Dak Prescott has all the leverage in Cowboys contract talks ... and he knows it

There is still, theoretically, plenty of time for the Dallas Cowboys to re-sign Dak Prescott. He doesn't officially become a free agent until next March 12. That gives Jerry Jones almost exactly six months to get a deal that should have been done months ago.

He needs to sign Prescott because he has no choice. It's the only way to avoid a potentially catastrophic loss for his franchise.

But that really is a Jerry Jones problem. At this point, Dak Prescott is better off heading into the NFL season without a new deal so he can become the biggest free agent in the history of the NFL.

That sure seems where Prescott and the Cowboys are headed as the quarterback gets set to play out the final year of the four-year, $160 million contract he signed back in 2021. There was some thought last week that when Jones finally signed receiver CeeDee Lamb to his four-year, $136 million deal, that Prescott would be next. But after sporadic contract talks throughout the offseason, a deal has never seemed close at all.

That's not good news for the Cowboys franchise. But it could be great news for Prescott, who has all the leverage in this case, especially if he plays as well as he has the last few years. It was already probably going to take a deal worth $60 million per year for the Cowboys to keep him long-term. And his price is only going to go up from there, which is why he knows he doesn't need a new contract done now.

"I don't need it, no. I don't," Prescott said last week. "I think it says a lot if it is or if it isn't. But however, doesn't really matter to me, to be honest with you."

His nonchalance about what will surely be record-setting money is easy to understand, because he knows there could be a long line of teams waiting to