FRISCO, Texas – One down, Dak to go.
That's the way things work around here. Like the State Fair Whack-a-Mole game. Pound one mole head down and another mole pops up.
Why the ink on CeeDee Lamb's new four-year, $136 million extension has barely dried, and now the attention has turned to Dak Prescott playing on the final year of his four-year, $160 million contract he signed back in 2021.
The Cowboys know it. He knows it. Either an extension is signed this season or a spanking new contract starting from scratch next year. Or . . . and neither side really wants to address that alternative, although that always was going to be a hammer since it sure wasn't the Cowboys idea to include no-trade, no franchise clauses in his current contract.
So here we are, nine days from the season opener on Sunday, Sept.8 against the Browns in Cleveland, and before anyone felt the need to ask either Cowboys owner Jerry Jones or Dak Prescott about the Browns defense now being coordinated by noted guru Jim Schwartz or how in the world will the Cowboys prevent defensive end Myles Garrett from spoiling rookie left tackle Tyler Guyton's NFL debut, here is where the attention turned almost immediately.
First question to Jerry Jones on Tuesday, with the CeeDee Lamb protracted contract negotiation being resolved, how do you characterize your ongoing negotiations with Dak Prescott heading into the regular season opener?
Is there any indication if you don't have something done by the season opener that talks will discontinue?
Is there a risk of losing Dak if you don't get it done by Week 1 or at some point during the season?
And how about you Dak, you're next up on Thursday.
Now that CeeDee got paid, are you next?
Do you want to shut (negotiations) down once the season starts?
So, you don't need a deal done before the season?
And what are your thoughts about what Jerry had to say about the negotiations?
But what most don't understand, Dak's deal is complicated, and more complicated than those recently signed by some of the younger guns out there like Joe Burrow and Trevor Lawrence and Tua Tagovailoa. Those were their second contracts, with no leftover financial baggage. This is Dak's third that's grown over the years with restructures needing to be accounted for.
And none of this has anything to do with the Cowboys having cold feet about Dak's ability to play quarterback in this NFL. Nor on the other side does this have anything to do with Dak having no care if he continues his career with the Cowboys or not.
Says Jerry, "And so Dak's situation right now for me, from my mirror, has more to do with our situation than it does with the merits of Dak Prescott being the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys."
As for Dak when peppered with questions on Thursday on why a deal hasn't been executed yet, he said, "I think it says a lot if it is or if it isn't (done). Just how people feel."
This has everything to do with the almighty dollar. Or to be more precise, with the almighty millions of dollars. Like, how much are the Cowboys offering? How much is Dak's side asking for? As CeeDee recalls during his negotiations, with his frustration rising, ready to tell his people to just go ahead and sign, get this over with.
And so many regularly dismiss how much the almighty salary cap has to do with these negotiations. The NFL cap, unlike these other professional leagues, is strict. It's unforgiving. And here is the reminder staring me straight in the face yesterday when looking inside CeeDee's new deal that includes a $38 million signing bonus and guarantees ranging from $67 million at signing to $100 million overall.
So sobering when reading CeeDee's 2024 cap hit of $8.75 million jumping to $34.45 million in 2025, surely in need of a $26.85 million base salary restructuring, meaning pushing that particular restructure bonus paid upfront and prorated down the road. But here is the thing, there is only so much pushing down the road you can do with these contracts before that eventually causes a financial avalanche smacking the cap.
For example. Both DeMarcus Lawrence and Zach Martin are playing on the final years of their contracts. Lawrence, in his 11th season, turns 33 next year. Martin, in his 11th season, turns 35 next year.
If Lawrence isn't on the Cowboys roster in 2025, restructure bonuses still being accounted for would cost the Cowboys $7.4 million in dead money.
And when it comes to Martin, his restructure bonuses and last year's raise would cost the Cowboys $17 million in dead money in 2025.
Keep doing this with so many players and knowing Micah Parsons money is right around the corner, why that devilish salary cap hell that crippled the Cowboys in the early 2000s is staring them right in the face again. And you wonder why the Cowboys chose not to sign any high-priced free agents this offseason and are nibbling around the edges right now.
So, with Dak, remember he turns 32 next year. He'd be in his 10th season. Length of contract is not really in question. But signing bonus and total are. Yes, the Cowboys can always restructure base salaries and add those artificially bloated voided years at the end of the contract.
But guess what? That is what the Cowboys have already been doing excessively on his current contract, including this year, and no matter if Dak is on the team next year or not, the Cowboys still must account for $40 million, either all at once if he's not or prorated out if he is.
L$$k, $40 million is $40 million. And if you add that to the dead money caused by Martin and Lawrence potentially not here next year, CeeDee's cap hit and Parson's fifth-year option, all that would add up to nearly $100 million against the cap. And you'd still need to pay 50 more players.
Now Dak's people will say, "not our problem," and probably realize at least a half dozen teams would pay the going rate for Dak if ever hitting the open market. And Cowboys COO Stephen Jones, the cap master, will say, "that's our problem, not Dak's." But total package and structure is the giving these negotiations the Heisman. So is only a projected $5 million bump in the NFL salary cap in 2025 to around $260 million.
Great to have stars. But you've got to afford some sky, too.
You know, wouldn't it be great if the NFL adjusted the salary cap to exclude the team's highest paid quarterback from that total. Because next year, the Cowboys top four cap hits, including at least Dak's $40 million still needing to be accounted for, plus dead money, would take up nearly 50 percent of the projected cap, sans base salary restructures.
That's a problem.
So, the point is, just don't cavalierly say "pay the guy." Don't cavalierly assume the Cowboys are dragging their feet paying the going rate. Dak knows that. His people know that. And face it, just like you and me, other people's going rate not the same as ours or the Cowboys at this point. These matters of managing "who's next" are complicated, especially when pertaining to the quarterback.
So, who's next?
Better album than this compounding problem.
