FRISCO, Texas (AP) — Dak Prescott has his No. 1 receiver back, and a plea from CeeDee Lamb for the Dallas Cowboys to get his quarterback signed beyond this season as well.
The $136 million, four-year contract that ended Lamb’s long holdout also begged the obvious question of whether Prescott was next, with last season’s MVP runner-up entering the final year of his deal.
“Not really sure,” Prescott said Thursday, 10 days before the Sept. 8 opener at Cleveland. “Not my focus anymore to be honest with you. Really can’t say ever was really my focus. It’s about making myself and this team better, getting us in the best position and the most confident to go up to Cleveland and start the season off with a win.”
Holding out was never a consideration for Prescott, who can control where he would be traded and can’t have the franchise tag placed on him if his $160 million, four-year contract ends without a new agreement.
Prescott said it doesn’t matter to him if talks continue beyond the opener because he won’t be part of them anyway. He said agent Todd France and Cowboys executive vice president of personnel Stephen Jones were doing most of the negotiating.
Asked if he would prefer an agreement be reached before the season, Prescott said, “I think it says a lot if it is or if it isn’t.”
On what it says if it isn’t done, Prescott said, “Just how people feel.” Asked which people, he said, “I don’t know,” then laughed. “You’ll write about that.”
Prescott is coming off probably his best regular season, but also his most perplexing postseason when the pick-6 he threw was part of a first-half meltdown in a 48-32 home wild-card loss to Green Bay that dropped his playoff record to 2-5.
On the night the preseason ended, owner Jerry Jones said the stunning end of last season was still on everybody’s mind. A few days later, he said the deal for Lamb didn’t mean much as it related to Prescott.
As he has done several times before, Jones alluded to the Cowboys’ broader financial picture. It won’t be long before Dallas is in serious talks with star pass rusher Micah Parsons about what could be the richest deal for a defensive player in NFL history.
“I’m such a fan of Dak’s and appreciate all of the great things that we all know that he’s there,” Jones said. “You’ve also got to weigh, ‘OK, what are the consequences of the other side of the coin.’ Dak’s situation, right now, from my mirror, has more to do with our situation than it does with the merits of Dak Prescott being the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys.”
Prescott repeated a couple of his go-to lines as well. It takes two sides to get a deal done. Yes, he understands the implications of the salary cap. No, he doesn’t need to hear it from Jerry Jones.
“I mean, I stopped, honestly, listening to things that he says to the media a long time ago,” Prescott said. “Doesn’t really hold weight with me.”
The Cowboys have made three consecutive trips to the playoffs with 12-5 records. But they still haven’t been past the divisional round since the franchise’s fifth Super Bowl title to cap the 1995 season.
These are among several reasons Prescott can tune out the contract talk.
“I’ve already got paid. To get paid again, that’s just part of it,” Prescott said. “I’m due up for that whether it’s signing here or whether it’s somewhere else that I don’t care to think about at this moment. It’s not about next year right now. It’s not about my contract. It’s not about anything but getting ready for Game 1 against the Browns. Simple as that.”
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