Cowboys QB Dak Prescott has announced he intends to sign his $31.4 million exclusive franchise tender by Monday. The goal remains to agree on a long-term deal, but Prescott and the Cowboys have until the league’s July 15 deadline to come to an agreement. With the one-year franchise tender agreement, Prescott becomes the highest-paid single-season Cowboy in the team’s history.

Video Transcript:

Madelyn Burke: Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott reportedly intends to sign his $31.4 million exclusive franchise tender by Monday. So joining me now is our own Cowboys reporter, Mike Fisher. And Mike, the goal here is obviously still a longterm deal, but the deadline for that isn't until July 15th. So what does this signal in the negotiation process?

Mike Fisher: Yeah, I think there's three pieces of good news here. One is that Dak will be under contract. The signing of a tender is a contract. That's a start. Two, it'll mean that Dak Prescott will not miss time. He will not skip work. This is a commitment to not do that and the Cowboys, by the way, we're gambling on that. We're betting that Dak's character and his position in the locker room would preclude him from creating that sort of a service. And then three, and you alluded to this, this can be an inch toward the next thing - this opens up the line of communications now to try to get something done between now and July 15th. Worst case scenario, Dak Prescott is your quarterback for $31.409 million guaranteed. Better case scenario is you continue to communicate to the point where Dak reconsiders Dallas' five year offer and Dallas maybe pares it down to the four years that Dak wants with numbers that will look Russell Wilson-like $35 million APY and a little more than $106-107 million in terms of virtual total guarantees - it's an inch towards that.

Madelyn Burke: Now, with this tender, Dak becomes the highest paid single season Cowboy. I mean, there have been talks that he wants somewhere in the $40 million range. Is that completely off the table now or is he going to become the highest paid long term cowboy before all is said and done?

Mike Fisher: He will become the highest paid Cowboy. But the $40 million to me that number being floated up there is is somebody's idea of fantasy. I don't hear that. I don't know that the Cowboys have been told that at all. And I don't get that out of Dak Prescott's camp. At one point $30 million was viewed as a threshold and a weak threshold. Of course that was in September when the Cowboys thought they had a deal with Dak Prescott. He decided to hold off, bet on himself, won three games in a row and we had to reshuffle the deck. I think $40 million is not in play right here, unless and until you wait, and wait, and wait, until for instance, Patrick Mahomes gets his at which time we might have to reshuffle the deck once again.