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The names read like a list with no names, were never available and had bones: Quincy Carter, Anthony Wright, Ryan Leaf, Clint Stoerner, Chad Hutchinson, Drew Henson, Vinny Testaverde and Drew Bledsoe. These are the backs who started for the Cowboys between Troy Aikman’s retirement and when the team congratulated Tony Romo.
The Cowboys saw Dak Prescott as Romo’s heir, and moved from one franchise quarterback to another in 2016 after Romo was injured in a preseason game.
“They are not going to get very far without a franchise quarter,” Aikman told David Moore of the Dallas Morning News. “They have it in Roof.”
Prescott has started 69 of a possible 80 games for the Cowboys in his career and missed the last 11 games in 2020 with a compound fracture and disrupted right ankle. The Cowboys, 2-3 with Prescott, passed 4-7 without him.
However, Prescott will become a free agent next month after playing on the one-year franchise title last season.
“I think the price has gone up,” Aikman said. “I think Roof’s leverage increased after this year.”
The Cowboys and Prescott’s representatives negotiated for almost two years without reaching an agreement.
If the Cowboys fail to work out a long-term deal with their quarterback on March 9, they are expected to use the $ 37.7 million franchise label on him. That would buy the Cowboys four months to secure a long-term deal with Prescott or risk his potential departure in 2022.
Kirk Cousins is the only quarterback in NFL history to have played under the franchise label in the back-to-back seasons. He leaves Washington in 2018 as a free agent.
‘I would be really surprised if [Prescott] ‘s playing under the franchise label again this year, ” Aikman said. ‘My guess is if he is, this will be the last we see of Dak Prescott [in Dallas].
“I just can not imagine that he would feel really good about giving the Cowboys an open contract if he played under the franchise label for two years.”
However, Aikman expresses optimism that the Cowboys will get a deal with Prescott that will keep Prescott in Dallas for the long term. The FOX analyst used the word ‘hopeful’, the same word most Cowboys fans would use.