Dallas Cowboys News

Home

Quizzes

Watch

Newsletter

Power Rankings

Prescott must make one financial move to help Cowboys return to playoffs

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott. Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

Dak Prescott must make one key financial move to help Cowboys return to playoffs in 2026

By Clark Dalton | Last updated Dec 24, 2025 3:23 AM ET

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott is sick of watching the playoffs on his couch.

The Cowboys (6-8-1) have been eliminated from the playoffs for a second straight season. Heading into the offseason, Prescott plans to do whatever it takes to help the franchise bring back the Lombardi Trophy to Dallas for the first time since the 1995 season.

"We won't be back here in this spot," Prescott said Tuesday, per The Athletic's Jon Machota. "I feel like the last few times I said that were [after] playoff losses. Each season has its own highs, lows, ebbs and flows, and everything within it. And I think for the importance, it's controlling what you can."

Something Prescott can control is his contract and whether it can be restructured. If he does so, that would provide the Cowboys needed salary-cap relief.

How Dak Prescott restructuring contract would help Cowboys

Restructuring a contract converts large amounts of salary into signing bonus, immediately providing more cap space. The Cowboys could use that. Over the Cap estimates Dallas will be $47.92M over the cap in 2026. The team must get under the cap or risk fines, the loss of draft picks and the voiding of players' contracts.

Prescott is in the second year of a four-year, $240M deal, making him the highest-paid player in the league. Per Over the Cap, Prescott restructuring his contract in 2026 would help Dallas create $30.96M in cap room. The team would still need to make other moves to be cap-compliant, but it can find a way.

Prescott restructured his contract last offseason. Figure on him doing so again, especially now that he wants to work more closely with the front office.

"I'm gonna do my [darndest], controlling what I can, and you know as you get older, having more input, having more say so and being asked more questions from the front office, maybe there's a little bit more that I can do," Prescott said. "And it's not just physically, or me getting better at my game. Maybe it's speaking up and saying this will help, or I think this can help. So, whatever it takes. I'm gonna do my [darndest]. And make sure that I'm influencing everybody and encouraging everybody else around, not just players, to do the same."

After restructuring, Prescott could advise the Cowboys to target specific players in free agency and retain others, including running back Javonte Williams and wide receiver George Pickens. (Both will be up for new contracts this offseason.) Williams leads the team in rushing yards (1,147), while Pickens leads the team in receiving yards (1,342).

All Prescott would then need to do is keep rocking on the field. After 16 weeks, he ranks second in the league in passing yards (4,175) and third in touchdown passes (28).

But he must first start with the contract restructuring. It could prove key in helping Dallas rebound in 2026.

Clark Dalton

Dalton is a 2022 journalism graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. He gained experience in sports media over the past seven years — from live broadcasting and creating short films to podcasting and producing. In college, he wrote for The Daily Texan. He loves sports and enjoys hiking, kayaking and camping.

More must-reads: