The bad news is that Dak Prescott won't play football for the Dallas Cowboys in 2024 again. The good news, if you're Prescott, is that owner Jerry Jones and the Cowboys gave him a shiny new four-year, $240 million contract extension before this season began with $231 million guaranteed.
Injured or not, Prescott is the future of the Cowboys at quarterback. Jones will likely eventually want to replace him because even when he's healthy, he's been a borderline Top 15 quarterback at this point of his career. Prescott will also face a ton of certainty after this season because head coach Mike McCarthy may not even be employed by the team. He is unlikely to be back in 2025, which means Prescott will have a new head coach.
Yes, Prescott has a lot of uncertainty ahead of him, but there's that $231 million guaranteed in his back pocket, and there's reason to believe that he'll be dominant for the Cowboys in 2025 and prove many of his doubters wrong.
First and foremost, he'll have a chance to be fully healthy. One has to imagine that the Cowboys are going to put him on ice this offseason and wrap him in bubble wrap if they have to. A partial avulsion of the hamstring does not sound good, but alongside the news of a season-ending surgery, there is at least a glimmer of hope for Prescott. That hope was offered by Jones, who told 105.3 The Fan in Dallas on Tuesday (h/t ESPN) that he feels good about Prescott's recovery.
“It's a more common injury in hockey, and he's got doctors that are very familiar with how to repair that,” Jones said. “And his prognosis is wonderful. It just means that we're not going to have him the rest of the year.”
Again, that's the bad news. The Cowboys are 3-6, riding a four-game losing streak, and no immediate relief appears to be on the horizon. Cooper Rush completed 13-of-23 passes in his first start of the season for only 45 yards. The Cowboys' defense gave up 348 yards and 34 points to the Philadelphia Eagles at home.
No, it's not going to get better in 2024.
2025 to be a return to form for Cowboys QB Dak Prescott
The “wonderful” prognosis Jones is talking about is the first part of the plan for 2025, though. Imagine if Prescott had just tweaked something or, heaven forbid, suffered a season-ending injury at the end of what is ultimately a lost season. That could have destroyed 2025 before it even started for the Cowboys. At least now, they know that he can focus on preparing his body and mind for a comeback next season.
He's been banged up more than many quarterbacks in his career, and he is 31 years old. In the era of Tom Brady playing until 45, a 31-year-old quarterback is a baby in comparison. That said, if the casual NFL fan has learned anything from the Aaron Rodgers experience with the New York Jets, it's that Father Time is truly undefeated for everyone not named Tom Brady. Prescott has been in the league since being drafted out of Mississippi State in the fourth round of the 2016 NFL Draft. Again, he's not ancient, but having dedicated time off to rest, relax, and rehab could end up being a blessing in disguise for him. He's essentially taking nine games of NFL football off of his time clock, which is a silver lining.
There's also hope for a dominant Prescott in 2025 because, as mentioned, there should be no way McCarthy returns next season. His offense is old and stale, and he hasn't gotten the best out of a quarterback since he won the Super Bowl with the Green Bay Packers, but that was in 2010-11, nearly 15 years ago.
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Imagine if the Cowboys are able to get a stellar playcaller like Ben Johnson from the Detroit Lions to be their next head coach. Or, heck, what about someone who knows exactly the pressure of playing in Dallas, Dion “Coach Prime” Sanders?
The truth of the matter is that getting rid of McCarthy and his outdated thinking will be an instant upgrade for Prescott.
One would imagine that Jones will also be looking to re-fill his offensive coffers with what will certainly be high picks in the 2025 NFL Draft. CeeDee Lamb is a star but guys like Jalen Tolbert, KaVontae Turpin, and Rico Dowdle are “just guys.” Expect Jones to stock up on wide receiver and even running back early in the 2025 draft, especially since he isn't expected to have a ton of cap space to work with.
With time to get fully healthy, a new (hopefully offensive-minded) head coach, and some new weapons to play with, it's easy to predict a return to Pro Bowl form in 2025 for Prescott.
