Jerry Jones may have accidentally revealed Dak Prescott's Cowboys fate

Jerry Jones talks a big game to the media, but it is hard to believe that he doesn't want to be married to Dak Prescott for the long haul. It's widely theorized that Jones cares more about promoting the Dallas Cowboys' brand than winning.

The Cowboys will always be relevant because of their massive following and influence over the media, but entering QB purgatory would seriously demote their relevancy. On a fundamental level, letting Prescott leave would be franchise malpractice of the highest regard.

Approaching his third contract year in six seasons, Prescott said it would say a lot about how people "feel" if he doesn't have a new deal before Sunday's regular-season opener. Reports claim that talks will be put on hold until the offseason if a new deal isn't reached in time.

Time is running out for the Cowboys and the stakes have never been higher. Clarence Hill of WFAA revealed Thursday that an agreement between Prescott and Dallas is "closer than you think."

That seems to be the case as Jones may have accidentally tipped his hand regarding Prescott's future in a sit-down interview with noted Cowboys cynic and ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith.

Jerry Jones may have revealed Cowboys' plan for Dak Prescott amid contract dispute

"We have the challenge of not only recouping what we have spent on him over the last four years, we’ve gotta add that to what we’re gonna be paying him for the future," Jones told Smith. "That's not Dak’s problem on the end that it’s the Dallas Cowboys' problem, because that money is not going to be there to spend on supporting cast. So we gotta ask ourselves, can we have the kind of success that Dak deserves, we deserve, his teammates deserve, our fans deserve? Can we do that and get in the range to afford Dak? I think we can." 

Not only did Jones reference Prescott's future salary, he also talked about the next five years with Prescott. That seems like a pretty big hint.

Jones also discussed the potential financial obstacles of making Prescott the highest-paid quarterback in NFL history, but the Joneses are no stranger to making lame excuses for not spending money on the roster. That is nothing new, so Cowboys fans shouldn't pay that any mind.

The bigger takeaway is that Jones openly discussed Prescott's future. A recent report from The Athletic's Dianna Russini claimed the length of contract was the biggest holdup in negotiations, but that has been rebuffed by multiple Cowboys insiders.

It's unclear what the biggest sticking point is in negotiations, but between Hill's insight and Jones' (intentional?) slip-up, it sounds like Prescott is on the verge of inking a massive extension to remain in Dallas.

That is unequivocally the direction the franchise should go. It is open for interpretation where Prescott belongs in the QB hierarchy, but what's indisputable is that the Cowboys aren't going to move on from him and be better for it. Quite the opposite, actually.

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