Troy Aikman convinced Dak Prescott could bag $60,000,000-a-year deal with or without Cowboys
Dak Prescott's contract appears to be holding Cowboys fans firmly in its grip with negotiations still failing to reach a conclusion in training camp. To his credit, the 2023 MVP runner-up has not been a holdout (so far) and most of what we've heard from Prescott and Jerry Jones indicate that the two are closer to a conclusion than they were last month.
But until the Cowboys QB puts pen to paper on a new deal that could potentially make him the highest-paid quarterback in the NFL, speculation will continue to mount over his future in Dallas. A few Cowboys icons have been a bit on the edge over Prescott's contract extension. Dez Bryant was the latest to push the Cowboys to get a deal done and get it over with.
Another Cowboys legend joined that club this week. During an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show on Friday, August 2, Troy Aikman was positive Dak Prescott would become the league's highest-paid quarterback, whether it's in Dallas or at another franchise. Aikman said:
“What I respect so much about Dak – one, he’s a great leader, he’s a great person. He’s an old school guy in that he doesn’t care about anything but winning and it frustrates him beyond imagination that they haven’t had more success in the postseason. It’s the only thing that’s kept him from being mentioned with Patrick Mahomes and some of the other greats.
“If he breaks through this year, I do believe he’s gonna be the first quarterback to $60 million."
Aikman also expressed a little concern about Prescott potentially leaving Dallas.
"The longer this goes, the more I think he will be playing somewhere else. If it continues to drag on and he plays great and the Cowboys come in late to say ‘Hey, now we wanna pay you,’ I don’t know where his head will be at that point,” Aikman said.
Could Dak Prescott leave the Cowboys?
There's a non-zero chance of Dak Prescott leaving the Dallas Cowboys. Quarterbacks who immediately elevate the offense aren't a dime-a-dozen in the NFL. It's conceivable the Cowboys could ride it out with Prescott this year and let him walk. But here's why that's highly unlikely.
The only options the Cowboys have to replace Dak Prescott are through the draft, through a trade, or through free agency. The free agency class isn't quite inspiring considering all of Tua Tagovailoa, Jared Goff and Jordan Love signed contract extensions this year. Dallas could choose to start fresh at QB but that would mean wasting a few years of CeeDee Lamb and Micah Parsons' prime years.