The Dallas Cowboys‘ interest in drafting a quarterback continues to leak out, which is being seen as a warning shot for Dak Prescott.
Prescott is coming off an uneven season, where he tossed 17 interceptions in 14 games, which tied him for the most in the NFL. The Cowboys had Super Bowl expectations but ultimately came up short, getting cut down by the San Francisco 49ers in the Divisional Round.
The Cowboys alleged interest in quarterback prospects CJ Stroud and Hendon Hooker has surfaced in recent weeks, which Fox Sports Radio host Jason Smith sees as a “warning” for Prescott.
“With what we’ve heard from the Cowboys in the last 24 hours, Dak Prescott is in his last season with Dallas if he doesn’t step up. He’ll be gone after this season,” Smith said. “Dak Prescott is in his last year of put up or shut up, or else he’ll be on a different team in a year. His contract is not as nearly as complicated with money as someone like Aaron Rodgers. … If the Cowboys wanted to part with a 30-year-old Dak Prescott after this year, a team would definitely be down to do that. This is the Cowboys putting a warning on Dak.”
Cowboys Have Backed Dak Prescott as Long-Term QB
While Prescott had his struggles with turnovers last year, he also had the offense trucking for a good part of the season when he was healthy. Prescott passed for 3,371 yards, and 28 touchdowns between the regular season and playoffs.
Cowboys chief operating officer Stephen Jones gave Prescott public support while speaking to reporters at the Senior Bowl in February, believing he could be their quarterback for the next decade.
“Dak is going to be our guy for, hopefully the next 10 years,” Stephen Jones said. “You say that’s a long time because he’s already played seven. But I think Dak will play that long because he takes care of himself, and he’s driven to be great. We fully expect him to be here for 10 years.”
Jerry Jones echoed that sentiment about Prescott.
“I’m very strong on Dak,” Jones said. “We have, in my mind, a unique person, a unique football player, a unique quarterback. We have at times in these past three years where we hadn’t had him, and I like the way we have adjusted when we had to go without him. This whole thing reflects the upside that I feel in Dak.”
Jerry Jones Wants to Draft More Quarterbacks
That being said, Jerry Jones recently expressed regret over not drafting more quarterbacks. The Cowboys have selected just eight quarterbacks during his 34-year reign as owner.
“If I look back over my earlier years with Cowboys, I should have,” Jones said. “If I had to do it over again … I’d have a quarterback coming all the time. Just for that purpose, just to have him coming.”
As for Prescott’s teammates, wide receiver CeeDee Lamb thinks the answer is adding more weapons to the offense.
“You gotta surround (the quarterback),” Lamb said during Super Bowl week. “You go look at the Eagles, and they’ve got three receivers, a great tight end group, they run the ball well, the O-line is very phenomenal. You look at San Fran, they surrounded their quarterback and you get success ultimately. I mean we’ve got just as many weapons, but that extra player, all it takes is one. You can be so close to the Super Bowl and it can be a deciding factor.”
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Cowboys Sending ‘Warning’ Shot to Dak Prescott With QB Interest