How The Dallas Cowboys Have Failed Dak Prescott

Dak Prescott is the most overhated quarterback in the NFL, and it’s only because he’s the starting quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys.

It may be easy to blame him for the Cowboys’ playoff failures, but this team’s lack of playoff success stems back to the end of Troy Aikman’s days, as he failed to win a playoff game in his final four seasons. One common denominator from then to now is owner Jerry Jones.

Jones being the only constant from 1995 (the last time the Cowboys won the Super Bowl) to now, showcases that the problem goes much deeper than who’s playing under center. And there are many ways that Jones and the Cowboys front office have failed Prescott over his eight-year career.

Throughout his NFL tenure, Prescott has won the AP Offensive Rookie of the Year Award, earned three Pro Bowl nods, a Second-Team All Pro selection, and a second-place finish in MVP voting in 2023. It’s no surprise why he could be the first player in NFL history to eclipse $60 million per year.

The Cowboys could’ve saved money on his contract, but there hasn’t been much progress in contract negotiations. Sadly, the Cowboys front office has only made life more difficult for themselves.

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1

Lack Of Free Agent Spending

Dallas is notorious for remaining quiet in free agency

2024 is a perfect example of how the Cowboys have failed Prescott over the course of his career. They’re consistently inactive in free agency, as the team’s focus is building through the draft. While that can be the safest and strong strategy, in order to get over the hump, the Cowboys have to be willing to spend some money in free agency to complete the middle part of their roster.

Since Prescott was drafted in the 2016 NFL Draft, they haven’t been big players in free agency.

Dallas has had success with the trade market, acquiring guys like Amari Cooper, Brandin Cooks, and Stephon Gilmore over the years. While the Cowboys may be good at navigating the trade market and the draft, they have been as bad as a team possibly could be in free agency.

2

Missed Draft Picks

When you’re inactive in free agency, you can’t miss on premium draft picks

Considering how inactive the Cowboys are in free agency, they can’t afford to miss out on draft picks, especially top-100 picks. Typically, Dallas is superb in the draft. They’ve acquired some really good players since Prescott was drafted, including Dalton Schultz, Tony Pollard, CeeDee Lamb, Trevon Diggs, Micah Parsons, and Tyler Smith. But with all of those stars comes their fair share of draft busts.

Of the Cowboys’ most disappointing draft picks in the last eight years, six of them have been drafted within the top-100 draft picks. That doesn’t include some players like Leighton Vander Esch and Jaylon Smith who had a short shelf life, or someone like Mazi Smith who had an incredibly disappointing 2023 rookie season.

Overall, Dallas is one of the better teams when it comes to the draft in the NFL. However, their lack of free agency movement means they must rely more on the draft than most other teams, which makes draft whiffs hurt that much more.

3

Lop-Sided Offensive Strengths

Dallas has failed to find a true offensive identity over the years

When the game is on the line and the Cowboys need to move the ball, what has been their identity? With Jason Garrett, they were always effective in the run game, yet they failed to run the ball efficiently in the playoffs. When Kellen Moore took over as Garrett’s offensive coordinator, Dallas truly had no identity.

They could score a lot of points in a flash, but his offensive scheme struggled against the best defenses in football. With Mike McCarthy, his West Coast offense can be explosive in some games, but really conservative in bigger games. When the Cowboys entered the latter stages of any campaign, any identity they had was thrown out the window.

Back when Prescott was a rookie, they were one of the best rushing attacks in football. However, Prescott was still evolving as a passer. The Cowboys haven’t finished in the top-10 in yards per carry as a team since 2021, the last season when Ezekiel Elliott looked somewhat like a starting running back.

Since 2016, the Cowboys have only had a running back rush for 100+ yards in two of their seven playoff appearances. They went 1-1 in those games, averaging nearly 28 points per game.

The Cowboys lack of identity is a reason why their offense has flamed out down the stretch.

4

Declining Offensive Lines

Dallas’ offensive line has gone from a historic unit to a weakness

Yes, the Cowboys at one point in time had one of the greatest offensive lines in the NFL in the mid 2010s, but NFL fans assume that the team has had the same offensive line over the last decade. Interestingly enough, only one member of that unit still remains on the team in Zack Martin.

This isn’t to say the Cowboys have been that bad on their offensive line, but over the years, it hasn’t been a strength. Tyron Smith never played a full season with Prescott and Travis Frederick only played three seasons with Prescott before retiring. Martin has been the one consistent anchor on the offensive line, but he’s begun to decline.

Tyler Smith has been the best offensive lineman they have added in the last few years, but they had some weaknesses on the offensive line with Tyler Biadasz and Terence Steele. The hope is the additions of Tyler Guyton and Cooper Beebe in the draft will help eventually rebuild this position group, but it’s been declining ever since Prescott entered the league.

5

Drawn-Out Contract Negotiations

The Cowboys’ inability to sign contract extensions quickly has cost them cap space

Nothing is easy when it comes to the Cowboys and contract negotiations. That has been evident as the front office has failed to extend Prescott, Lamb, or Parsons this offseason. But this is nothing new for the Cowboys. Jerry’s son, Stephen, blames the lengthy contract negotiation process on limited cap space, but the organization is going to end up overpaying for one or more of that trio due to their incompetence in the negotiation process.

Jones was slow to extending Elliott prior to the 2019 season, leading him to hold out during training camp. The Cowboys failed to find middle ground with Prescott in 2020, which led to them using the franchise tag on him. He ended up making at least $5 million more per year than he was expected to when he signed his extension in 2021.

Now, they have watched several other players get paid before their stars, driving up the price across the board.

Obviously, there’s lost cap space that the Cowboys miss out on by letting the price increase in front of them, but these contract negotiations consistently become a distraction for the team as well. Throughout Prescott’s career, he’s experienced numerous contract negotiation issues, whether it be his own, or a teammate’s.

All stats are courtesy of Pro Football Reference and Spotrac.

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