Impasse might be the wrong word. In order to be at an impasse, one must first engage in some form of honest negotiations. As far as anyone can tell, negotiations between Dak Prescott and the Cowboys have been nonexistent over most of the offseason.
The Cowboys’ Pro Bowl signal caller is entering the final year on his deal. Never one to shy away from betting on himself, Prescott is prepared to play out the season without an extension if that’s the way things go. Such a situation would almost assuredly result in Prescott leaving Dallas in 2025, since the Cowboys will be unable to franchise tag him and the open market promises riches nearly beyond comprehension.
The lack of conversation throughout the offseason itself isn’t something to worry about because Cowboys front office is somewhat notorious for procrastinating matters such as this. They like the urgency of the 11th hour rather than engaging in prolonged negotiations. With any luck talks will heat up in training camp but it appears they have a long way to go until common ground is found.
If Prescott is indeed playing his last season in Dallas, there are a few unavoidable repercussions the Cowboys will face. It’s something even the most ardent critic of Prescott should cringe at and something everyone should be prepared for as long as his status remains in limbo.
Extremely limited compensation
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Since Prescott’s contract stipulates the Cowboys cannot franchise tag or trade him, the Cowboys have no way of flipping him for draft picks or players. The most they can hope to recoup from his exodus would be a third-round compensatory pick in 2026.
The idea of losing the NFL’s MVP runner-up for virtually nothing is a tough pill to swallow. Based on needs across the league, there’s a good chance Prescott could latch on with an NFC rival, further distancing the Cowboys from contender status within the conference.
It forces the Cowboys to start over at QB
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The most obvious repercussion of Prescott leaving Dallas is it forces the Cowboys to start over at the quarterback position. His critics in Cowboys Nation might welcome this idea but for anyone who realizes how hard it is to find and develop a franchise QB, it’s a painful proposition.
Assuming Prescott guides the Cowboys to the playoffs again in 2024, the Cowboys will be picking in the back half of the 2025 draft. To anyone who’s been paying attention, it’s hard to find a QB outside the top-15 and players like Lamar Jackson are the exception rather than the rule. Looking at the top-10 QBs in the 2025 draft class, it becomes pretty clear next year is not a good time to be in the market for a franchise passer.
This means starting over likely involves a tank season in 2025 and then a few years of development for whoever may be drafted to replace Prescott. It’s likely to take years before Dallas will even come close to where they’re at right now at the QB position.
Wastes best years of the best players’ careers
Few will argue against the idea the Cowboys have one of the most talented rosters in the league. Tyler Smith, CeeDee Lamb, Trevon Diggs, Micah Parsons and DaRon Bland are a handful of young Cowboys playing at All-Pro levels. How long this window of peak performance lasts for each player varies, but a multiyear rebuild promises to waste some, if not all, of the best years of their respective careers.
Even in a best-case scenario where the Cowboys pick a QB replacement at the top of the 2026 draft and within two years of seasoning he somehow reaches the level of play Prescott is at now (which is extremely optimistic), Diggs, Lamb and Bland would all be 29 years old by then.
Starting over at QB makes some sense if the rest of the roster is bad and the entire team has to be built, but that’s not where the Cowboys are at today. The bulk of their roster is just hitting its stride and starting over at QB threatens to waste the best years of Dallas’ best players.
Waste an opportunity in wide open NFC
One of the most frustrating things Cowboys fans have had to deal with in recent seasons is the state of the NFC. The conference appears to be wide open with no teams of dominance standing in the way of reaching the Super Bowl.
Aside from San Francisco, there isn’t a team in the NFC that’s more talented than the Cowboys right now. The window has never been more open in the conference, yet the Cowboys are inexplicably pinching pennies and threatening a rebuild. It’s a baffling situation to even consider.
Removes Cowboys from contender status indefinitely
Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Green Bay defeated Dallas 48-32.
Since most franchise QBs are found at the top of the draft and the Cowboys are unlikely to get a top-10 pick until the 2026, they’re looking at a four-year rebuild, at the earliest. Since roughly 50 percent of first round QBs go bust, even that is an extremely optimistic forecast for what’s facing Dallas if they move on from Prescott.
Look no further than when the Cowboys tried to replace the great Troy Aikman. Quincy Carter, Anthony Wright, Clint Stoerner, Ryan Leaf, Chad Hutchinson, Vinny Testaverde, Drew Henson and Drew Bledsoe all started games in the five and a half seasons before Tony Romo took the helm. Replacing a QB isn’t as easy as some make it out to be and oftentimes it takes multiple attempts before a decent solution is found.
While it’s possible to win without a franchise QB under center, it’s extremely rare and generally unsustainable. The Cowboys won’t be a true contender again until they effectively replace someone like Prescott with someone of equal or greater value. There’s no guarantee that will ever happen.
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Moving on is the worst option
. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
Re-signing Prescott to a market-setting deal, which will be in the $55 million to $60 million range, isn’t about believing he’s the best QB in the NFL. It’s about maintaining contender status as long as they can. It’s about not wasting the window of opportunity in the NFC right now. It’s about not wasting the best years of the Cowboys’ various All-Pro players. It’s about giving the team a chance and fans something to cheer for.
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