Cowboys mailbag: Questions on Dak’s contract and free agency

Our latest mailbag features plenty of questions about the Dallas Cowboys.

Every week, we take questions on X (Twitter) and Facebook about Dallas Cowboys players and other issues surrounding the team. So let’s get right into it.

“What’s the best and worse case scenario for Dak’s contract?”

(Christopher Lopez via Facebook)

Mike: The best case would be to get Dak’s deal and sooner rather than later. The front office gains nothing by delaying. Just like previous times when Jerry took his time to organize Dak and his contract, the delay meant the price went up. In fact, the very reason we’re here right now is due to the fact the front office took so long and ended up slapping the franchise tag on Dak in 2020 and sat and relaxed for the year.

The absolute very worst case would be they don’t do a deal this year and then get a contract signed next year. By doing this it shows this front office truly is without a plan. Either sign Dak this year and begin building the roster and forecasting the cap from there. Or end the Dak era after this year, commit to the dead cap situation and plan on life without Dak.

Brandon: The best case scenario would be the Cowboys getting a long-term extension done with Dak Prescott before the season starts. Ideally, it would have been before the start of free agency so Dallas had money to spend, but that never seemed like a realistic timeline given the reports from Jane Slater saying it could take until August.

Worst case scenario would be they don’t do anything at all with his $60 million cap hit, and go into next season without options other than paying him more than this season and hoping he takes the deal. What’s the worry? Prescott has a no-tag clause in his contract so the Cowboys have no fail safe to protect themselves if contract negotiations go on longer than expected next year.

There will be countless teams with millions more in cap space to spend who could outbid Dallas for Prescott’s services. At that point, you hope he picks the Cowboys but that’s a lot of hoping around something that could be a certainty this offseason.

“Jerry’s talked about being All In. Putting aside the panic of free fancy already, how likely do you think that will be in reality?”

(Tyler Jason via Facebook)

Mike: I think we already know the answer to that. Not only has there been a lack of moves in free agency, there’s also been a lackadaisical approach when it comes to re-signing their own players hitting the free agent market. Stephen Jones came out and told us that the all-in comment didn’t refer to free agency. We’ve seen that it also doesn’t apply to re-signing players, so where does that leave the team to go all-in? Well there’s only the draft left. The best thing to hope for when it comes to all-in, is that it can only mean they won’t draft project players or take risks with their second-round pick.

Brandon: I’ve been vocal on social media about how the Cowboys lack of moves in free agency shouldn’t enact Chicken Little syndrome where the sky is falling around everyone. This is how Dallas has operated in free agency for three years now, with the tune of spending their money effectively and efficiently.

I understand an all in move could push the Cowboys over the hump of an NFC Championship, but given the contracts that are being handed out, the team doesn’t want to lose out on re-signing Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, and Micah Parsons. When you look at Dallas winning 12 games three consecutive years, they are using free agency to plug holes and build their teams through the draft. That’s the better way to build a team.

I’d expect a few more outside signings between now and training camp, similar to Eric Kendricks, where the cap hit is small, it fills a need, and most people could say, “you know what, that makes sense.”

Be sure to check Blogging The Boys as well as @kenfigkowboy and @brandoniswrite on X and also Facebook for the weekly post, asking for your questions to include in the weekly mailbag. Many thanks to everyone who send in your questions and votes.