Troy Aikman Warns Cowboys About Dak Prescott Contract Extension
By Jerry Trotta
If you're wondering why there hasn't been much noise surrounding Dak Prescott's contract impasse, well, that's because he and the Dallas Cowboys have made zero progress in negotiations.
What's so concerning about the lack of buzz is the fact that there is now less than one month -- July 15 is the deadline -- for Dallas to work out a long-term extension with the 26-year-old quarterback before he's forced to play the 2020 season under the franchise tag.
Cowboys legend Troy Aikman realizes that the franchise is taking a serious gamble by not pressing the issue to sign Prescott, and the Hall of Fame gunslinger recently shared his thoughts on the prolonged dispute with ESPN reporter Ed Werder.
ICYMI: #Cowboys have one month from today to sign Dak Prescott. As referenced on @ESPN, here’s Troy Aikman discussing on #Doomsday podcast. “When you’re talking about this kind of money, the only question to ask is can you win a Super Bowl with him?” https://t.co/0caafyQCCx
— Ed Werder (@WerderEdESPN) June 15, 2020
“Keep in mind, this situation between Dak Prescott and the Cowboys is totally without precedent," Werder said during an appearance on ESPN morning show Get Up!. “The Cowboys in their history have never franchise-tagged a quarterback. (Troy) Aikman has always warned that creates the potential for conflict that could harm the long-term relationship."
Aikman's uneasiness really echoes the concerns of Cowboys fans. Playing under the franchise tag would obviously see Prescott pocket a significant raise, but it also runs the risk of potentially leading him to sign elsewhere after the 2021 season, should he be tagged again next year, of course.
Deadline to sign franchise players to long-term deals is one month from today.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) June 15, 2020
Here are the franchise players who still haven’t signed their tender and are not required to report to camp: Dak Prescott, A.J. Green, Yannick Ngakoue, Chris Jones, Shaquil Barrett, Justin Simmons.
Werder noted that sources close to him believe a deal will get done before the mid-July deadline, but that's been reported dozens of times since both sides started negotiating. Until real progress is made public, it's reasonable to assume that Prescott will play 2020 on the one-year tag. For that reason, Aikman was wholly justified in warning Dallas of the delicacy of the situation.