Adam Schefter calls Dak Prescott the player with the 'most leverage' in the NFL

NFL insider Adam Schefter broke down the Cowboys’ contract extension situation for star quarterback Dak Prescott on Thursday as the team wrapped up mandatory minicamp. Although Prescott didn’t hold out of OTAs or minicamp, he has contract negotiations ongoing with the team. Schefter told the NFL Live panel he believes Prescott to be the one player with the most leverage of anybody in the entire league, and he expects him to use it.

“Let’s be very clear about hometown discounts as they pertain to Dak Prescott,” Schefter said. “There’s not a player in football with more leverage right now than Dak Prescott. He’s heading into the last year of his contract, he can’t be traded, he can’t be tagged. He would be out of his mind to give any type of discount.

“He’s in a position to re-set the quarterback market after the season if Dallas doesn’t have a deal done with him. There’s no player in football with more leverage than Dak Prescott and I would expect him to use it like a hammer, despite the fact that he wants to stay with the hometown Cowboys.”

As Schefter explained, Prescott has entered the final year of his contract with Dallas. Thanks to his current contract, the team has just two options at the end of the 2024 season, either re-up or let the former fourth-rounder enter free agency and face a bidding war that would re-set the quarterback market.

Entering the 2024 season, Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow is the league’s highest-paid player. He is averaging $55 million a year. If that’s the current benchmark for the Cowboys to hit, it’s expensive, but the price tag could potentially balloon by next offseason.

Prescott: ‘I don’t play for money’

Prescott, who is gearing up for Year 9 in the NFL, is going to make an outrageous sum soon, whether it’s this offseason or next. He told reporters last week that he doesn’t play for the money, but with all that leverage, it’s hard not to go for the maximum contract.

“I don’t play for money. Never have never cared for it, to be honest with you, yeah,” Prescott said at Cowboys OTAs. “Would give it up just to play this game. So, I allow that to the business people to say what it’s worth, what they’re supposed to give a quarterback of my play, a person of my play, a leader of my play. For me, it’s about, as I said, control what I can control and handle that part and the rest will take care of itself.”

Prescott signed a four-year, $160 million deal in 2021. Prescott’s cap hit for the 2024 season is $55.445 million, but by extending him, they could alleviate some of that pressure.