Cowboys mailbag: Questions on the first round, Dak Prescott’s contract, and draft trades

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.

“Do you think it’s a lock the Cowboys will be drafting an offensive linemen in the first? If not, what position takes priority?”

(@Cowboy_Regg via Twitter)

Mike: Everything points to the Cowboys taking offensive line first. Dane Brugler is a pretty reliable source when it comes to who Dallas will take in the draft. He’s been pretty on the money in the recent years and his choice in his seven-round mock draft had Dallas taking Tyler Guyton. On top of that, a lot of main scouting services have Dallas taking Guyton so it’s a very common theme. Even talking to guys over in Dallas, like Kyle Youmans, they are saying it’s offensive line in the first round.

Brandon: At this point, it would be a shock if the Cowboys didn’t take an offensive lineman at No. 24. The holes along the offensive line have been too glaring, and the talent at offensive tackle is top-heavy. Around ten tackles could be selected in the first round and be day-one starters for their teams.

Even if Dallas lands someone like OT Kingsley Suamataia, he will be far and away better than anyone at his position in rounds two and beyond and could be the Cowboys’ left tackle in 2024. He is still raw like Tyler Smith was when he was drafted, but Suamataia could develop into a top NFL left tackle under the right coaching and situation. Getting that value in the back half of the first round would be too good to pass up.

“Do you think that Dak Prescott is going to be extended? Or are they going to let him walk in 2025?”

(@MattDillon1791 via Twitter)

Mike: He gets extended. This contract is too important. The team will get Dak signed and the money they save from the extension they will use to sign the draft and undrafted free agent class. How soon that happens is anyone’s guess, but it gets done before training camp is best guess.

The irony here is Dak’s contract is very important in getting done, but getting CeeDee Lamb’s contract is may be even more important. Without Lamb it’s hard to define what the identity of this offense is, so without him this offense looks very bleak.

Brandon: A few months ago, Dak Prescott spoke about his confidence in getting a deal done with the Cowboys. Prescott’s comments made that reality less certain at the “Knight to Remember” children’s benefit on Friday. When speaking to reporters, the Cowboys signal caller mentioned he’s not looking to become the league’s highest-paid quarterback. Prescott also said, “He doesn’t fear being here [in Dallas] or not” and that, “After the season, we’ll see where we’re at and if the future holds that. If not, we’ll go from there.”

That might be the first time Prescott has ever talked about the possibility of not being a member of the Dallas Cowboys. While it could be part of the negotiation tactics to try and get something done with the franchise now, he is in no hurry to get something done and letting things fall the way they do at the end of the season. I was 90 percent confident Prescott would be in Dallas for the foreseeable future a few months ago, but after Friday’s comments, I’m 80 percent confident.

What do you think the team would receive if they traded Dak at the draft this year?”

(@StevenMasci1 via Twitter)

Mike: They would be looking at multiple early round picks over two seasons and probably a conditional pick. More than likely another player from the trading team gets thrown in to help motivate the deal and Dallas would probably send a late Day 3 pick depending on what gets moved around.

The best example of what to expect would be the Houston and Cleveland trade with Deshaun Watson. Houston received three first-round picks, a third-round pick and two fourth-round picks along with running back Dameon Pierce.

With Dak’s track record, skills and accolades, you can say that’s far better than Watson’s at the time of his trade but we can factor in the age to balance out the deal. With a lot of teams desperate for quarterback at the moment the expectation would be something fairly close to this trade.

Brandon: Any team that wants to trade for Dak Prescott would have to get approval from the player himself. Because Prescott’s current contract has a no-trade clause, the Cowboys couldn’t just trade him right now if they wanted to before the draft.

I’d say there’s no reality in which Prescott gets traded right now. With one year left on his contract and set to hit free agency in 2025, there’s no reason a team would trade for him and give up substantial draft capital when they could just wait and negotiate a new contract with him then. At that point, teams wouldn’t have to worry about Dallas applying the franchise tag, considering Prescott also has a no-tag clause in his deal.

Even if a team were intrigued to approach the Cowboys and their quarterback about a trade, it would make zero sense for Prescott to do it now when he can negotiate the terms of a massive contract with 31 teams next offseason, including the Cowboys.

I could sit in front of this computer and tell you that Prescott would garner three first-round picks to rebuild the franchise and make it successful, but that’s impossible. However, if your question was about Micah Parsons, then we could have a discussion about it.

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.