It’s time. After 20 years of nothing before Dak Prescott, and now 10 years of nothing with him, the Dallas Cowboys need to move on from Prescott. He’s Tony Romo 2.0. He’s Kirk Cousins. There’s no magic Super Bowl run happening with Prescott.
Prescott’s contract is a brutal anchor for the Cowboys. His production is fantasy-football inflated, and his postseason results are indefensible. The move is not a panic-rebuild. The plan is an intelligent reset with a trade, a proven bridge, and a patient draft-and-develop plan at quarterback.
Trade Dak to a Dumb Team (Raiders, Vikings, Cardinals, etc.)
There’s never not a desperate and stupid team in the NFL. The Raiders are where careers go to die. The Vikings are famous for acquiring quarterbacks when their original team realizes the guy can’t win in the playoffs. And the Cardinals? They’re the Cardinals.
Moving a fully guaranteed $60M/year contract is not easy, yet it can be done. Cowboys fans may squeal, yet getting out from under an overpriced anchor for a third- or fourth-round pick is easily accomplished, especially around the draft.
Geno Smith has failed in Vegas. It’s a market that desires and needs a superstar—even one that can’t win playoff games. The Raiders fan base will convince themselves that Dak is the missing piece. It’s an easy out for the Cowboys.
Maybe the Raiders play hardball and Dallas has to eat some dead money, yet freeing up $35–40M allows Dallas to fortify the offensive and defensive lines.
Short-Term Bridge: The 28-Year-Old Reclamation Blueprint
Cowboys fans will scoff at this, yet both Mac Jones and Kenny Pickett (both turn 28 in 2026) fit the exact profile that has worked with Baker Mayfield, Daniel Jones, and Sam Darnold.
All five were forced into starting early for their original NFL team. They accumulated the scar tissue over the course of three or four years. Patience ran out and all of them were benched and dumped.
The next phase for Mayfield, Daniel Jones, and Darnold was new teams where they sat for a year or more. They were able to watch and learn, something they weren’t afforded by their original teams. Then they hit that magic 28-year-old number while on their new teams in Tampa Bay, Indianapolis, and Minnesota.
All of them became Top 20 NFL quarterbacks after floundering the first six years of their careers. Guess which quarterbacks will have had that exact same path and will be 28 in 2026? Yep, Mac Jones and Kenny Pickett.
Dallas should target a trade with the 49ers to acquire Mac Jones this offseason. He can be the bridge, especially since he’s under an unreal two-year contract that extends through 2026. Sure, Jones may want more than his $2.8M 2026 salary, yet Dallas needs to hold firm. He’s just a one-year bridge.
Jerry Jones calls John Lynch in San Francisco and offers that third-round pick they got from the Raiders in the Dak Prescott trade. Or maybe offer Trey Lance back to the Niners—what awful decisions by the 49ers originally and then by the Cowboys after the fact.
Draft a QB in Round 1, Let Him Sit (2026 Draft Class)
Here’s a short list of the best quarterbacks in NFL history who sat Year 1:
Tom Brady
Joe Montana
Patrick Mahomes
Aaron Rodgers
Brett Favre
With Dallas projecting to pick in the 10–18 range if they miss the playoffs again, that’s a perfect spot to grab a quarterback. However, they must NOT trade up into the top 5—that’s franchise suicide (see: Carson Wentz, Trey Lance, Zach Wilson, and many more).
Take the best arm talent available. Perhaps a guy like Fernando Mendoza, unless the pre-draft hype train gets a hold of him and pushes him into the Top 3 in the NFL Draft. No matter who, the Cowboys need to let that quarterback hold a clipboard for a year behind Mac Jones. Then Mendoza (or whomever) can be the man in 2027. It’s going to take time, Cowboys fans.
Dak Is Not Good (The Numbers That Matter)
It’s all about Super Bowl wins in the NFL. The consolation prize is playoff wins. Prescott has two career playoff wins and five career losses in 10 seasons. Patrick Mahomes in nine seasons has 17 wins. Russell Wilson spent 10 years in Seattle and had eight wins.
Quarterback Experience Playoff Wins
Dak Prescott 10 seasons 2
Patrick Mahomes Nine seasons 17
Great quarterbacks make the playoffs 80% of the time. Prescott is at 50%. Dallas tried and now its time to move on.
But what about the ESPN QBR ratings? They have Prescott number one again this week. For giggles and giggles’ sake, what would happen if the Cowboys called the Chiefs or the Eagles and offered Prescott straight up for Mahomes or Jalen Hurts? Yeah.
The ESPN QBR ratings are a dinosaur. The same goes for so many “Top Quarterback Rankings” lists which have been blinded by fantasy football stats.
HeyTC’s Daily QB Rankings (the new gold standard) have Dak Prescott at #17 this week. The last two years, Prescott has been subpar in the regular season, and more importantly, he’s been subpar in the playoffs. Patrick Mahomes is #1 at HeyTC, just ahead of Jalen Hurts and Matthew Stafford.
How the Cowboys Get to a Super Bowl in the early 2030s
Trading Dak Prescott this offseason, bridging 2026 with a trade for 28-year-old Mac Jones, drafting a QB in the teens of the first round and letting him marinate—that is the fastest way back to relevance for a legendary franchise… unless Kansas City believes ESPN’s QBR and thinks that Prescott is better than Mahomes.
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Malcolm Michaels is the founder of HeyTC.com, a new platform specializing in quarterback-centric NFL analysis. In 2014, he founded ... More about Malcolm Michaels