Cowboys Play Coy On If Dak Prescott is a 'Virtual Holdout'

With The Offseason Program Underway, the Dallas Cowboys Opt To Play Coy On Whether QB Dak Prescott is a 'Virtual Holdout'

FRISCO - New coach Mike McCarthy first answered the question about Dak Prescott's "virtual holdout'' with semi-clarity, saying that the unsigned QB is part of the shelter-at-home offseason program that started this week.

But when the media participating in Tuesday's online conference call nudged the Dallas Cowboys boss to be more specific about Prescott's level of involvement, McCarthy bristled a bit, at one time noting that the quarterback is in possession "of his iPad and is in communication with his coaches'' (a good thing) but in another answer saying, "I'm not going to give a public roll call.'' 

It's important to note that this week's participation is voluntary, and McCarthy certainly stressed that importance. Also key: Prescott doesn't have a contract and furthermore, withholding his services (a more accurate phrase than "holdout'' is one of the few cards he can play.

And we'd add this: The idea that team leader Prescott would, having moved into his new home in Prosper, spend the entire time lounging on the coach (not working out!) and failing to peek into his iPad (not studying!) strikes us as absurd.

Maybe that's why ultimately, McCarthy worked to make it a virtual non-issue. ... even though it is Prescott himself who suggested he might stay away in protest until he receives a new long-term deal.

Meanwhile, as CowboysSI.com explained a month ago, the Dallas Cowboys sort of giggled when it was reported elsewhere that Dak Prescott's exclusive franchise tag number was "$26,824,000.'' ... when it fact, their plan featured the assumption that the one-year guarantee would eventually cost them, as we wrote, "about $31.5 million.''

And now the number is in. It's $31,409,000.

Cowboys bosses Jerry and Stephen Jones revealed nothing about the negotiations except a continuing comfort level regarding where it will eventually go.

“I don’t have a time frame,” Jerry Jones said during the conference call. “It’s not in a list of priorities as you could imagine with everything that we all are dealing with as well as what we’re doing with the draft. ...

"Again, no surprises here. ... What is the issue here and the challenge is how do we have communication with everyone and do the best we can with what we’ve got ... as it pertains to getting our team ready. Dak is very much a part of that.”

While the Cowboys and agent Todd France of CAA continue to essentially "debate years,'' we're told - Dallas preferring the longer-term five-year deal, Prescott preferring a four-year contract - both sides have always known what the true one-year deal would be.

Eventually, the other numbers will matter very much. CowboysSI.com has reported that Dallas' offer is approaching the $110 million mark in guarantees and the $35 million mark in APY. (Worth adding to the pile here: Jared Goff's 2020 cap hit is $36 mil. Russell Wilson's APY is $35 mil. This is pretty much where the Cowboys negotiations with Dak are going - top of the top. Brace yourself.)

So where does this number of"$26,824,000'' come from? And how did Dallas (and CowboysSI.com) know to figure on something nearer $31.5 million?

The $26 mil number was simply a placeholder; a national media outlet got hold of that number (maybe from reading OverTheCap) and thought it had a scoop. But ... No mystery here.

The QB exclusive tag number is reached simply by adding up the top five QB salaries (2020 cap impact) and dividing that number by five. The last calculation performed by the NFL, obviously, caused it to settle in at "$26,824,000.''

What we wrote on March 24:

That number, however, will change when more quarterbacks' deals become official ... But even at this moment ... pending new calculations that include new money shuffling for Ben Roethlisberger in Pittsburgh and for Kirk Cousins in Minnesota, we bet the working tag number for Dak is around $31.5 million.

So "$26,824,000'' is a number that was, as owner Jerry Jones would put it, "fungible.'' It was simply a place-holder, and not indicative at all of what the tag will actually pay Prescott (which, if a new deal isn't reached by July 15 will lock in now at the $31.409 mil number) ... nor, of course indicative of what Dallas plans to pay him in a long-term deal.

But "$26,824,000'' did with an additional value for calculations. Because while it's much lower than the salary Dallas plans on paying in a long-term deal, it's actually higher than what Prescott's 2020 cap impact will be. A new contract spanning four years totaling $140 million (averaging $35 mil APY) would allow the Cowboys to shrink Dak's Year 1 cap impact to maybe under $20 million ... thus allowing Dallas another $7 to $11 mil more in spending money than originally planned.

That's part of the motivation for the Cowboys continuing to talk with France, which they will surely do following this week's NFL Draft, which by the way could feature Dallas selecting a QB late, someone like Florida International's James Morgan.

“(Dak) is going to be our starting quarterback,'' COO Stephen Jones said while also acknowledging the idea of using a pick on a backup QB. "Our bigger goal is to get (Dak) signed long-term and we think we can do that.”