Dak Prescott Reportedly Signing His Franchise Tender On Monday

Dak Prescott is reportedly set to sign his franchise tender on Monday. ESPN’s Adam Schefter first reported there were rumors that the quarterback would officially be under contract with the Dallas Cowboys for the 2020 season, but Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk said on Sunday he was able to confirm those rumors.

By signing the franchise tender, Prescott will make $31.4 million in the coming season. He is signing the tender several weeks before the July 15 deadline to do so.

Some analysts have wondered why the quarterback would pull the trigger on the one-year extension when he and the Cowboys have been discussing a longer-term deal for most of the offseason. By signing the deal, he also forgoes the right to hold out and skip the fall training camp.

Florio said Prescott wasn’t likely to stage any kind of a holdout and that was likely one of the reasons the signal-caller decided to get the new contract done and over with. The analyst also believes his signing the franchise tag means the player and his team weren’t all that close to agreeing on the terms of a longer-term deal. Instead, Florio said Prescott can treat this season as a contract year, and he’ll have the chance to earn upward of $37.8 million if the Cowboys put the franchise tag on him after the 2021 season.

The analyst also said there was a chance the Cowboys might rescind the franchise tag just ahead of July 15 and spend that money elsewhere. The team was rumored to be interested in defensive end Jadeveon Clowney and defensive back Jamal Adams. Because of a new contract with wide receiver Amari Cooper and the $31 million dedicated to Prescott, the team doesn’t have much space under the salary cap.

Florio said it’s possible some people in the quarterback’s camp were worried the real reason the team went out and signed Andy Dalton because they might be looking to cut him loose and spend the money elsewhere, then see what they could do with the former Cincinnati Bengals’ quarterback.

Cowboys vice president Stephen Jones did come out and say a few weeks back that he would not pull the franchise tag offer away from Prescott. Florio said that seemed rather definite, but the front office has made what appeared to be strong statements before, only to eventually go back on its word. He pointed to a decade ago when owner Jerry Jones said he would absolutely not fire then-head coach Wade Phillips during the season, only to do just that a few weeks later.