Dak Prescott
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Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott.
Every single year, a handful of the NFL’s biggest stars reach such a contentious point in offseason contract negotiations they decided to add to the spectacle and request trades.
It’s mostly performative because, historically, unlike the NBA, the very best players in the NFL just don’t get traded. No matter how many times they ask.
Until this week, that is. That’s when the Dallas Cowboys upended the apple cart and traded 26-year-old edge rusher Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers after Parsons requested a trade on August 1.
Parsons, a 3-time NFL All-Pro, is one of just 2 players with 12 sacks in each of their first 4 seasons alongside the late Reggie White.
For the Cowboys, who received 2 first round picks and 2-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Kenny Clark in the trade, it may have opened a Pandora’s Box moving forward.
That could include another star player picking the nuclear option and demanding a trade in the near future. The Ringer’s Sheil Kapadia thinks there’s a scenario that plays out where that player is star quarterback Dak Prescott.
“The team stinks (after the trade),” Kapadia said on “The Ringer NFL Show” on August 28. ” … What if Dak Prescott just says ‘I don’t want to play here anymore. Micah forced his way out. I’m going too get my agent on the phone and do the same thing.’ I mean, could this just go way downhill in a hurry?”
Breaking Down Prescott’s Historic Contract
In September 2024, for the second time in his career, the Cowboys made Prescott the highest paid player in NFL history when they signed him to a 4-year, $240 million contract — the NFL’s first player to earn $60 million in average salary.
Prescott previously signed a 4-year, $160 million contract in March 2021. When his current deal runs out following the 2028 season, he will have a staggering $436.3 million in career earnings.
Like just a handful of the NFL’s most elite players, Prescott’s contract also gives him complete control over where he plays.
“As he did in his previous extension, Prescott secured a full no-trade clause over the entirety of this new contract, affording him about as much control as possible as a player in the NFL,” Spotrac’s Michael Ginnitti wrote in September 2024.
That means Prescott would have to force the issue if he wanted a trade — which would arguably make him an even more valuable bargaining chip than Parsons was.
What Cowboys Might Get In Trade For Prescott
There is one deal in recent memory that shows us what the Cowboys might be able to get back for Prescott.
In January 2021, the Detroit Lions traded starting quarterback Matthew Stafford to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for Lions starting quarterback Jared Goff, 2 first round picks and a third round pick. The Rams won the Super Bowl in Stafford’s first season. The Lions made the NFC Championship Game in 2023 then finished 15-2 and were the NFC’s No. 1 seed following the 2024 regular season.
Stafford was 32 years old when the Lions trade him to the Rams — the same age Prescott will be following this season — so it’s not unreasonable to expect the Cowboys could get back a similar return on Prescott.