FRISCO, Texas — A new contract for Dak Prescott has not come up inside the Dallas Cowboys building, executive vice president Stephen Jones said Tuesday on DLLS Sports.
What Prescott wanted this offseason was a rebuilt defense, Jones said, and keeping Quinnen Williams was part of the ask.
“We hadn’t thought a lot about that,” Jones said. “I think Dak wanted to be a, if you’re going to listen to Dak, what he wanted was us to improve this defense and improve the guys on the defensive side of the ball, keep a guy like Quinnen Williams, guys like that. So certainly hadn’t been on our radar right now, but we always keep things like that. Obviously, Dak, the heart and soul of this team. He’s the Pied Piper. He’s the leader. He’s the ultimate leader on this team.”
“The great thing he loves is the leadership that we’ve acquired on the defensive side of the ball because you do need others to help lead,” Jones continued. “And you can’t, when you got 53 guys and a 17-man practice squad, it’s a lot of men. And you need more than one leader. And certainly he feels like we’ve made some huge jumps on the defensive side of the ball to not only have really good football players, but to have leaders as well.”
Dak Prescott’s Contract With The Dallas Cowboys
Prescott agreed to a four-year, $240 million extension on Sept. 8, 2024, the morning Dallas opened the season at Cleveland. His contract runs through 2028 at an average of $60 million per year. The deal came with an $80 million signing bonus and $231 million guaranteed overall, including $129 million fully guaranteed at signing. Both the annual average and total guarantee set NFL records at the time.
Prescott also has no-trade, no-franchise-tag and no-transition-tag protections in the contract. The deal includes four void years covering 2029 through 2032.
Dallas has gone back into the contract twice to create cap space. In March 2025, the Cowboys converted $45.75 million of Prescott’s salary into signing bonus and opened $36.6 million in room. On March 4, 2026, Dallas converted another $38.2 million and cleared $30.56 million. His base salary this season is $1.8 million against a cap number of roughly $44.6 million.
Prescott started all 17 games last season and threw for 4,552 yards, or 267.8 per game. Dallas ranked second in the league in passing yards but finished 7-9-1, missing the playoffs for a second consecutive season.
The Defensive Additions Dak Prescott Asked For
Williams was the example Jones used when discussing what Prescott wanted on defense. Dallas landed him in a November 2025 trade with the New York Jets, giving up defensive tackle Mazi Smith and the better of two 2027 first-round picks. Smith joined the Miami Dolphins practice squad Tuesday. Dallas later gave Williams a three-year, $105.9 million extension during training camp.
The Jets are owed the better of Dallas’ own 2027 first-round pick and Green Bay’s. The Cowboys acquired the Packers’ pick in the August 2025 deal that sent Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers for two first-round picks and defensive tackle Kenny Clark.
Dallas added Rashan Gary as well and brought in Von Miller in August. The Cowboys also used the No. 11 pick in April on safety Caleb Downs.
Christian Parker is in his first season as Cowboys defensive coordinator and runs a 3-4 front. Jones said Brian Schottenheimer ran the search that hired him.
Dallas opens the regular season at the New York Giants on Sept. 13. Kickoff at MetLife Stadium is set for 7:20 p.m. CT on NBC.
