Cowboys Rumors: Jerry Jones May Have Dak Prescott Play Out Contract Without Extension

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones may decide to make quarterback Dak Prescott play out the remainder of his contract as opposed to extending him.

NFL Network's Rich Eisen relayed that news amid his annual top-five NFL Scouting Combine rumors piece (8:15 mark).

"The rumor I heard from multiple people at the Combine is his definition of all in is to make Dak play out his walk year and not extend him at all, and just eat the cap hit," Eisen said. "And the free agents that they might go get aren't the big-name guys that you think because they won't be able to afford 'em."

Prescott has one year left on his deal, and it carries a $59.4 million cap hit.

Jones recently said that the team is going "all in" on the 2024 season.

"I think we'll push the hell out of it," Jones said (h/t Jon Machota of The Athletic).

"It will be going all in on different people than you've done in the past. We'll be going all in. … I would say that you will see us this coming year not building for the future. That's the best way I know how to say it. That ought to answer a lot of questions."

The biggest question remains unanswered, though. In a year, Prescott is set to be a free agent unless he and the Cowboys come to a long-term deal.

The 30-year-old and three-time Pro Bowler just had the best regular season of his eight-year career, finishing runner-up in the NFL MVP voting with a league-high 36 touchdown passes alongside 4,516 passing yards. He also led Dallas to a 12-5 record, an NFC East title and the No. 2 seed in the conference.

But once again, postseason success eluded the Cowboys, who haven't made the Super Bowl since 1995. This year was a disaster, with Dallas losing 48-32 to the No. 7 seed Green Bay Packers at home and trailing by as much as 27-0 and also 48-16.

Prescott is just 2-5 in the playoffs, although some poor defensive performances have largely been the catalyst for the team's demises in January, most notably last year.

It's conceivable that Jones makes Prescott go on trial in 2024 to see how he fares in the playoffs (should they make it) after how poorly the past season ended. Should Prescott go into this season on a de-facto one-year deal, though, then the Cowboys are taking on a massive $60 million cap hit as opposed to signing him long-term and decreasing that number.

Ultimately, failing to re-sign Prescott makes it very hard to build the best team possible around him in 2024. And if that happens, then it appears as though he's on trial to be the Cowboys' quarterback of the future, which would then mean that the QB and coach, Mike McCarthy, are entering lame-duck years. McCarthy notably is entering the final season of a five-year contract signed in 2020.