, don’t put the ball in harm’s way and let that defense do what they’re doing right now at a very high level.”

Rush and Prescott Have Had Solid Partnership

Much has been made about Rush’s success causing a quarterback controversy in Dallas but inside the building, Prescott has been supporting his backup every step of the way.

“I’ve said before he’s helped tremendously with our room, myself, and everyone else on the sidelines,” Rush said of Prescott. “He’s bringing energy, that’s just who he is as a person or a leader.”

Prescott threw for 4,449 yards, 37 touchdowns and 10 interceptions last season and the Cowboys finished the regular season 12-5.

“Do we need that extra spurt to make the game-winning play at quarterback,” owner Jerry Jones said this week. “Yes we do. Thank goodness, we are in a situation where we have not had to have that dimension. When we get him back, that’ll be a real additive. We’ll be a mess [for NFL teams to deal with] if we can keep playing defense like this.”

The Cowboys are a 6.5-point underdog against the Eagles on Sunday.