Dak Prescott on Cowboys Contract Negotiations: 'Never Just Look at the Money'

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott is approaching the March free-agency period without a new contract, but he is "confident" a deal will get done with the team.

Prescott told ESPN's Sage Steele he believes the two sides will be able to hash out a long-term agreement and added that financials aren't the only thing he's looking for in negotiations:

"There's a lot of things that have to come into play when you're talking about a contract. Never just look at the money, never just look at what people see or the attention-grabber. There's a lot of details to it. There's people that know that handle that, so I'm leaving that up to my agent and I have all the confidence in both sides."

The Cowboys and Prescott have been in negotiations dating back to last offseason but have been unable to strike a deal. It's almost certain Dallas will use the franchise tag on Prescott if it cannot reach a long-term agreement by March.

Prescott is coming off a 2019 season that saw him set career highs in passing yards (4,902) and touchdowns (30), emerging as an early MVP candidate before the Cowboys disappointed in the second half. Their 8-8 record came despite leading the NFL in total yards, and it led to the firing of coach Jason Garrett.

Dallas hired former Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy earlier this month. McCarthy heaped praise on the young quarterback during his introductory press conference:

"I'm excited about the opportunity to work with Dak. I think what he's done so far is very impressive. I think like a lot of us in the league, you watch people from afar. But when you have a chance to watch a player live, and I can recall his rookie year when we played him there in Green Bay, I've always been impressed with him."

While there may be more to the negotiations than money, a deal likely would have been done by now if there weren't some level of disagreement regarding compensation. Prescott and his representatives will be looking for a market-setting deal, especially given the fact that Patrick Mahomes will likely reset the market again this offseason with an eye-popping extension.

Finding a common middle ground where both sides are comfortable will be necessary, or else the Cowboys run the risk of a situation similar to what happened with Kirk Cousins and Washington a couple of years ago.