The recent decline of Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz has been both sudden and alarming. Just a few years ago Wentz was an MVP candidate. Now, 18 months after signing a hefty long-term contract, he’s putting up some of the worst numbers in the league.
Does that give Dallas Cowboys pause when thinking about a long term contract for their star quarterback, Dak Prescott, who is currently out for the year following a scary ankle injury? Are they scared the same thing could happen to them?
Absolutely not.
Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones went on 105.3 The Fan on Wednesday and talked about where the team is with a Prescott extension, confirming that nothing has changed. Despite Wentz’s unexpected decline, they’re still all in on Dak.
“Our issues are in our negotiations with Dak have been we’re wanting to be more committed in terms of the term,” Jones said via the Dallas Morning News. “We’re not nervous to sign Dak. I think his makeup is all the right things. He’s an amazing man off the field, he’s a great leader in our locker room, a great player and that’s why we’ve wanted to sign him long term... When you sign a player long-term you’ve got more flexibility in how you work the salary cap with a player who’s gonna eat up a big percentage of your cap when you’re talking about a quarterback.”
Big contracts are always a risk
Just because Jones said the Cowboys aren’t “nervous” about signing Prescott doesn’t mean he’s ignoring the reality of the situation. He acknowledged that signing any player to a long-term contract is always a risk, which is playing out with the Eagles and Wentz right now. That risk is why they’re trying to get the deal done.
"That's why we're trying to negotiate this contract," Jones said via the Dallas Morning News. "It's certainly not easy. We're looking at it. We've been out front, I think everybody's aware of the issues here of why the deal hasn't been done is more length of the term than it has been the actual amount of the contract. Certainly shows you our confidence in Dak because we want him here for the long term. Certainly, when you make a bad decision on a big contract, it can affect you.
"I can't speak for the Eagles. I don't know where they are with Carson Wentz and what their long-term thoughts are on Carson. When something's not working out and you have big numbers on a contract you're committed to it can certainly affect your football team for a couple of years.
"That's the business we're in. That's why you want to be right when you sign a player. That's why our philosophy has been, historically, our preference is to, hopefully, draft well, bring good young players in and then you know what you have when you sign them. And, in our opinion, you're less likely to make big mistakes if you sign your own guys. That's not a sure thing either with the injuries... There's a lot of moving parts to getting it right with this salary cap."
Finding a middle ground
Jones was frank when discussing what’s kept the two sides from coming to an agreement on a long-term contract. It’s actually about how long-term the contract should be. Jones said that he and the Cowboys want a few more years than Prescott and his team does.
Jones said he absolutely doesn’t hold that against Prescott. Jones wants what’s best for the team, Prescott wants what’s best for him, and he’s confident that they’ll find a place to meet in the middle.
“No. I’m not disappointed, I understand where he’s coming from. I have respect for it. He’s betting on himself. He’s done a great job of that, he certainly believes in himself. He might be willing to take less on the guaranteed that comes with a longer-term contract because he just feels like, and historically it’s been the case, that the NFL has grown, the business has grown and the cap has grown. If that’s the case then he’s certainly a businessman and we respect that. At some point we’ve just got to find the right middle ground there that we both can be happy with.”
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