TAMPA, Fla. – Roof Prescott is not going anywhere.
According to sources, the Dallas Cowboys will make an effort to sign their quarterback to a long-term contract before the March 9 deadline for applying the franchise label – a sign that they are confident in Prescott’s ongoing recovery from multiple operations on the ankle he broke. In October.
Unless an agreement is reached, the Cowboys will cost Prescott a second time for $ 37.7 million to prevent him from reaching the free agency market, according to sources.
Dallas put similar pressure last season, both in March and before the July 15 deadline to sign franchisees for multi-year deals. But the parties could not reach an agreement, and Prescott, 27, played the season at the price of $ 31.409 million.
Prescott suffered a compound fracture and dislocation of his right ankle on October 11 in a win over the New York Giants, leaving the field on a wagon and in tears. He was operated on that night, during which doctors took care of them to prevent infection, and did so successfully.
According to sources, about two months later, Prescott underwent a second – and previously unreported – procedure to strengthen his deltoid ligament, clean the ankle and heal more structurally. The procedure is not directly related to the operation in October; rather, doctors then noticed problems related to injuries to the same ankle in the past, and once the risk of infection was eliminated, they went in again to clean up the rest.
After the second surgery in early December, Prescott had to take about a week of rehabilitation to have the wound healed, but it improved the stability and integrity of the ankle and should speed up his overall recovery, according to sources. He is now walking without problems, doing weight-bearing exercises and he is expected to be ready for action long before the 2021 season begins.
That’s one of the reasons there are no medical problems, according to sources, for the Cowboys to offer Prescott a nine-figure contract that will place him among the NFL’s highest paid players. Prescott is primarily seen as a four- to six-month recovery a little ahead of schedule.
Making a long-term deal now will help the Cowboys get a salary cap perspective at a time to strengthen NFL teams for the decline in 2021, as they can spread the signing bonus over several years instead of to carry the entire price of $ 37,690,800 on them. months of hoping to make a deal in July.
Whether Prescott is motivated to sign a deal early after betting on himself with essentially one-year deals over the past two seasons remains to be seen.