Dak Prescott, Cowboys stars address complicated futures in Dallas

Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb and Trevon Diggs are all hoping for new deals to come down the pipeline to remain with the Dallas Cowboys.

As we enter the slower part of the NFL offseason, three key members of the Dallas Cowboys roster are hoping for new contracts to be coming in short order: Wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, cornerback Trevon Diggs and franchise quarterback Dak Prescott.

Dallas exercised the fifth-year option on Lamb. The former Oklahoma star is under team control for two more years because of the fifth-year option coming in 2024, as well as potentially a third with a possible franchise tag. He told Jon Machota of The Athletic he loves playing for the Cowboys and doesn’t envision playing anywhere else. Of course, it takes two parties to make a deal work…

As for Diggs, it is a little more complicated. Because he wasn’t a first-round pick out of Alabama, he now enters a contract year with the Cowboys. He may be a multi-time Pro Bowler and has an All-Pro nod on his resume, but his high-risk/high-reward nature to playing defensive back makes this a year-to-year proposition. Diggs remains optimistic, but he understands this is a business.

Here is what Diggs told reporters about his contract situation heading into his fourth NFL season.

“Hopefully something gets figured out. I love Dallas. I love being here. So, we’ll see.”

And as far as Prescott is concerned, we are now entering year three of the four-year deal that took over two years to put together. It was beyond pulling teeth for everyone involved, but we are now approaching roughly the halfway point of his current contract. Prescott knows that his representation will work with the Cowboys to do what is needed to keep him in Dallas long-term.

Prescott has faith that all parties involved will be able to get a deal done after doing the last one.

“Y’all know me, and y’all know every offseason is for me to go in there and get better as best as I can. That’s stuff that I leave to the Cowboys and I leave to my agent. They got it done years ago. And when it’s time to get it done again, I trust in both of them.”

While it would be terrific to see all three stay in Cowboys uniform, the dollars have to make sense.

Dak Prescott, Trevon Diggs, CeeDee Lamb touch on their Dallas Cowboys futures

No, it wouldn’t shock me if the Cowboys ended up finding a way to retain all three of their stars. Dallas did draft all three out of college, which means the Cowboys brass will put a premium on trying to retain them. While that is great in theory, Dallas’ overvaluation of its own talent has limited their upward trajectory as a franchise as much as Jerry Jones speaking into a microphone.

I think of these three, they will prioritize Lamb because he is the most talented of the trio and the easiest to figure out a new deal for. As stated before, Lamb has two more years under contract in Dallas, as well as the fifth-year option. This shouldn’t be this hard, but we know how the Cowboys do business. As far as Prescott and Diggs are concerned, the Cowboys have things to figure out…

Prescott’s camp already pushing for another deal is not a great look. I understand why they are doing it, but he is not going to get Joe Burrow money well, because he’s not Joe Burrow! Surely, Dallas would love to keep him, but the Cowboys cannot afford to pay a top-12 quarterback top-four money again. If they choose to do that, then it will mean Diggs and others could be leaving.

As far as Diggs is concerned, it really comes down to how well he plays this season. There is a chance he balls out and prices his way out of Dallas. Conversely, he could have a bad year for a bad year and Dallas moves on from him. Surely, the Cowboys would love to keep him too, but they are so going to prioritize signing Lamb and keeping Prescott around over giving Diggs a new deal here.

Ultimately, the Cowboys shouldn’t find themselves between a rock and a hard place financially when it comes to paying its best players. Frankly, they should be rewarded for identifying talent and drafting excellent players. However, the NFL is a league with a hard salary cap. The pie may be growing, but not at the rate good drafting teams like Dallas could hope for. Something has to give.

A hometown discount or two would serve the Cowboys, but the players only have so long to play.