National Football League

Dak Prescott 'definitely confident' contract situation with Cowboys will be resolved

Published Mar. 5, 2024 12:37 p.m. ET

Dak Prescott might be in a tricky spot for an established starting quarterback in 2024, but he doesn't seem to be sweating over his contract situation.

The Dallas Cowboys signal-caller seemed more than hopeful that both sides will come to a resolution on his contact status when he spoke with reporters at a Children's Cancer Fund event.

"I'm definitely confident," Prescott said on his contract situation. "Obviously, it helps the team. It's important for the numbers. I think I've heard Jerry [Jones] say that. … It is a process. Both sides understand that. Everything's great.

"It'll happen."

Prescott is entering the final year of a four-year, $160 million extension he signed ahead of the 2021 season, possibly making him a rare lame-duck as a Pro Bowl quarterback. Prior to the massive extension in 2021, both sides had trouble coming to an agreement on a long-term deal, taking multiple offseasons and franchise tags to come to terms.

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There might be more of an urgency to get an extension done this time around, though. An extension agreement this offseason can alleviate the $59.5 million cap hit Prescott is set to have in 2024, helping to create more cap space for a Cowboys team that's roughly $10 million over the salary cap, per OverTheCap.com.

Opening up more cap space would also help Jones' desire to go "all-in" in 2024, as the Cowboys owner told reporters at the combine last week the team would be aggressive this offseason.

Prescott is eagerly anticipating what that might possibly mean.

"I'm excited to see it, honestly," Prescott said. "I don't know. I can't say I've had talks with him about what is all-in and how he plans on making those moves, but, yeah, let's see and I'm excited for it."

Jones' "all-in" declaration followed one of the Cowboys' more disappointing finishes to a season since their last Super Bowl title in 1995. Following an impressive 12-5 regular season and an NFC East title, the Cowboys were upset in the wild-card round at home by the Green Bay Packers, losing 48-32 to become the first team to lose to a seventh seed in the playoffs.

There might be a sense that this is a make-or-break year for Prescott and Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy, who's also entering the final year of his contract. In addition to only having one year left on his deal, Prescott contractually can't be franchise-tagged next offseason.

However, Jones said last week that he doesn't "fear" the 2024 season being Prescott's last in Dallas, but he also seemed content with letting the quarterback play out the season.

"We don't need to [extend Prescott's deal], but we can if everybody wants to solve it," Jones said on Friday. "You can get in and get on the same page and see if you can come to an agreement. If you can't, what we have in place works. And so obviously, if you do it one way, you'll be working through some of the other areas on the team in a different way, but you can't really plan on that until you see when you're there."

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Jones added that he "couldn't say at this time" what the team planned to do with Prescott's contract, but "the main thing is he's going to be our quarterback" in 2024.

Prescott had a career year in 2023, posting career-bests in completion percentage (69.5) and passer rating (105.9), while throwing for the second-most yards (4,516) and touchdowns (36). He earned second-team All-Pro honors as a result.

Jones is hopeful for an even better 2024 from his starting quarterback.

"He had one of the best years, as you all know," Jones said. "But the thing that I would point out is we all think that had a lot to do with the fact that Mike McCarthy is right there involved in Dak's play, more directly involved in the offense, that we think that there's a lot more to come."