Okay, Dak Defenders, you finally got your way.
Just hours before the Dallas Cowboys took the field to open the 2024 season, quarterback Dak Prescott got his extension.
Prescott is now under contract through the end of the 2028 season. He’ll reportedly average $60 million a year – with $231 million being guaranteed.
In short, Prescott is now the highest paid player in the NFL. His fans have been clamoring for the Cowboys to make that happen for some time.
Judging by the posts on social media today, you’d have thought the Cowboys had just locked up the next five Super Bowls this morning.
Prescott and his defenders are giddy. But they haven’t realized something important.
Now he has to earn it when the games matter most.
The bottom line is: He has to win the Super Bowl. He has to do it this very season.
A Regular Season Titan
There is no arguing with Prescott’s regular season numbers.
The Cowboys have finished 12-5 the last five seasons. Over his previous eight years, he is 73-41 as a starter.
If he plays out this extension as the starter in Dallas, he’ll likely finish with all of the franchise’s passing records.
He’s already just under 400 yards shy of eclipsing 30,000 passing yards. He has 203 touchdowns against just 74 interceptions.
In the regular season.
And there’s the rub.
Playoff Disappointments
The knock on Prescott is the same as it was for his predecessor, Tony Romo.
Romo couldn’t win in the Divisional round. Prescott is 0-3 so far.
That has to change – especially with Sunday’s sparkly $240 million payday heading for his bank account.
But first they’ll need to qualify for the postseason. The schedule ahead is not the easiest.
Dallas did get off to a good start on Sunday with a 33-17 road win at Cleveland.
The win, however, was more the Cowboys’ defense shutting down the Browns’ offense for most of the game. A 60-yard punt return for a touchdown by KaVontae Turpin was the nail in Cleveland’s coffin.
Prescott’s numbers weren’t exactly stellar.
He finished 19-for-32 for 179 yards with a touchdown pass to Brandin Cooks. While he didn’t throw an interception, he was sacked three times, and he fumbled once.
Fortunately, the Cowboys retained possession of the ball to avoid a costly turnover.
That’s going to be the key to Dallas’ success this year, to be honest.
Mike Zimmer’s defense looked solid. They sacked DeShaun Watson six times and picked him off twice.
Special teams accounted for one touchdown and four field goals.
Prescott didn’t need to force anything.
The best chance Dallas will have this season is for Prescott to continue to not force the issue. Get what he can, take a field goal when one presents itself, and let the defense throttle the opponent’s offense.
If Prescott starts forcing the issue too often, Cowboys fans are going to live through five more seasons of frustration.
The Long Road Ahead
If Prescott thought the pressure to win a Super Bowl for the Cowboys was intense the previous eight years, he hasn’t seen anything yet.
Now that he is the top-paid player, nothing less than a Lombardi Trophy in his hands in New Orleans in February is acceptable. That comes with all of those new Benjamins in his wallet.
He can’t get to the Divisional round and promptly throw two first-half interceptions. He’s done just that the last two playoff games he’s played in.
Those interceptions handed the 49ers six points in 2022 and the Packers 14 points last January.
Now that he makes more money than the NFL’s only active quarterback with three Super Bowl titles, it’s all on Prescott and Prescott alone.
No more excuses. No more laying the losses off on the defense and no more blaming his interceptions on his receivers.
Prescott was just paid $60 million dollars a year to get the Dallas Cowboys back to the Super Bowl and win it.
Anything short of that is failure.
Another Divisional Round Exit Coming?
Let’s just say I’m considering investing in tar and feathers – enough for Prescott and the entire Jones family for that matter – just in case.
That’s the pressure on Prescott and the Cowboys’ entire front office courtesy of this extension. They just pushed all-in.
For all we know, they’re on a flush draw and, from all appearances, they need to hit runners on the turn and the river.