What Adam Schefter’s comments on Dak Prescott may mean for a Cowboys’ rebuild
What was supposed to be just another ordinary NFL day earlier this week became yet another exciting chapter in the Dallas Cowboys’ ongoing story. League insider Adam Schefter offered some fascinating conjecture on the Cowboys’ possible selections in the draft at the end of this month during Tuesday’s NFL Live broadcast.
On the surface, Schefter’s remarks don’t seem shocking or controversial given Dak Prescott’s contractual situation. Despite their expressed desire to finalize a new contract, it appears that the team is content to let Prescott play out his final season without a new one, carrying a $55.4 million cap charge on their books. The expense this year will be substantially lower if the Cowboys manage to hammer out a new contract for Prescott. Given his insider status, Schefter’s remarks are noteworthy because they raise the possibility that the Cowboys are finally accomplishing exactly what they set out to achieve in the first place and that Schefter’s remarks signal the team’s impending rebuild following this season.
A few months have passed since Dallas’ dismal 2023 season finale. The Cowboys’ recent playoff setbacks with Prescott at quarterback don’t feel as painful as the humiliating home playoff loss to the Green Bay Packers. Remember the Cowboys’ starting lineup before they played the Packers? The NFL’s tide had shifted. The Philadelphia Eagles were in complete collapse; the Tampa Bay Bucs had won the NFC South division, and Dallas had only defeated the Detroit Lions at home a few games prior, giving them a virtual second seed in the NFC playoffs and the possibility to host the NFC title game for the first time in almost thirty years. There was anticipation and, dare we say it, hope to overcome .
Schefter’s remarks and the Cowboys front office approach this offseason thus far are adding fuel to the rebuild conclusion. Consider this: Would a team committed to their core allow Tyron Smith to leave after initial indications that he wanted to return and instead agree to an incentive latent contract elsewhere? Or would a team committed to solutions not at least bring in some lower-priced free agents to replace some of their starters that had left? When the Cowboys found themselves down multiple scores to an inferior opponent in the second half, the vision that the Cowboys were on the cusp of maybe a storybook ending quickly faded back into a grim reality that the Cowboys were going to be bounced out early again.
Speaking of contracts, the Cowboys have not moved forward with an extension with Pro Bowl wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, nor will they approach their own head coach for one. McCarthy, the former coach, is under tremendous pressure to contend for a title on one end while managing a group that is now inferior. That seems doomed to fail, maybe even on purpose. It has been stated that Lamb and Prescott’s contracts are eventually addressed; however, Prescott’s contract appears more complex and may not be completed.
The general consensus is that Schefter’s remarks indicate that if they select a quarterback in the draft, it will be a developmental pick. Earlier in the week, we selected three that potentially meet that criteria. What happens if the Cowboys select someone early is the big unknown. The Cowboys may select Bo Nix of Oregon and Michael Penix Jr. of Washington with the 24th overall pick. A first-round pick invested in any of them launches the franchise’s future, which will come sooner rather than later. Prescott is not to blame for the Cowboys’ shortcomings during his time as the starting quarterback. But Prescott, the football team’s lackadaisical postseason defense, the head office’s ideologies.
