Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones needs to hurry up and secure injured quarterback Dak Prescott under a max-contract deal. It might sound like a ridiculous proposition to some — especially after suffering a compound right ankle fracture in Week 5 against the New York Giants, but the loss of his presence has resonated throughout the season.
To say this year has been rough would be putting it mildly. Even after the firing of Jason Garrett, the team is still bad. The problems for “America’s Team,” if they can still be called that, reach far beyond the quarterback position.
Let’s take a look at the last time the team was consistently successful — the ‘90s. Coming off a Super Bowl win with then-head coach Jimmy Johnson, Jones told the media that the team would’ve won the big game with any coach, and took all credit from the leader.
This was the beginning of the end. To this day, almost 25 years later, we’re seeing the fallout from Jones’ hubris play out like the Chappelle’s Show skit, “When Keeping it Real Goes Wrong.”
Johnson left the team in an amicable split, knowing that he and Jones were unable to work together, and the team hasn’t been to the Super Bowl since.
The root of all the franchise’s troubles can be tracked down to one source — the cancerous Jones family and their inability to hire a General Manager who knows what they’re doing. They could do the right thing though. And the right thing would be to sign Prescott to a long-term deal, locking up the elite quarterback for the foreseeable future.
This woeful year was hopeful with him still at the helm. The team was bad, but at least they were legitimately competing with a chance to win every game. Now, they can’t even score touchdowns. We’ve seen how integral he is to the success of the franchise and it’s tragic the season ended the way it did for him.
Prescott was on-pace to deliver historical numbers for both the franchise and the NFL as a whole, before suffering the brutal injury. Securing him is a stepping stone in the right direction and would allow the management to focus on the other aspects of the team.
These are tricky waters to be maneuvered. On one hand, his ability to return to full strength after such a devastating injury is unpredictable. Combining the unpredictability of his return with the abysmal state of the team leaves much to be desired.
The Dallas Cowboys have a bevy of problems. But one can’t be denied: Dak Prescott should be the future of this franchise.
