Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images
Dak Prescott is entering the final year of his four-year, $160 million deal and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones wouldn’t definitively commit to an extension while speaking to reporters on Tuesday, instead offering a meandering take on his starting quarterback.
“Dak has done nothing to change my mind about any promise for the future,” he said. “I think I’ve said that we will go as far as Dak takes us in the playoffs. Remember that. We will go as far as Dak takes us. And that is how far we went. That doesn’t change a thing. We’ll go as far as Dak takes us.”
Prescott, 30, has become something of an “always the bridesmaid, never the bride” player in his career—he’s often one of the better quarterbacks during the regular season but doesn’t offer the same level of play in the postseason.
The three-time Pro Bowler threw for 4,516 yards, an NFL-leading 36 touchdowns and nine interceptions this past season, completing 69.5 percent of his passes while taking 39 sacks. He thrived in the West Coast Offense that head coach Mike McCarthy installed after the team parted ways with former offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, leaving McCarthy to serve as the play-caller.
Prescott led Dallas to a 12-5 record in the regular season, but his postseason woes continued in the Wild Card Round when he threw a pick-six and another one of his interceptions led to a Green Bay touchdown in a 48-32 loss.
Those two mistakes helped to put Dallas in a 27-0 hole, and while Prescott played well from there—he threw for 403 yards and three touchdowns in total—his early mistakes and the defense’s inability to stop Jordan Love led to another Dallas choke job in the playoffs.
Prescott is now just 2-5 in the postseason and has never gotten the Cowboys past the Divisional Round. Dallas not only is without a title since 1995, the organization hasn’t even reached the NFC Championship Game since.
In many ways, he’s become a natural extension of Tony Romo, who also put up gaudy numbers in the regular season but went just 2-4 in the playoffs for the Cowboys.
“It’s tough to give you that answer when I just went out there and we just did that,” Prescott told ESPN’s Todd Archer earlier in January when asked why he’s struggled in the playoffs. “Unfortunately, that’s what the offseason is for—and it’s a long one. Yeah, I wish I could give you that answer.”
It’s all left the Cowboys with a major decision about how to proceed. Prescott is going to earn a lucrative contract, commensurate to what top quarterbacks earn, either through an extension with the Cowboys or from another team in free agency.
Dallas has to decide if it will be the team that makes that commitment.
