INDIANAPOLIS -- The end result for the Dallas Cowboys is for Dak Prescott to be their quarterback of the present and future.
How they get that resolution with Prescott entering the final year of his contract is something executive vice president Stephen Jones does not want to discuss.
"I won't expound on any details, timing, any of that," Jones said in a 25-minute sessions Tuesday with Dallas media from the NFL scouting combine.
Prescott is set to make $29 million in base salary and has a $5 million roster bonus due on the fifth day of the new league year. Through clauses in his contract, the Cowboys cannot trade Prescott without his OK and cannot use the franchise tag on him in 2025.
It sets up a scenario without an extension that this could be Prescott's final year with the Cowboys, although Jones does not even think about Prescott being elsewhere.
"Our whole thing with Dak is him being a Cowboy," Jones said. "That's all that's on our mind. Certainly don't get into those type of thoughts."
Prescott has a $59.45 million salary cap figure in 2024, which is second highest in the league. An extension would bring that figure down, but the Cowboys can always restructure his deal with voidable years in 2025 and 2026 to create room.
Prescott, 30, is coming off his best season in which he led the NFL in touchdown passes (36), was named a second-team All Pro and threw for 4,516 yards as the Cowboys finished 12-5 and won the NFC East. However, their season ended unceremoniously with a 48-32 loss to the Green Bay Packers.
It took two years for the Cowboys and Prescott to come to an agreement on a four-year, $160 million that included a franchise-record $65 million signing bonus in 2021. While Jones said the Cowboys would meet with the agents of pending free agents, like left tackle Tyron Smith, this week at the combine, he would not say whether a meeting was planned with Prescott's agent, Todd France.
"We want to be certainly respectful of the negotiation and we have our thoughts and our views," Jones said. "I'm sure Dak and his team have their thoughts and views, and we'll continue to see how we bring those together."
Prescott is not the only contract of note for the Cowboys. In addition to 16 players set to become unrestricted free agents, All-Pros CeeDee Lamb and Micah Parsons have deals the Cowboys would like to address. Lamb is set to make $17.99 million on the fifth-year option and would become an unrestricted free agent in 2025. Parsons is eligible to sign an extension for the first time this offseason and the Cowboys will pick up his fifth-year option for 2025 this spring.
Lamb set team records for catches (135) and yards (1,749) for a season in 2023. Parsons posted a career-high 14 sacks and finished third in the Defensive Player of the Year voting after finishing second in each of his first two years.
They are looking at contracts that could make them the highest-paid at their positions. Miami's Tyreek Hill is the highest-paid receiver at $30 million annually, while San Francisco's Nick Bosa is the highest-paid edge rusher at $34 million. Prescott's contract could be in the $50 million to $55 million range annually, if not more.
In the past, the Cowboys have managed to have some of the highest-paid players at their positions, such as Tony Romo, DeMarcus Ware and Jason Witten, a generation ago.
"When you start to have players that you're trying to pay top of the market, it's a challenge, but the cap has gone up tremendously," Jones said. "To me, it's not a lot different. It's just how many guys you're trying to fit in there. And, to me, it's about players. We had a situation where we ended up losing a guy but you end up getting four players rather than what you might've paid one player. That's the way you have to look at it ... Certainly the quarterback position, it's not unique to us. A lot of teams have it. I think when you project out probably through next year there will probably be 16 quarterbacks making $40-plus-million. So it's real.
"And it's good because you have one, but it's a challenge too in terms of the salary cap."