One of the benefits of the Dallas Cowboys beginning training camp is having players, coaches, and front office personnel available for press conferences.
The Cowboys opened training camp with a press conference panel of Owner/General Manager Jerry Jones, Executive Vice President Stephen Jones, and HC Mike McCarthy at the podium together.
When it was Dak Prescott’s turn at the podium after the team’s first practice, he was asked about his future with the Cowboys, and he didn’t mince words.
Here is the full quote as reported by Patrik “No C” Walker of dallascowboys.com:
You know, I’m gonna say it. I want to be here but, you know, when you look up all the great quarterbacks I’ve watched, they’ve all played for other teams. So my point in saying is that it’s not something to fear. That may be a reality for me someday.
The Cowboys organization and its fans might have a heart attack reading those words, but it made me think. He’s right. There have been a handful of great quarterbacks who moved on to bigger and better things with another team late in their careers.
Should Dak move on from the Cowboys, history shows he can be successful elsewhere. Let’s take a look at some quarterbacks who have done the same.
Peyton Manning
The easiest and most recent quarterback I can put on this list is the immortal Tom Brady, but he and Dak’s situation aren’t the same. Prescott has yet to experience a deep playoff run, much less five Super Bowl victories before choosing a new team.
Dak Prescott actually draws the most comparisons to Peyton Manning.
The Indianapolis Colts quarterback reached an AFC Championship Game in his fifth season, but didn’t get over the hump into the Super Bowl until his eighth year.
Prescott is slightly behind that timeline, entering his ninth season and yet to reach an NFC Championship Game, but there is still time. Dak is in his prime years as a quarterback, and still has a solid core of players around him.
Manning won just two more playoff games in his final four years in Indianapolis after winning the Super Bowl over Rex Grossman and the Chicago Bears in 2006.
The Colts were widely criticized for never establishing a competent defensive unit during Manning’s time.
He didn’t have that problem when he moved to Denver.
The Broncos fielded one of the most lethal defenses of this century. The Orange Crush defense was led by bookend pass-rushers Von Miller and former Cowboys’ DE DeMarcus Ware.
Peyton ended his career with a Super Bowl victory as a member of the Denver Broncos, making him the first quarterback in NFL history to win a Super Bowl as the starter for two different franchises.
Brett Favre
Brett Favre played quarterback for the Green Bay Packers for 16 seasons before GM Ted Thompson traded him to the New York Jets once the bench was too warm for Aaron Rodgers to sit on.
It turns out Favre’s one season with the Jets was just a placeholder. Thompson refused to trade him to an NFC team, fearing Favre could seek retribution against the Packers in the playoffs.
Favre actually announced his retirement, but surprisingly, abruptly ended his retirement to join the Packers’ NFC North rivals, the Minnesota Vikings.
In his first season with the Vikings at 40 years old, Favre received votes for both MVP and Comeback Player of the Year, leading the Vikings to a 12-4 record and an NFC Championship Game appearance.
Minnesota lost a heartbreaker to Drew Brees and the eventual Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints. In true Favre fashion, an ill-advised interception ended a possible game-winning drive, and put the Saints in position for the win instead.
Speaking of Drew Brees…
Drew Brees
Drew Brees is another example of a quarterback experiencing success after leaving his original team. Brees was drafted by the San Diego Chargers and, after redshirting his rookie season, had a solid four years as the starter.
A gruesome shoulder injury suffered in the final regular season game of the 2005 season forced Dean Spanos and Chargers’ brass to let him test the market and promote Philip Rivers to the leader of the offense.
Many wrote off Brees after that injury, but a first-year coach in New Orleans saw what many didn’t. That coach was former Cowboys’ offensive coordinator turned Saints Head Coach Sean Payton.
Payton and Brees experienced many great years together, including a Super Bowl victory over Peyton Manning and the Colts in 2009.
Back to Prescott, it might have been a spicy quote, but I believe it was meant as more of a threat to Jerry and Stephen than an actual desire to be elsewhere. Some consider the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys to be the best job in the world.
It is evident by Dak Prescott’s smile and body language that he loves his job, and I don’t believe leaving the Dallas Cowboys would be his choice. I can see him one day playing for another team, but it would be a team decision to let him move on.
The same fate as Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Brett Favre, and Drew Brees.