Dak Prescott will have to carry Cowboys after their ‘all in’ offseason went bust

Ralph Vacchiano

NFC East Reporter

Dak Prescott would never say it, but by now he knows that Jerry Jones’ vow to be “all in” on the 2024 season has become an international joke. No team did less to improve themselves this offseason than the Dallas Cowboys. No team spent less money.

So it would be understandable if Prescott was worried, heading into his ninth — and possibly last — season as the Cowboys’ quarterback, especially as he practiced this week without his one blue-chip offensive teammate, receiver CeeDee Lamb. But he insisted he’s not worried about what’s happening in Dallas.

At least not yet.

“It is just the beginning, first off,” Prescott told the media during Cowboys minicamp this week. “And you don’t just win games with talent. I understand what it looks like, what it may look like from that side, understanding the lack of moves that get done.

“It creates a great conversation.”

Indeed it does. And a big part of that conversation is about how, if the Cowboys are going to actually be a playoff contender this season, the 30-year-old Prescott might have to carry the team.

There may be no way around that after an offseason in which the Cowboys saw far more players walk out the door than they brought in. Their one notable free-agent signing was their reunion with 28-year-old running back Ezekiel Elliott, who came back to Dallas after his younger replacement, Tony Pollard, left for Tennessee. Their only other offensive additions were two rookies — first-round tackle Tyler Guyton and third-round center Cooper Beebe — who might have to start on the depleted offensive line.

In other words, they didn’t get Prescott any help. They couldn’t even make his current help happy, with Lamb skipping minicamp while awaiting a lucrative contract extension before he starts the final year of his rookie deal.

The good news, though, is Prescott appears prepared for the enormous challenge — even though he’s embroiled in his own contract waiting game as he approaches the last year of the four-year, $160 million contract he signed in 2021. He’s coming off a spectacular season in which he completed a career-high 69.5 percent of his passes for 4,516 yards and an NFL-best 36 touchdowns (with just nine interceptions).

Duplicating that won’t be easy. But so far, Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy likes what he sees.

“I think Dak is having his best offseason program that we’ve had, and he’s had really good offseason programs the whole time,” McCarthy said. “This atmosphere we practice in with the receivers and the quarterbacks have really hit the mark. I’m very impressed with the quality of work.”

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Part of the reason for that, Prescott said, is the natural progression of a quarterback who was forced to learn a new offense one year ago, when McCarthy took over the offense from departed coordinator Kellen Moore. Prescott has a better understanding of the scheme now, and a deeper knowledge of how it actually works, and what parts of it work best for him.

That will help immensely. It can even push the McCarthy-Prescott tandem to try new things.

“Last year at this time was the first time you were hearing these things (in the offense),” Prescott said. “You’re on the 500 level now. You’re talking these plays and particular game situations, down and distances — not just the breaks, the alignments, and things like that. We’re getting into the nuts and bolts.”

Of course, despite what Prescott said, talent still matters. And there’s no sugarcoating the fact that the Cowboys didn’t add much talent over the last few months. Despite being “all in” on the season, the Cowboys didn’t go get Prescott another receiver, they passed on a star-studded class of free-agent running backs that included Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry, and they relied on the draft to replace the losses of left tackle Tyron Smith and center Tyler Biadasz.

Their version of being “all in” was really to stand pat with what they had, and to gamble that Prescott — perhaps in a contract year if he doesn’t sign an extension soon — is enough to make it all pay off. That adds a lot of pressure to their franchise quarterback to rise above the Cowboys’ inaction and somehow make it all work.

But despite all the doubters on the outside, he seems ready to go “all in” on his own.

“I don’t mind it,” Prescott said. “I’ve been in this position before. “I’m a gambling man. (I) will gamble on myself and my guys.”

Ralph Vacchiano is the NFC East reporter for FOX Sports, covering the Washington Commanders, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants. He spent the previous six years covering the Giants and Jets for SNY TV in New York, and before that, 16 years covering the Giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News. Follow him Twitter at @RalphVacchiano.