On the heels of extended labor peace in the NFL, the league year begins anew on Wednesday at 4 pm ET. The league’s “legal tampering” window began on Monday morning, however, and in an effort to keep its franchise quarterback off the market the Dallas Cowboys moved quickly to place the exclusive franchise tag on quarterback Dak Prescott.
Though this was a widely expected scenario if Prescott and the Cowboys did not reach a long-term agreement, it is now official and the Cowboys chose to use the “exclusive” tag on Prescott. In short, that ensures that Prescott is scheduled to earn approximately $33 million for the 2020 season and, more importantly, the Cowboys choosing the exclusive tag (as opposed to the non-exclusive tag) sets up a scenario in which Prescott can only negotiate with Dallas.
The $33 million figure is an average of the top-five quarterback salaries in the NFL and, to that end, Prescott is set to be paid handsomely on a one-year basis. However, the Cowboys and Prescott now have until July 15 to negotiate a long-term extension. If that does not come to fruition, Prescott will earn the $33 million for the upcoming campaign and the two sides will face this conundrum again after the season ends.
There are interesting ramifications to this move, even beyond Prescott, as the new CBA allows for only one tag, leaving stud wide receiver Amari Cooper to hit free agency. The Cowboys could, of course, re-sign Cooper anyway but, from a control perspective, the Cowboys had the ability to fully dictate things with only one player and they chose to do so with the face of the franchise in Prescott. In the meantime, the drama shifts from one deadline to the other, with both sides potentially active between now and mid-July.
