Insider predicts how Cowboys, Dak Prescott contract standoff will end

Shortly after it was learned that wide receiver CeeDee Lamb and the Dallas Cowboys had agreed to a four-year, $136M deal this past weekend, Lamb insisted he had "no doubt" that the club will soon lock quarterback Dak Prescott down via a lucrative extension. 

NFL insider Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated didn't go that far but acknowledged in a Wednesday mailbag that his confidence level is at "a seven out of 10" that the two sides will eventually put pen to paper on an agreement. 

"These things usually get done," Breer wrote. "I don’t think Dallas wants to go to $60M per year to keep him, and Dak Prescott’s agent, Todd France, is a bulldog of a negotiator. But the mere idea of what might be behind Door No. 2 if the Cowboys let Prescott go into a walk year (it’ll be impossible to tag him in 2025) isn’t an easy one for the Cowboys to reckon with. So, yeah, my guess would be something gets done." 

While Prescott finished second in regular-season Most Valuable Player Award voting for the 2023 campaign, it's thought his 2-5 career playoff record is one reason team owner and general manager Jerry Jones doesn't "want to go to $60M per year to keep" the 31-year-old beyond the 2024 season. As Breer wrote for a different article, though, the Cowboys paying Lamb this summer was "a predictable ending" to that contract saga, considering Jones' desire to hold onto star talents. 

Prescott opened the 2020 season with his rights retained via the franchise tag before he suffered a horrific and gruesome ankle injury in October of that year. Despite that setback, Jones gave his QB1 a four-year contract in March 2021 that reportedly could've been worth more than $160M with $126M guaranteed. Prescott has proven he can consistently play at an elite level through at least Week 18 of a campaign. 

It's unclear if Breer's confidence regarding Prescott's future has anything to do with the Cowboys routinely being linked in rumors with living legend Bill Belichick as Dallas head coach Mike McCarthy remains in the final year of his contract. Belichick turns 73 years old next April and presumably wouldn't want to start from scratch with a rookie quarterback or a signal-caller unfamiliar with all that comes with serving as the starter for "America's Team."