Rick Zamperin: Dallas Cowboys should have signed Dak Prescott long-term now

If there is an NFL season this year amid the coronavirus pandemic, quarterback Dak Prescott will play on a $31.4 million franchise tag with the Dallas Cowboys.

The deadline for Prescott and the Cowboys to agree on a multi-year contract expired at 4 p.m. Wednesday and while there are reports the two sides were close to a deal they could live with and agreement never came to be.

Dallas owner Jerry Jones had offered Prescott, who turns 27 in a couple of weeks, a five-year contract worth between $33-35 million a season, a $50 million signing bonus, and as much as $110 million guaranteed.

3:01 NFL’s Washington team punting Redskins name, logo

While Prescott and his agent didn’t mind the dollar figures that would put him in the company of other high-priced QBs such as Seattle’s Russell Wilson and Jared Goff of the L.A. Rams, it was the length of the deal that provided to be the ultimate stumbling block.

The Cowboys want Dak under contract for at least the next five years, just like many of the team’s other star players, but Prescott’s camp remained locked in on a four-year deal so he can hit the market again when he is 30 and cash in on another mega-deal.

The Cowboys’ window to win is as open as it’s ever going to be with the bulk of their star players all entering the prime of their careers at the same time, and Jones should have locked in Prescott for the next four years to give his team the assurance that everyone is all in.

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Prescott and the Cowboys could be in this very same position a year from now, only then it will cost the club $37.7 million to franchise tag the QB in 2021, which would put $69.1 million in Dak’s pocket over two years.

To make matters worse for Dallas, Prescott is coming off his best statistical season in his four-year career, and with offensive weapons like running back Ezekiel Elliott and receivers Amari Cooper, Michael Gallup and 17th overall draft pick CeeDee Lamb, he could put up numbers never before seen in Big D.

Who knows, if the Cowboys get to the playoffs and make a lot of noise, Prescott could be looking at an even greater pay day than he just passed up.

At the end of the day, Prescott is betting on himself to have a massively successful 2020 season and the Cowboys just rolled the dice that it won’t be as spectacular as many people think.

Rick Zamperin is the assistant program, news and senior sports director at Global News Radio 900 CHML.