It's really anyone's guess what the Dallas Cowboys do with quarterback Dak Prescott. While Ian Rapoport's explosive report earlier this week might have been exaggerated for social media engagement, he wouldn't have said a path has been cleared for Prescott to reach free agency in 2025 if there wasn't a chance of that happening.
CBS Sports insider Josina Anderson has since contradicted Rapoport's intel. Per Anderson, the Cowboys want to work out an agreement with Prescott and that a deal could happen as soon as before next season.
Anderson added that "the team is not presently charting a path to let Prescott go to free agency, despite some chatter to the contrary."
That's reassuring, but the longer Prescott goes without a deal, the more likely it becomes he walks next year. If that were to happen, Dallas could blow it all up and move on from other high-profile players. With that in mind, here are some Cowboys stars who could follow Dak out the door in 2025.
3. Brandin Cooks
The Cowboys made a genius move last March when they renegotiated Brandin Cooks' contract, turning $8 million of Cooks' $12 million salary into a signing bonus. It gave him an $8 million base salary in 2024, which is a bargain for a six-time 1,000-yard receiver.
A free agent in 2025, though, it's hard to envision the Dallas re-signing Cooks if Prescott leaves. At that point, Cooks would be entering his age-32 season. Praised for consistency throughout his career, Cooks has failed to top 60 catches and 700 receiving yards in back-to-back seasons.
In Cooks' defense, he's still a fringe WR2 that can take the top off a defense. While his production fluctuated throughout the 2023 season, his eight touchdowns were one off his career-high and his most since 2016, his third year in the league.
Trading for Cooks was a brilliant move by the Cowboys -- one of a select few over the last handful of years -- but we're hard-pressed to see this partnership lasting more than two years given Dallas would be starting over at quarterback.
2. DeMarcus Lawrence
This one would really sting. DeMarcus Lawrence is on the record saying he wants to be a lifetime Cowboy. Luckily, the terms of his contract make that a possibility, but again nobody would be safe if Dallas embraces a firesale.
Last March, the Cowboys restructured Lawrence's contract, converting most of his $15 million salary into a signing bonus to clear cap space. As a trade off, though, Lawrence will count an extra $4.5 million against the 2024 and 2025 caps.
While Lawrence will count $20 million against the cap this year, he's on the books for just $7.445 million in 2025. The Cowboys could simply extend Lawrence, who had one of his best seasons in 2023. They wouldn't save any money cutting or trading him, but the $7.445 million dead cap charge is doable.
Lawrence is the glue of the locker room and a stud on the field, but how much sense would it make to commit more money to a 32-year-old defensive end after the franchise QB just left? Micah Parsons is clearly ready to carry the torch and Sam Williams might show enough this year to warrant a starting role in 2025.
1. Zack Martin
If the Cowboys hit the reset button, yes, Zack Martin could be gone in 2025. Martin's contract got reworked this month to clear $13 million in cap space this year, but it also altered the future years of his deal that would lessen the blow on the 2025 salary cap if this is his final year.
Due to multiple restructures of his contract over the years, the Cowboys would take a huge loss if Martin were released or traded. According to Over The Cap, they'd save $1.255 million and inherit $9.4 million in dead money if he was released with a post-June 1 designation. If traded before June 1, Dallas would save $15.8 million, but swallow over $26 million in dead money.
It's unclear what path the Cowboys would take (maybe Martin retires?), but they have seemingly prepared for 2025 to be a reset year as they absorb an ungodly amount of dead money. That way, they'd only be tied to three big-money deals beginning in 2026: Trevon Diggs and hopefully CeeDee Lamb and Micah Parsons.
Nevertheless, Martin's restructure last summer guaranteed him a $18 million salary in 2023 and 2024. He's owed just $9 million in 2025. That isn't going to cut it for one of the best guards in football and a future Hall of Famer. The fact Dallas wanted to lessen the blow on the 2025 cap is very notable.