Dak Prescott Could Be Screwed in Contract Talks With Cowboys After Latest Update on 2021 Salary Cap
By Brady Williams
After getting the franchise tag, Dak Prescott is possibly going to be facing some new negotiation troubles thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. On the My Sports Update Football Podcast, NFL insider Adam Schefter explained how the upcoming season could affect teams significantly on the financial front.
With a relatively high chance of NFL games occurring without any fans, that means there will be a lot less profit for teams. That kind of hit could force the salary cap, which was expected to increase in 2021, to take a major dip. It's bad news for any team that needs to pay a quarterback, but it's even worse for those quarterbacks. They're now in a position where they're asking for money that teams just might not have.
Something to monitor: The salary cap in 2021 could potentially take a massive hit due to COVID-19. "The various estimates I've gotten from executives to owners is that the cap could be down anywhere $30M to $80M in 2021" — @AdamSchefter
— NFL Update (@MySportsUpdate) May 5, 2020
Full episode ? https://t.co/yWz44h3j8C pic.twitter.com/FPI0fq9Prn
As Schefter went on to explain, the current collective bargaining agreement dictates that the salary cap is set based on total revenue, and without ticket sales, there's less revenue and less cap space. He says the hit could be anywhere from $30 million to $80 million. The lower end of that is a million dollars shy of Prescott's current yearly pay, which he's hoping will increase after this coming season. The cap decrease could ruin those hopes.
Dak Prescott was 70.1% accurate on straight dropback passes last season, the most accurate quarterback in the NFL.
— QB Data Mine (@QBDataMine) May 1, 2020
(A straight dropback pass is any pass where the quarterback didn't use play action or throw a screen.) pic.twitter.com/HRuiouEqmj
The Cowboys currently have $9 million in cap space, and the increase in 2021 was expected to be big enough for the fiscal concerns to go away. Now that it might decrease, we have no idea how this situation will unfold.
The power in the negotiations has seemingly tipped back over to Dallas. Does Dak want to take a little less money to stay on a winning team or get that extra few million to play for a (likely) way worse franchise? That seems like what Cowboys fans could be dealing with between now and 2021.