DALLAS — Dak Prescott and Troy Aikman stood in front of the media on Friday evening at their annual Children's Cancer Fund Gala where nearly 100 former and current cancer children will walk the carpet and meet their football heroes.
The event serves as a reminder to Prescott and Aikman of their impact as faces of the franchise and the city, especially for Prescott who has had a busy offseason in the news.
In becoming a new father and sitting in the middle of potentially playing out the final year of his contract, Prescott said he is focusing on the present and worrying about the rest when those times come.
"I'm focused on the moment of the now," Prescott said. "When talks begin and real talk gets to happening, then we can talk about getting that done. But in this moment, I'm worried about getting better. I'm leaving that up to my agent and Jerry at this point. When those talks begin, I'll be more involved obviously."
Despite the talks not reaching a point to where Prescott and the team have begun negotiating, he was able to meet with Jerry Jones in recent weeks to discuss where the two sides are.
"I've talked to Jerry so I understand where we are, obviously," he said. "Jerry's mentioned the same so there's not any gray area in that sense. We had a great conversation that put us aligned and where we are in this moment."
With a potential big cap hit in a new contract, Prescott is keeping in mind the need to build a team around him when those contract negotiations do begin.
"I'm not trying to be the highest-paid necessarily," he said. "We'll wait until negotiations begin and I obviously want to put this team in the best situation."
Prescott isn't the only star in the middle of an offseason with a contract extension storyline, as CeeDee Lamb held out from voluntary OTAs last week as he awaits his new deal.
Whether Lamb is able to come to an extension soon or not, Prescott said that the two will still get put in the work that's necessary this offseason to be ready to hit the field in 2024.
"We'll get some work in," Prescott said. "I've been in communication with CeeDee. Maybe a deal gets done, and if it doesn't, I guarantee that we'll still find a lot of time to get the work that we feel comfortable."
The lack of activity this offseason extends far beyond not extending Prescott and Lamb, as the team has signed just two outside free agents and has seen stars such as Tyron Smith and Tony Pollard find new homes.
For Prescott, there isn't any confusion on his part by the offseason strategy as he continues to put his focus into the guys in the locker room.
"Honestly I'm focused on the guys we got, and we got a lot of great guys," he said. "There's a lot of good that's returning in that locker room. I have faith in those guys and we've always done well in the draft in bringing some guys in."
Putting faith into the now seemed to be the theme of Prescott's availability. Even though he insists that his message of staying in the present has always been the same — regardless of contract status — this time, the context makes the message more murky for what his future might look like.
For him, whether if that's in Dallas or somewhere else moving forward, he's prepared.
"I'm not gonna say I fear being here or not," he said. "Right now, it's with the Dallas Cowboys…After the season, we'll see where we're at and if the future holds that. If not, we'll go from there."
