Prescott gets franchise tag
Cowboys decide on star QB; Cooper, team agree to new deal.
The Dallas Cowboys were unable to sign quarterback Dak Prescott to a long-term contract extensions ahead of the Monday morning deadline, resulting in the team using the exclusive franchise tag on Prescott.
Prescott is guaranteed $31.6 million in 2020 as the Cowboys kept exclusive negotiating rights with him. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has said repeatedly he considers Prescott his franchise quarterback and has said it’s just a matter of time before a deal gets completed.
The Cowboys do have an agreement on a long-term contract with receiver Amari Cooper. Dallas and its No. 1 receiver have agreed on a $100 million, five-year contract, a person with direct knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press on Monday night. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal hasn’t been announced.
Cooper was set to become an unrestricted free agent and was already free to talk to other teams because the Cowboys had to use the franchise tag on Prescott.
Dallas traded a first-round pick to get Cooper from Oakland midseason in 2018, and
his addition did wonders for Prescott and the offense. But Cooper’s production tailed off in the second half of his first full season with the Cowboys as an underachieving team missed the playoffs.
Cooper, 25, has 5,097 yards receiving and 33 touchdowns in five seasons. He was the fourth overall pick in 2015 by the Raiders and has 132 catches for 1,934 and 14 touchdowns in 25 games with the Cowboys as Prescott’s No. 1 option.
The $20 million average per season for Cooper is second to Atlanta’s Julio Jones ($22 million).
Prescott was the top priority and the Cowboys had long said they were going retain control of his rights no matter. So that meant the franchise tag for Prescott.
Any deal for started at $18 million annually and now he could get $20 or more on the open market.
But the biggest issue is the team’s inability to get a deal done with Prescott, who turned down a contract averaging $33 million annually with $105 million guaranteed in September.
The Cowboys recently upped that offer that could potentially surpass Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson ($35 million annually) as the league’s highest-paid player.
But it wasn’t enough to get a deal done.
Likely strengthening Prescott’s resolve was the four-year, $118 million given to Tennessee Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill on Sunday.
Tannehill got his megadeal after a half-season of good football with the Titans. His body of work pales in comparison to Prescott’s four years with the Cowboys. And Prescott is coming off his best season, one in which he threw for 4,902 yards and 30 touchdowns.
That Tannehill signed for only four years is another sticking point between the Cowboys and Prescott.
The Cowboys had wanted to sign Prescott to a longer deal, but the quarterback has been angling for just four years, which is consistent with the recent contracts signed by Wilson and Tannehill.
Now that he is under the tag, Prescott will likely miss the start offseason program with new Coach Mike McCarthy, using it as leverage for continued negotiations.
Prescott and Cowboys have until July 15 to come to terms on long-term contract extensions. If not, he will have to play out the season on the franchise tag.
Prescott is the sixth Cowboy to have been given the franchise tag in team history. Safety Ken Hamlin (Arkansas Razorbacks) in 2008, receiver Dez Bryant (2015) and defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence (2019) were eventually signed to long-term deals and had the tag removed. Tackle Flozell Adams (2002), defensive end Anthony Spencer (2012, 2013) and Lawrence (2018) played those seasons on the tag.