Dak Prescott gives Cowboys fans newfound hope that contract extension will happen

Of course the Dallas Cowboys wouldn't allow us to fully preview Sunday's regular-season opener against the Cleveland Browns. While a huge litmus test for the Cowboys, the game is a clear secondary talking point behind Dak Prescott's ongoing contract saga.

Dallas is paying the piper for waiting until the last minute to finalize new deals for their superstars. They signed CeeDee Lamb just in time for Lamb to be ready for Week 1 only to find themselves with a 10-day deadline to get Prescott locked up.

It is widely believed that Prescott will test free agency if he doesn't sign an extension before Sunday. After making some explosive comments to the media last week, the MVP runner-up is signing to a different tune; one that offers newfound hope that an agreement will be reached.

Dak Prescott offers hope that Cowboys contract extension will get done

For starters, Prescott pushed back on the idea that Sept. 8 is the unwritten deadline for a potential extension.

"I would say that they're working," said Prescott, via Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News. "I don't know if that's necessarily the timeline. I can't say, oh, hell I'll put a timeline on to Todd (France) and Stephen (Jones) if we don't get this done, this or that. But I know they're working."

That quote suggests that talks may bleed into the regular season. That is notable because multiple Cowboys insiders and national reporters previously intimated that talks will get put on hold in the regular season if a deal isn't reached before Sunday.

Prescott was much more buoyant on Thursday. Last week, the two-time Pro Bowler shockingly took aim at Jerry Jones' media games. More notably, Dak said it would be "telling" about how people feel if he doesn't have a new deal before the season-opener in Cleveland.

Prescott walked that back, saying, "People change their feelings daily. I can’t say I have the same feelings that I had last week."

It surely isn't a coincidence that Prescott walked back his uncharacteristic non-diplomatic remarks and is also more positive regarding his contract, right? Maybe Prescott was merely cleaning last week's "mess," for lack of a better term. However a simple reading of the tea leaves says talks are progressing.

Not only did Clarence Hill of WFAA report that a deal is "closer than you think," but Jerry Jones slipped up in his interview with ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith and talked about "the next five years" with Prescott.

Don't go locking it in that a deal will get done, but Prescott's sudden change of heart about the unwritten deadline and playing the villain suggests a deal has never been closer.

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