Carson Palmer: Dak Prescott Should Take Less Money Because He's Cowboys' QB

Former NFL quarterback Carson Palmer thinks the value of being a Dallas Cowboy should be enough to make Dak Prescott take less money in contract negotiations.  

Palmer pointed to the post-playing careers of several Cowboys for his reasoning in an interview with Shan and RJ of 105.3 The Fan:

"I love Dak's game. I think he's great. I think he shouldn't shoot for the moon (on his next contract). Being the Dallas Cowboys quarterback, there's a lot that comes with that financially. So, you don't have to be the top-paid quarterback in the league. You can make as much as the top-paid quarterback in the league when you're the Dallas Cowboys quarterback if you do take less. Because, if you win in Dallas, look at today's television networks. You got Troy Aikman (Fox analyst), Jason Witten (former Monday Night Football analyst) and Tony Romo (CBS analyst) all on nationally televised games. Partially, because of their playing careers, but a majority of that is because they played for the Dallas Cowboys. They are a household name. You've seen Dak on tons of commercials and endorsements. You can make that same top-tier money if you're Dak and you take a little bit less, and you keep all the players around you within the salary cap structure."

There is an argument to be made that quarterbacks, in general, should take less money in the best long-term interest of keeping their team competitive—or at least figure out a team-friendly structure. Patrick Mahomes' $500 million contract is massive in scope but was also designed to help the Chiefs stay competitive in the immediate future.

The rookie-scale starting quarterback is perhaps the biggest bargain in sports and allows the team to build a strong roster around its budding star. The Cowboys largely failed to do that for Prescott, particularly on the defensive side of the ball.

Palmer's argument that Prescott should take less simply because he's a Cowboy holds less water. NFL players have the shortest careers of any professional athlete. Prescott himself is recovering from a season-ending injury, so he knows how quickly a career can be placed into jeopardy.

It shouldn't matter whether he's a Cowboy or a Jacksonville Jaguar; players should be attempting to, at least individually, make every cent they possibly can.

If Prescott chooses to take less, the overarching motivation should be one of personal choice to help fortify the roster rather than setting a precedent that Cowboys players should take less for name recognition.