Dallas Cowboys

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott has faith that he and the team will be able to work out a new long-term deal. "I'm definitely confident, obviously it helps the team and it's important for the numbers. I've heard Jerry say that. This is a process, both sides understand that. Everything is great. It will happen," Prescott said. The 30-year-old carries a $59.455 million salary cap hit in 2024, so the Cowboys were hoping to work out a new deal with Prescott before the start of free agency next week. He'll have a base salary of $29 million, and the Cowboys currently sit just over $4 million over the cap. While Prescott isn't an elite fantasy QB1, he's right behind the top tier after delivering a league-high 36 touchdown passes and only nine interceptions while throwing for 4,516 yards in 17 regular-season games in 2023.

ESPN's Dan Graziano isn't as convinced as most people that quarterback Dak Prescott will get a lucrative contract extension from the Dallas Cowboys. His current salary cap number for 2024 is $59.455 million, which is huge, and an extension would be the obvious way to reduce that number. However, Prescott has a lot of leverage with one year left on his current deal and a clause in his contract that prohibits the team from franchising him. The 30-year-old hasn't made it easy on Dallas in the past, either. If the two sides don't make progress on a deal, the Cowboys could save around $18.5 million in cap space by converting Prescott's 2024 salary into a signing bonus without adding any more void years. However, doing that would result in Dallas carrying a cap charge of around $55 million on Prescott in 2025.

The Dallas Cowboys will pick up quarterback Trey Lance's $4.25 million roster bonus for the 2024 season, but they also elected not to pick up his fifth-year option for 2025. The Cowboys acquired Lance from the San Francisco 49ers during training camp last summer, but the former first-rounder didn't play as a single snap in his first year with the Cowboys behind starter Dak Prescott, who had a career year. The 23-year-old will now return as Prescott's backup next season, but he'll likely be on the free-agent market next offseason since the Cowboys understandably didn't want anything to do with his $22.4 million fifth-year option for 2025. Unless Prescott misses extensive time with an injury in 2024, Lance won't be worth rostering in fantasy.

The Dallas Cowboys are expected to make quarterback Dak Prescott among the highest-paid QBs before free agency kicks off in March. Prescott has almost a $60 million salary cap number for the 2024 season. The Cowboys are going to want more maneuverability to sign other players this offseason, and the only way to do that is to do a new deal with Prescott that will lower his cap number for this year. Although Dallas flopped in the playoffs yet again, the 30-year-old Prescott led the NFL with 36 touchdown passes on a league-high 410 pass attempts during the regular season for 4,516 yards, the second-most in his NFL career. Prescott still won't be in contention to be one of the first few QBs taken in fantasy drafts this fall, but he's right behind the elite names.

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said at the Senior Bowl this week that he thinks there are things quarterback Dak Prescott needs to do better moving forward. "The big thing is, we all know there is room for improvement," Jones said. "The thing that I would emphasize more than anything is that Dak has room for improvement. And not just the scheme around him, but Dak can improve." The 30-year-old led the NFL in interceptions in 2022, but he made the Pro Bowl for the third time in his career in 2023 with 4,516 passing yards, a league-high 36 touchdown passes and nine interceptions in 17 regular-season games. Prescott was great for fantasy purposes, but he and the team fell flat once again in embarrassing fashion in the first round of the postseason.