The Landry Hat
Fansided

3 contracts holding the Dallas Cowboys back right now

By Randy Gurzi

ARLINGTON, TEXAS - DECEMBER 24: Dak Prescott #4 of the Dallas Cowboys greets DeMarcus Lawrence #90 of the Dallas Cowboys on the as they take the field for warmups at AT&T Stadium on December 24, 2022 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - DECEMBER 24: Dak Prescott #4 of the Dallas Cowboys greets DeMarcus Lawrence #90 of the Dallas Cowboys on the as they take the field for warmups at AT&T Stadium on December 24, 2022 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images) /
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SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 22: Dak Prescott #4 of the Dallas Cowboys scrambles and runs with the ball during an NFL divisional round playoff football game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Dallas Cowboys at Levi’s Stadium on January 22, 2023 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images) /

1. Dak Prescott, Quarterback

Teams that have to pay top-tier quarterbacks know how expensive it can be to keep them. The Cowboys should have known this but they tried to get cheap with theirs and it’s still costing them in a major way.

Dallas and Dak Prescott started discussing a contract in the range of $32 million back in 2020 but they balked at this. Apparently trying to sell him on the whole “star on the helmet” being a reason to take a discount, the Cowboys had to hit Prescott with the franchise tag in 2020, giving him $31.4 million that season.

They then hit him with the tag again in 2021 but that shot the deal up to close to $40 million. That led to Prescott landing a four-year $160 million deal.

Fast forward to now, and the front office has tried blaming Prescott for their cap situation. While it’s true he has the highest number on the team, they made it worse by kicking the can down the road. They continue to do this with restructures and that’s why Prescott counts for $49 million right now.

As is the case with most of these players, a restructure is most likely coming in order to get under the cap. If not, they’re going to have a hard time getting anything done with $50 million tied to one player.

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