Pro Football Hall of Famer Jimmy Johnson is royalty when it comes to the Dallas Cowboys. His tenure as head coach only lasted five seasons, but he brought the franchise back to glory in the 1990s with back-to-back Super Bowl titles in 1992 and 1993
That kind of success has earned Johnson the respect of his former players and fans of the Cowboys worldwide, when he talks people listen. Johnson appeared on The Rich Eisen Show on Friday, and predictably, he was asked about Dak Prescott’s contract situation. The Cowboys former head man was pretty blunt in his assessment of the situation.
“They need to get him signed,” Johnson said. “They should have given in to the four-year deal last year. Would have saved them some money. They wanted five years. But they’ve got to get him signed. And not only is he an outstanding quarterback, he’s not Patrick Mahomes, but he is an outstanding quarterback and on top of that he is a great leader. Leader for that football team. So they need to get him signed. And the other thing is until you find somebody better, you don’t ever give up a quarterback.”
Johnson also mentioned that the potential long-term marriage between Prescott and the Cowboys should’ve happened quite some time ago.
“They should have signed him three years ago. They should have signed him two years ago. They should have signed him, you know, last offseason. And every time they did not sign him, the price just kept going up. But they need to get it done.”
That’s an understatement, to say the least. Prescott earned just over $4 million in his first four seasons. Granted, he was paid $31.4 million in 2020 while playing on the franchise tag, but he still doesn’t have any long-term security going forward. Another franchise tag would cost the Cowboys almost $38 million, and with a reduced salary cap of around $175 million in 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, getting him signed for the foreseeable future is the better option.
Before Prescott’s season-ending ankle injury in October he made 69 consecutive starts. He’s led the Cowboys to two NFC East titles and has an Offensive Rookie of the Year award on his resume. He may only have one playoff win to show for it but in a team sport that can’t be placed one player.
The Cowboys have been adamant that Prescott is their guy. However, this is the third round of negotiations on a deal that should’ve been done a long time ago. At some point, even a great character guy like Prescott is going to get frustrated, which he probably is now, and the longer this gets drawn out the more the Cowboys risk not having him on the roster.
Big time quarterbacks don’t grow on trees. The Cowboys have one, he’s one of the best in the NFL right now, and it’s time to get him signed.
