Dak Prescott sends powerful message while discussing his negotiations with Cowboys

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott will hit free agency after the upcoming season unless a contract extension is agreed to before, something the two sides appear to be in no rush getting done following reports from earlier in the year indicating no formal offer has been made yet.

Even still, Prescott has shown up for every important day of the offseason, including OTAs, which kicked off this week.

What's behind Prescott's patience? After all, he was named second-team All-Pro and finished as the runner up for MVP behind winner Lamar Jackson just last season. Why not apply some pressure to his team to get a deal done? The Cowboys quarterback sent a powerful message on Wednesday that provided the answer.

"I don't play for money, never have, never cared for it to be honest with you," Prescott told reporters. "I would give it up just to play this game."

That's a strong-worded message for a player in an industry where contract values for player of his caliber now exceed $50 million per year. Many will be quick to dismiss Prescott's words because at the end of the day, they're likely to do very little to change the numbers of the deal when it gets done, be it with the Cowboys or elsewhere.

However, there's definitely some truth to it. Prescott has always approached his career with a certain degree of stoicism, constantly preaching on controlling what he can control while making an impact in his community, which has even led to him Walter Payton Man of the Year.

Here's where Dak's message reaches its true level of power though: He's backed it up before and is backing it up now once more. When he was franchise-tagged by Dallas back in 2020, he didn't hold out and never hesitated to play the season. Fast forward to 2024, when he has all the leverage in the world thanks to a no-tag, no-trade clause in his contract, he has never even threatened to stay away from the team.

"I allow that to the business people to say what it's worth, what they're supposed to give a quarterback of my play, a person of my play, a leader of my play, I guess you could say," Prescott added. "For me, it's about controlling what I can control and handling that part, and the rest will take care of itself."

How this will play out remains to be seen but Prescott is focused on one thing and one thing only: Play ball at the highest level he possibly can. In the meantime, offers or not, Prescott refuses to take anything personal.

"I don't take things personal," he said while admitting the first deal might've been different. "The understanding that at this point, I have a lot of decision in this too, I have a lot of say too. It's about understanding business is business, and for me, as I said, it's controlling what I can, and that's making sure I'm the best player that I can be right now."