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Negotiations between the Dallas Cowboys and free-agent quarterback Dak Prescott are not expected to result in a long-term contract agreement prior to March 9, the deadline for teams to apply the 2021 franchise tag, NFL Network’s Jane Slater reported Tuesday.
That’s the bad news.
The good news?
“I’ve been told that Stephen Jones and Todd France, Dak Prescott’s agent, have been talking,” Slater relayed Tuesday. “When I asked them to characterize those talks, I was told they’ve been good talks, and it feels like they’ve been better in the past.”
Which is an extension of plugged-in Slater’s recent reporting on the situation, over two offseasons in the making.
“Both sides will need to give this year to get a long term deal done. Cowboys have never done less than 5 years. They want breathing room to structure. Could there be bigger guarantee or signing bonus? Told discussions not there yet but they have been ‘good talks’ lately,” she tweeted Tuesday.
Slater added: “Encouraging Dak Prescott news. I’m told he’s been at the facility nearly everyday rehabbing. So must not be that contentious folks. Secondly, Stephen Jones and Todd France have been talking and they are ‘good talks’ still nothing meaningful here but ‘better than they’ve been.'”
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Slater Walks Back “Mahomes Money” Demand
The venerable Cowboys insider made headlines earlier this week by reporting that Prescott is “looking to be paid right behind Patrick Mahomes” on a multi-year deal — somewhere between $40-45 million annually — with his camp stumping for market value. Apparently, Slater’s words were taken out of context.
“I want to clear something up,” she clarified Tuesday. “Yesterday I was talking about Dak Prescott’s contract and I think it got misconstrued that I said he wants Patrick Mahomes money. That’s not the case here. He wants to get paid behind Patrick Mahomes because that’s what his market value is.”
Mahomes, fresh off winning Super Bowl 54 MVP, inked a North American sports record 10-year, $503 million extension in 2020, irreversibly altering the NFL quarterback market. But as Dak’s people allegedly told the Cowboys, “your problems with money aren’t our problems,” and those in the know expect the former Pro Bowl passer to bear the market value.
“The quarterback market is interesting because you have the Mahomes deal which is so long; it averages 45 [million] a year but it’s not really that. It’s really 40 million over the first five years, 50 million over the next five,” NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said Tuesday. “[Texans QB] Deshaun [Watson] is at 39. To me, if Dak Prescott’s looking at this, he should be saying, ‘I should be about there.’”
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Cowboys Urged to Trade WR to Pay Dak
With a glut of weapons, a shortage of salary-cap funds, and an unsigned signal-caller looking to break the bank, the Cowboys should “entertain” the idea of trading wide receiver Michael Gallup, argued CBS Sports NFL insider Jason La Canfora.
“I think they should entertain [a trade],” he said Tuesday on 105.3 The Fan’s Shan & RJ Show. “CeeDee Lamb is gonna be a guy [entering] year two. After year three, if he’s who they drafted him to be, then you’ve got that situation. Could you trade Amari Cooper? Sure, but you just paid him. Contractually, it’s a different situation than if you traded the younger guy, a guy who’s still a bargain right now.
“I don’t see them having a $40-plus million quarterback and three wideouts making legit, big-time NFL money. Could they try to kick that can for another year? They could, but, boy, that defense still needs a lot of help. That offensive line all of a sudden is kind of long in the tooth and went from something you didn’t have to worry about to something you better be worried about. It’s about asset allocation. … You only have so many draft picks and the cap ain’t gonna be what anybody thought it was gonna be two years ago.
“It’s suboptimal, and you’re in a suboptimal situation with your quarterback. And once you’re paying him $40 million a year, you probably shouldn’t have to have three highly-compensated wide receivers all on their second or third contract.”
READ NEXT: Cowboys Decide Whether to Let Dak Prescott Hit Free Agency: Report
Follow Zack Kelberman on Twitter: @KelbermanNFL
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