Reports have suggested that Dak Prescott and the Cowboys are giving up on extension talks, but it doesn’t appear that’s actually the case.

The Dallas Cowboys have had a fairly quiet offseason, much to the annoyance of their fans, but it’s been clear throughout their quiet free agency that signing star quarterback Dak Prescott to a new long-term contract extension was still their biggest goal of the offseason. Recent reports suggested, though, that the two sides weren’t particularly close on a new deal, which wasn’t received well by their fans.

However, since those reports, there’s been quite a bit of backtracking, with folks saying that while the Cowboys and Prescott understand where they are at, they are going to continue to try working towards a deal. Jeremy Fowler of ESPN doubled down on that stance, suggesting that the notion that Dallas doesn’t want to sign Prescott is false, and that while they may not be able to reach common ground, they are going to do what they can to keep him in town.

“The notion that the Cowboys don’t want to re-sign Dak Prescott is false, they are going to try.” ✍️

—@JFowlerESPN pic.twitter.com/sWEjPG9kJG

— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) March 29, 2024

Cowboys, Dak Prescott have a lot of ground to cover in extension talks

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (4) walks off the field after losing in the 2024 NFC wild card game against the Green Bay Packers at AT&T Stadium.
Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
While the Cowboys haven’t had much postseason success with Prescott under center, he’s proven himself to be one of the best quarterbacks in the league, and he rightfully wants to get a massive new extension as a result. Dallas obviously wants to give him a somewhat fair deal for themselves, which has put their negotiations in an interesting spot.

Some fans have openly wondered whether or not Prescott’s struggles in the postseason should lead the team to pursue another option under center. Combine that with how much he’s going to cost, and the argument makes sense, but the Cowboys front office has been resolute in their desire to keep Prescott in town for the long term future.

Extension talks seem to have stalled out for the time being, but Prescott has one more year on his current deal before he can hit the open market, so that at least gives Dallas some time to figure things out. The problem is that, while it sounds like they want to keep him around, it doesn’t seem as if they are totally optimistic about a deal getting done.

Ideally this issue would be crossed off the list this offseason so that the Cowboys have their quarterback question answered, allowing them to build a team around Prescott. But it seems as if they have almost been scared to make moves this offseason in anticipation of how much Prescott is going to cost them. So after a very quiet free agency, all of their eggs are in Prescott’s basket.

Initial reports made it seem like there was no hope for a Prescott extension this offseason, but it looks like the two sides are going to keep working on it, even if there isn’t much optimism that it will get done. There is still a lot that would need to happen in order for Prescott to end up leaving Dallas, but it’s clear that if it were up to the front office, they would keep him around, so it will be interesting to see how these extension talks play out moving forward now.