Whitlock: Dak Prescott’s $160 million contract was always a mistake



The Dak Prescott pity party kicked off Sunday night, shortly after it became obvious that the Cowboys would struggle to score on the Buccaneers.

In the nightcap of the NFL’s opening Sunday, Prescott’s Cowboys managed a single field goal in a 19-3 loss to Tampa Bay.

Tom Brady vs. America’s Team was supposed to be the “Top Gun: Maverick” of the football weekend. Instead, it was a snoozefest, largely because Dak can’t fly at Brady’s altitude even for short stretches.

Dallas’ $40-million-a-year quarterback is worth half as much as Brady but is paid twice as much as the seven-time Super Bowl champion. At age 45 and entering his 23rd season, Brady charged the Bucs $15 million this season for his services.

Brady has always played for less money than he’s worth because he’s always prioritized winning above salary. Brady is self-aware. The 199th pick of the 2000 draft, Brady has never forgotten he needs to be surrounded by high-level talent to win games. He left New England because Bill Belichick wouldn’t buy him the talent he needed to excel.

Tampa has and will.

Dak Prescott will regret forcing Jerry Jones to give him a $160 million contract a year ago. The big contract comes with big expectations and a lack of sympathy.

Sunday night, when Dak jogged off the field after injuring his thumb, Cowboys fans booed their quarterback and a couple of people tossed their trash at the seventh-year player.

Prescott is no longer the Mississippi State underdog, the fourth-round pick who unseated Tony Romo in 2016. Prescott is an overpaid, average quarterback who doesn’t mask the deficiencies of his teammates or coaches. There’s nothing special about Dak Prescott. He’s a poor man’s Tom Brady who is being paid like he’s Lamar Jackson or Josh Allen.

No one in Dallas really cares that Mike McCarthy is a bad head coach. Or that Jerry Jones is a mediocre general manager. Or that Dallas’ offensive line and receiving corps are suspect. No one cares that Dallas offensive coordinator Kellen Moore is unproven and perhaps in over his head.

Prescott is one of the 10 highest-paid quarterbacks in the NFL. He’s supposed to mask problems, not accentuate them.

Last night, Prescott exaggerated Dallas’ problems. He threw the ball inaccurately. His arm strength isn’t exceptional. He’s not a dynamic runner. He’s Tom Brady without Tom Brady’s intangibles. Brady’s number-one intangible is self-awareness.

Being married to a filthy rich supermodel (Gisele Bundchen) makes it easier for Brady to compromise on his NFL contracts. I get that.

But at some point, a quarterback like Prescott needed to figure out that an extra $5 to $10 million a year wasn’t going to be worth the raised expectations. Cowboys fans wouldn’t be booing Prescott if he was the 15th highest-paid QB rather than the eighth.

Prescott isn’t Lamar Jackson. I actually believe it would be easier to win a Super Bowl with Prescott than with Jackson. Prescott is a pocket quarterback. Jackson is a dual-threat improviser. Over the long haul, football rewards the pocket passer more than the scrambler.

Having said that, Jackson’s value to the Ravens far exceeds Prescott’s value to Dallas. Jackson is an elite runner who can win games without elite receivers, an elite play-caller, or even an elite offensive line. Jackson will be worth every dime Baltimore pays him. And that’s true even if he gets hurt and loses effectiveness. He’s already earned his record contract. He’s single-handedly carried the Baltimore franchise for four straight years.

Dak doesn’t carry Dallas. He makes the ride smooth when the Cowboys have the necessary pieces to roll. Dallas doesn’t have the necessary pieces.

Last night’s thumb injury is the luckiest break Dak caught against Tampa. He’s going to miss the next six to eight games. He has an excuse for a poor season. The Cowboys will fire Mike McCarthy at some point this season. Dak will start the 2023 season with his third head coach.

It will likely be Sean Payton. Jerry Jones will ask Payton to turn Prescott into Drew Brees. Payton will fail. Brees had elite accuracy. Dak doesn’t.

It’s going to be a long pity party for Dak. The excuse-makers will blame McCarthy and Jason Garrett, Dak’s original head coach.

Greed and ego undermined Dak Prescott: both his own and his agent’s.

Dallas Cowboys QB Dak Prescott says school massacre made him afraid to have kids



Dallas Cowboys Quarterback Dak Prescott said Wednesday that the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Texas has made him "fearful to have children."

Prescott and other members of the NFL team reacted to the massacre in Uvalde, Texas, where 19 children and two teachers were slain by a disturbed gunman on Tuesday.

“I don’t know how something like that doesn’t impact everyone, I don’t care if you’re an athlete or not,” Prescott told reporters after practice. "We're talking about children. We're talking about the future. I mean, I don't have kids and can't imagine having to send my kid to school with that anxiety. Honestly, it makes me fearful to have children, and that's not right. That's sad."

He spoke hours ahead of a town hall meeting in Arlington put on by his Faith Fight Finish Foundation. The event, scheduled before the shooting happened, brought North Texas community groups together with law enforcement leaders, education leaders, and mental health experts to discuss ways in which they can work together to improve the community.

Prescott said there was a lot to discuss after the Uvalde shooting, as well as the shooting in Buffalo, New York, two weeks ago where 10 people were killed by a self-described white supremacist.

"If yesterday and two weeks ago and all of what we've been through hasn't been a call for each and every one of us for help, for our neighborhood and what's going on with them individually and how we're protecting, policing and serving one another throughout our community, something has to be done and a change has to happen now," Prescott said.

His teammate, defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence, added that communities need to come together to make schools safter.

"It's very hard. It's nerve wracking," Lawrence said. "Every time I have chance to go in the locker room, I hit up my wife. 'How are the kids? Are they home yet?' It's something you wouldn't expect. But this is what we are dealing with."

He elaborated on a social media post he made Tuesday asking how he financially supports schools that need "better security systems, security personnel and security training."

"This is all of us. All of us are going to have to step in," he said. "Make sure we are builder a safer work space, safer environment for us to grow in."

Other NFL players are stepping up in the wake of tragedy. The Buffalo Bills and the NFL have pledged to contribute $400,000 to Buffalo's East Side neighborhood and community, where the shooting took place.

Dallas Cowboys QB Dak Prescott praises fans who threw trash at referees after playoff loss to 49ers: 'Credit to them'



Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott served up a big dose of poor sportsmanship — along with some of his team's fans — after a down-to-the-wire wild-card playoff game loss Sunday to the hated San Francisco 49ers.

What did he say?

When asked at a postgame press conference about Cowboys fans at AT&T Stadium throwing trash on the field following their team's 23-17 defeat, Prescott launched into a soliloquy about how he and his teammates give their heart and soul to the game and that such a reaction from fans toward players is "sad."

Really classy of eagles fans to disguise as cowboys fans and throw trashpic.twitter.com/K7Ptm3ikhN
— Sean \ud83d\udc3c mtingO6 hater (@Sean \ud83d\udc3c mtingO6 hater) 1642383231

"I understand fans and the word 'fan' for fanatic, I get that, but to know everything that we put into this, day in and day out, try our hardest," Prescott said. "Nobody comes into the game wanting or expecting to lose, and for people to react that way when you're supposed to be a supporter and be with us through thick and thin, that's tough."

But when Prescott was informed that fans were throwing trash at the referees as they were leaving the field, the losing QB's perspective changed dramatically.

"Credit to them, then," Prescott said of hometown fans, amid reporters' laughter. "Credit to them."

"Credit to them then. Credit to them."\n\nDak Prescott voiced support for fans who threw trash at referees Sunday #DallasCowboyspic.twitter.com/1jCAoZvQ3P
— Sports Illustrated (@Sports Illustrated) 1642389758

According to Michael Gehlken, Cowboys reporter for the Dallas Morning News, Prescott also said, “The fans felt the same way as us. I guess that’s why the refs took off and got out of there so fast. I think everybody is upset with the way this thing played out.”

What's the background?

Down by seven points with no timeouts and just 14 seconds remaining in the contest, Dallas appeared to have all the momentum and drove down to San Francisco's 41-yard line.

On what would ultimately be the final play, Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott shockingly ran the ball instead of throwing it to a receiver who might scamper out of bounds and stop the clock, giving Dallas a reasonable final shot at the end zone.

Prescott's run netted the Cowboys another 17 yards, but seconds kept ticking away. Each team had to get set, and the ball had to be spotted so Prescott could spike it and stop the clock.

And with about six seconds left, Prescott got up after his run and handed the ball to his center, who then placed the pigskin on the turf.

Problem is, an official is supposed to spot the ball.

Crazy ending

Umpire Ramon George ran up behind Prescott and the Dallas line, made bodily contact with them as he squeezed his way through, then placed the football a yard or two backward — all as precious seconds ticked away.

But by the time the ball was snapped, the clock had run out. And it was yet another heartbreaking Dallas playoff loss.

According to Field Yates, an NFL Insider for ESPN, the Cowboys have now made 11 straight playoff appearances without reaching a conference championship game, which is the longest streak by any team in NFL history.

CHAOTIC ENDING TO COWBOYS/49ERS WILD CARD GAME🤭 | NFL Playoffs 2022youtu.be

After the game, referee Alex Kemp said the umpire "spotted the ball correctly," ESPN said, citing a pool report.

"He collided with the players as he was setting the ball because he was moving it to the proper spot," Kemp added, the sports network said.

What else was said about the officiating?

ESPN said the Cowboys were displeased with the officiating throughout the game. Dallas was penalized 14 times — a postseason franchise record, the sports network said — for 89 yards. What's more, ESPN said the Cowboys were the most penalized team in the NFL during the regular season.

"When we were younger, we just said it was bias, you know, people just hate the Cowboys," rookie Dallas linebacker Micah Parsons said, according to the sports network. "I just think we were playing hard, you know. I think when you tend to play hard and you want to make a play, you tend to jump offsides, or you tend to put a hands to the face, or you know you might hold by accident, or even if it wasn't a hold you never know how they might perceive it. I just felt like a couple of [the penalties] were very questionable and very bias[ed] towards us. But then again, it's our fault, we shouldn't be put in that position. I'm going to take full accountability, and I hope everyone else does, too."

The Cowboys' flamboyant owner and general manager Jerry Jones added to ESPN that his team "shouldn't have been in position for that last play to be something controversial. So I'm not going to make it something bigger than it is."

What was said about Prescott's 'credit to them' comment?

As you might guess, not everyone on Twitter was in line with Prescott praising Cowboys fans for throwing trash at referees after the game:

  • "And ⁦@dak⁩ is the ⁦@dallascowboys⁩ Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee?" one observer wondered. "So this represents the best of the Dallas Cowboys?"
  • "Saying 'credit to them' in reference to debris bring hurled at refs because he doesn't know how football works makes him look like trash," another commenter said.
  • "They/He should be fined heavily for that comment for inciting future violence against people, being it players or referees," another user declared. "Such a disgrace!"
  • "Typical! You made a BIG mistake, don't blame the umpire for doing his job and following the RULES!" another commenter said.

Whitlock: Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott’s $160 million contract will earn him a bad rap



The list of accomplished quarterbacks with contracts inferior to Dak Prescott's is long.

Tom Brady and his seven Super Bowl titles are on the list. So are Aaron Rodgers and his three MVP trophies. Add Ben Roethlisberger and his two Super Bowl rings. Russell Wilson is on the list. Matt Ryan and his MVP trophy are there, too.

In five NFL seasons, Dak Prescott won a playoff game once, beating the Seahawks in a wild-card game three years ago. That completes his list of amazing accomplishments and justifies his status as the third highest-paid player in the league. Only Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes ($45 million) and Buffalo QB Josh Allen ($43 million) earn more than the $40 million average the Cowboys will pay Prescott over the next four seasons.

When the Cowboys kick off the NFL season tonight facing Brady's Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Prescott will walk out of the locker room feeling the full weight of a contract that says he can single-handedly turn a loss into a victory.

But can he? Does anyone really believe Dak Prescott is as potent a force as Mahomes, Rodgers, Brady, Wilson, or even Josh Allen?

No one believes that. Nor should they. Prescott is a solid franchise quarterback playing for an owner desperate to prove his former coach wasn't the brains behind the Cowboys' 1990s dynasty. Prescott is overpaid because Jerry Jones is still locked in a feud with Jimmy Johnson.

Desperation compromises decision-making. It turns hoes into housewives, reality TV stars and dementia patients into presidents, and average quarterbacks into lottery winners. This past off-season, Prescott hit the jackpot, baiting Jones into a $160 million contract for production that warranted half of that.

I'm not mad at Dak. He and his agent Todd France should be congratulated for playing Jones like turntables at an old-school rap concert. DTMD, aka Dak and Todd Making Dollars, kept it strictly business, completed unfinished business, conducted business as usual, remembered that business is never personal, and now they're back in business.

I hope you caught my reference to the first five albums of the iconic rap 1980s group EPMD. If not, you get the bozack.

Let me get back to Dak.

He's going to learn that life as a $40 million quarterback is more difficult than life as the underdog overachiever. The 2016 fourth-round draft pick was a feel-good story when as a rookie he replaced an injured Tony Romo and led the Cowboys to a 13-3 season. Everybody loved Dak's underdog story. And for the next four years, the media rooted for Dak to become the next Tom Brady, Russell Wilson, or Joe Montana, late-round quarterbacks who became superstars.

Instead, Dak has more in common with Kirk Cousins, Matt Hasselbeck, and Mark Brunell, late-round quarterbacks who are or were solid NFL starters.

Dak is no longer being paid to be solid. His contract demands that he be great. Happiness is based on expectations. The same people who have been satisfied with Dak's solid performance will now be disappointed when the third highest-paid player remains a solid quarterback. The list of disappointed people will include Dak's 52 teammates.

Excuse another rap analogy, but Prescott will be known this year as the Notorious DAK — mo' money, mo' problems. You're nobody until your teammates kill you.

Starting tonight against the defending Super Bowl champion Buccaneers, Dak's teammates will expect him to be worth an additional touchdown. Aaron Rodgers is going to make $33 million this season. His Packers teammates believe he's worth every dime because they believe he's a touchdown better than every quarterback not named Mahomes, Brady, or Wilson.

Do the Cowboys believe that about Dak?

Everybody always wants more money. Few people want or can deal with the extra responsibility that goes along with more money. Most people make excuses. Most people collapse beneath the weight of heightened expectations.

Oh, they have occasional moments of greatness. But the day-to-day grind of greatness eventually grinds them out.

That's what I expect to happen to Dak over the next two seasons. Forty million dollars is too much weight for Dak. His teammates will be the first to see it. Initially they'll grab the bar and help him lift the weight. It won't take long for their agents, friends, wives, and girlfriends to say: "Why you helping him all the time? He's supposed to be helping you. He's making $40 million."

Once that happens, the feel-good story will disappear. NFL reporters won't be able to ignore the whispers among agents and Dak's teammates that the Cowboys employ an overpaid quarterback. Because of the salary cap, being an overpaid player is far worse than being a bad player. You can bench a bad player. An overpaid teammate costs you money.

Dak Prescott would be a far better quarterback if he had the same contract as Tom Brady. Brady is worth whatever he demands. He's on a two-year deal that will pay him $50 million.

In order for Dak to win in the postseason, Dallas needs a defense that equals its offense. The Cowboys don't have that. Can't afford it. To win consistently, they're going to have to score 30 points per game.

That pressure is going to crush Dak Prescott.