What’s the Dallas Cowboys future plans for Dak Prescott?

The Dallas Cowboys failed to reach a long-term deal with its quarterback this offseason. Why?

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott is currently playing on a franchise tag worth over $30 million this season. After this year the team is likely going to have to either extend their signal-caller, franchise tag him again, or move on from him.

The failure to reach a long-term deal with Prescott came after a career year. He threw for a career-high 4,902 passing yards and 30 passing touchdowns. However, the team failed to make the postseason after losing four of its last six games to finish the season with an unremarkable 8-8 record.

The dominant storyline of this past offseason for fans of America’s Team was centered around its young signal-caller. Would Dallas finally sign Prescott to a long-term deal? There was even some speculation they might part ways with their young quarterback.

Obviously, Dallas didn’t do the latter, but they also failed to sign Prescott to a long-term deal. With the price of signal-callers continuing to rise, see Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes massive contract here, the question that Dallas fans should be asking themselves is why did they wait?

Speculation surrounding this very question was further intensified when the team decided to sign veteran quarterback Andy Dalton to the roster this offseason. The organization also used their final pick in the draft to select quarterback Ben DiNucci.

To be clear neither of these moves is necessarily indicative of the answer to the aforementioned question of why the team failed to sign Prescott to a long-term extension. Quarterback depth is very valuable in the NFL and neither Dalton nor DiNucci are even close to threatening for Prescott’s job.

The question that still presents itself is what is the team waiting for before they make this decision. The fifth-year passer is currently leading the NFL in passing yards through the first three games of the season. The team is also currently sitting at 1-2 after a gut-wrenching loss to the Seattle Seahawks.

The dissonance between Dak’s impressive stats and his team’s thoroughly disappointing records only adds to the intrigue. So does the Cowboy’s owner Jerry Jones apparent criticism of Prescott that he made this week in an interview.

All of that begs the question of what plan the team has for the young signal-caller. Does Prescott need to lead his team to the playoffs this season to remain in Dallas? Will the team reach an agreement with Prescott before it is too late?

What the Dallas Cowboys Should Do

All of this speculation may be indicative of what the Cowboys will do regarding their young quarterback. However, it certainly does not answer the question of what the team should do with their 27-year old quarterback.

The answer to that question is obvious. They need to pay the man as soon as possible.

The two-time Pro Bowler has already proven he is a franchise quarterback. With the value and price of the position rising exponentially every year it seems like an indisputable idea that the team should sign him to a long-term deal as soon as humanely possible.

With a stellar career passer rating of 97.1 and a terrific start to the season Prescott’s value is only going to increase as the year progresses. Not only is he an integral part of the team’s offense, but his tenure as the team’s leader has been remarkably successful thus far. The team is currently 41-26 under his leadership with two playoff berths under his belt.

It is also apparent to anyone who has been watching the NFL for the last several decades that good quarterback play is crucial to a team’s success. Prescott has also proven to be dependable thus far in his career. He has yet to miss a single game in his four-plus years in the league.

The Dallas Cowboys were incredibly fortunate to find a replacement for their former starting quarterback Tony Romo with Dak Prescott. Please don’t waste that good fortune by gambling his future with the team by waiting to sign him until the last possible moment or even worse, not signing him at all.