Dak Prescott Open To Idea Of Sharing Personnel Opinions With Cowboys Brass

When negotiations began in 2019 between the Dallas Cowboys and quarterback Dak Prescott, the signal caller's representation was interested in extending the team's current starter.

What was a negotiation that was close to a resolution soon became a years-long journey, USA TODAY Sports reports.

While Prescott didn't get the franchise tag in 2020, his day finally came in March 2021 — a rehabilitating Prescott inked a four-year, $160 million extension to stay home after suffering an ankle injury in October 2020.

In his first full offseason in four years with contract certainty, what potential awaits for Prescott?

“I didn’t think about it until you said it,” Prescott told USA TODAY Sports. “But it just allows you to be fresh and be certain on everything and know obviously you’re here. There’s no questions. You can help the team make decisions.”

There are 20 players scheduled to hit unrestricted free agency, so the team has plenty of decisions to face.

USA TODAY reports the depth chart hitting free agency includes three starters on offense, five on defense and Pro Bowl punter Bryan Anger. While the QB's salary consumes the largest portion of the Cowboys’ salary cap, will he have a say in the pieces set to surround him?

“I think that just depends on whether they ask me,” Prescott said. “I’m not going in and knocking on doors saying, ‘Hey, I want this done, I want that done.’ But I’m pretty sure that my opinion will be valued in certain decisions, as I hope. So with that being said, just plan on helping this team get better in every which way I can.”

So while we may just have to wait and see, one thing we can look at is Prescott's season after inking his mega-contract.

USA TODAY Sports reports the quarterback was "statistically impressive but globally disappointing" in his first season playing on his new contract.

Dallas led the NFL in points scored (31.2 per game) and offensive yards (407) while Prescott threw a franchise-record 37 touchdown passes in 16 games. He completed 68.8% of passes for 4,449 yards with just 10 interceptions. Prescott’s 104.2 passer rating trailed only Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers and Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow.

Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said earlier this month that “we put Dak in some tough situations” when absorbing a league-high 141 penalties, including 14 levied in the wild-card game, as well as with an inconsistent run game, USA TODAY Sports reports.

Team owner and general manager Jerry Jones said of offseason ways to help Prescott that “you immediately go to protection" — offensive-line penalties killed rhythm far too often.

Prescott seems eager to attack an offseason more focused on skill development than recovery, and contribute in any way he can.

“Looking forward to having a full offseason of just growth and work obviously coming into it healthy, or healthy for the most part," Prescott said.