Dallas Cowboys DVOA, Stats, & NFL Rankings

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 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.

Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy, who is being retained for the final year of his contract in 2024 despite another early playoff exit, has full confidence in quarterback Dak Prescott moving forward. "I believe in Dak Prescott," McCarthy said. The head coach also called Prescott "part of the solution moving forward." The 30-year-old signal-caller made his third Pro Bowl in 2023 and led the NFL in completions (410) and touchdown passes (36) during the regular season while throwing for 4,516 yards and only nine interceptions after leading the NFL with 15 picks in 2022. Playoff issues aside, Prescott was in the MVP conversation all year and has put himself in the high-end QB1 picture for fantasy drafts heading into the 2024 season.

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens caught five of his 11 targets for 50 yards and picked up 15 rushing yards on his lone carry of a wild-card round loss to the Buffalo Bills. Pickens came down with a few impressive grabs in the contest but also made a costly mistake when he lost a fumble on Pittsburgh's third offensive possession. Buffalo had already held a 7-0 lead and quickly went up by two touchdowns following the fumble recovery. The 22-year-old managed to bounce back and operated as a go-to guy for Mason Rudolph down the stretch. Despite dealing with inconsistent quarterback play all season, Pickens turned in an incredibly productive campaign and will look to further establish himself as one of the league's most exciting young receivers next season.