Can the Dallas Cowboys trade Dak Prescott this offseason?

NFC Championship Game? The Dallas Cowboys didn't even survive Wild Card Weekend as they were trounced by the Green Bay Packers. While Mike McCarthy and Dan Quinn are facing the music for their own disasterclasses, Dak Prescott is taking his fair share of slings and arrows after another playoff letdown.

At this juncture, Prescott's reputation of coming up small in big games is undeniable. He's now 2-5 in the playoffs in his career. No quarterback who's made at least five starts has a lower win percentage in the postseason than Prescott.

We don't view wins as a quarterback stat, but Prescott has produced more disappointing playoff games than good ones. His latest dud has many fans believing he isn't good enough to take the Cowboys to the Super Bowl.

There's even talk about where Dallas should move on from Prescott altogether this offseason and start over at quarterback. It makes for an interesting conversation, so let's explore whether trading Dak is even a possibility.

Can the Dallas Cowboys trade Dak Prescott this offseason?

No, the Cowboys cannot trade Prescott. Due to multiple restructures on his current contract, Prescott has a $59.455 million cap hit in 2024. He also has a no-trade clause and a provision that prevents a franchise tag in 2025.

Not only can Dallas not trade Dak, but his deal gives him all of the leverage in talks about an extension, which is the only way to lower that cap number. Prescott, not the Cowboys, would have to lift the no-trade clause for a trade to materialize.

The Cowboys have two choices: Ride out next year with Prescott accounting for $60 million against the cap, which would ruin any chance of building a championship roster (extending CeeDee Lamb and Micah Parsons, re-signing free agents, etc.), but allow them to get off the contract for nothing in 2025, or pay up to free up space to sign others.

It's not an enviable situation given Prescott's lack of playoff success, but Dallas has nobody to blame but themselves for dragging out Dak's initial contract negotiations. Now, the quarterback market starts at $60 million per year. While most would argue Prescott isn't worth that, again, he has all the leverage given the terms of his current deal and he just had the best regular season of his career.

A number of Cowboys fans might want to get rid of Prescott, but just know that you're on Skip Bayless' side if you feel that way. As far as a trade goes, though, Prescott would have to play ball for that to even enter the realm of possibility.

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