The Dallas Cowboys have signed Ezekiel Elliott and Amari Cooper to long-term contracts, but negotiations with quarterback Dak Prescott remain in limbo.
What exactly is the hold-up?
“The money has always been there. They’ve not really haggled over money too much; a couple million dollars here or there,” Dallas’ 105.3 The Fan host RJ Choppy said on After Hours with Amy Lawrence. “It’s mostly Dak wants a shorter-term deal. He wants to be able to become a free agent three or four years down the road from now when there’s new TV money in the collective bargaining agreement, where maybe the salary cap takes a pretty big jump and he wants to be able to take advantage of that. The Cowboys want to lock him in five years, at minimum, and Dak wants no more than four. That, right now, is a sticking point.”
The Cowboys have reportedly offered Prescott a deal worth upwards of $33 million annually, which would make him one of the highest-paid players in football. Prescott has held firm, but his leverage is vanishing by the day.
“Everything is on pause right now,” Choppy said, referring to the coronavirus pandemic. “There’s not a whole lot of urgency. Dak’s biggest leverage is, ‘I’ll just skip minicamp and OTAs.’ Well, there’s probably not going to be a minicamp and OTAs to skip right now. His leverage is gone, and the Cowboys don’t have a pressing desire to get things done because they don’t know when the season is going to start.”