Contract negotiations can get messy and contentious. However, only in sports do we see them play out this publicly, as both sides try to get the upper hand in public opinion. Too often we see the media choosing to side with management in encouraging players to take less money and hometown discounts.
Last week, Colin Cowherd weighed in on the Dak Prescott standoff with the Dallas Cowboys. Prescott is not holding out or holding in. He’s not even making a public stink. By all accounts, the star quarterback has handled himself professionally. Prescott is in the final year of his contract. After this season, the 2023 NFL MVP runner-up could become an unrestricted free agent. Regardless, Prescott seems poised to become the highest-paid player in NFL history.
That last part Cowherd took exception to.
On The Herd with Colin Cowherd, he argued that Prescott should take less money. He made his comments after reading a story in The Athletic with the headline: “Can Cowboys afford to pay Dak Prescott in NFL’s broken QB economy?” The article points out the Cowboys’ financial quandary of potentially paying top dollar to a player who might not be an elite quarterback.
Cowherd’s solution? Prescott should take a hometown discount.
"Tom Brady never talked about that. He simply talked about winning Super Bowls. Dak is making a choice."
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) August 8, 2024
— @ColinCowherd pic.twitter.com/2dNg3JuC7b
“There’s a lot of different ways to make money: real estate, pensions, equity, a business, stock market,” Cowherd said. “There’s a lot of different ways. Same with quarterbacks. I think the more gifted quarterbacks who are really smart, take a little less, get surrounded by better players, win more, and then you’re Tom Brady, you retire, and a TV network gives you $30 million a year. Not because you’re handsome but because you won more.
“Go ask Drew Brees. He took the bag for a couple of years in New Orleans with Sean Payton and lost. Then he took much less, restructured his deal to help the roster win a Super Bowl. He’s now iconic and won’t have to worry about money the rest of his life. Brady took cuts because he had confidence in himself and the organization to surround him with championship-level players.”
That’s a pro-management stance by Cowherd. The “take less for the good of the team” argument is No.1 in the ownership playbook. That talking point has existed for decades. It also should be a reminder of the salary cap’s primary function.
The league says the salary cap is necessary for competitive balance, but its goal is to limit wages. In a just system, Jerry Jones, who owns the most world’s valuable sports franchise, could pay Prescott fair-market value, and it wouldn’t matter. However, in a capped system, Prescott’s salary takes up a percentage of what the Cowboys can spend overall on their roster.
Because of this, the Cowboys will have to make tough decisions. But, as longtime NFL reporter Ed Werder pointed out, making those decisions is not Prescott’s responsibility. Werder took issue with Cowherd’s comments about Prescott, posting on X: “He played four years on a fourth-round draft choice contract and was franchise-tagged twice so now he finally has all the leverage. Why does a player have to manage his team’s salary cap?”
He played four years on a fourth-round draft choice contract and was franchise-tagged twice so now he finally has all the leverage. Why does a player have to manage his team’s salary cap? https://t.co/4C1QNIjHws
— Ed Werder (@WerderEdESPN) August 8, 2024
Werder is 100% correct. Prescott’s job is to play quarterback not manage the roster. NFL players risk their long-term health for our entertainment in a sport where the average career lasts three years. If Prescott takes as much money as he can get, that’s fine. Conversely, if he decides to take less, that’s also fine. It’s his business. Not Cowherd’s or anyone else’s. Members of the media shouldn’t be telling players to take hometown discounts.
Dallas has looming roster problems not because of Prescott but because of Jones. The owner waited too long to offer deals to Prescott and CeeDee Lamb and now it’s going to cost him. Also, pass rusher Micah Parsons is trying to become the highest-paid non-quarterback. The Cowboys drafted and developed these players. It’s on them to keep these homegrown stars. Mike Florio has called the organization: “cheap, shortsighted, and not as smart as they think they are.”
Jones has famously said: “deadlines make deals” so ultimately there might be a happy resolution for all parties involved. The business of sports should be covered and analyzed thoroughly. But what shouldn’t be done is media luminaries such as Cowherd lobbying for the labor to short-change its financial well-being.
The NFL owners make plenty of money. The players deserve to make plenty of money too.
