Ahead of his 11th season, Dak Prescott is Dallas’ longest-tenured player on the current roster. Though still a bit behind Jason Witten and L.P. Ladouceur for the all-time mark of 16 seasons, Prescott is far more concerned with a different goal. Like all Cowboys fans, his focus is on joining Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman as the only quarterbacks to bring Super Bowl wins to the franchise.
Background
Years in NFL: 10
Acquired by: 2016 4th-round pick
Few NFL players have a more well-known story. Prescott was a mid-range
QB prospect in 2016, seen as a developmental project at best. When the Cowboys selected him in the fourth round, there was little thought that he was their QB of the future, or even the primary backup. But a training camp injury to Kellen More allowed Prescott to become the primary backup. Then Tony Romo’s injury in the third preseason game, plus Prescott’s dazzling performances in those August games, cleared the way for him to be an unexpected Week 1 rookie starter.
Prescott set two rookie QB records in 2016: most wins (13) and the highest passer rating (104.9) in a single season. Though Romo was ready to return in Week 11, Dallas’ eight-game winning streak kept Prescott as QB1. And as we know, he’s held the job ever since.
We’ve watched Prescott develop as a passer since that first year. When Moore became offensive coordinator in 2019, it opened up the offense and helped Prescott start putting up much bigger numbers. He went from 3,885 passing yards the year before to a career-high 4,902, plus his first season with at least 30 passing touchdowns. Even under new coaches and coordinators since then, Prescott has remained one of the NFL’s most productive, high-volume statistical quarterbacks.
Like the rest of the team, though, Prescott’s career has been more recognized for playoff failures than regular-season success. Like Romo, he’s never been past the second round. And while he’s had a couple of great postseason performances, Prescott has also struggled more often than he’s shined. For a franchise that defines itself by Super Bowl wins, Prescott’s legacy is still part of a greater ongoing story that’s been torturing Cowboys fans since 1996.
Going into this season, Prescott is even more entrenched in his starting role than Romo was 10 years ago. His reputation as a leader and one of the NFL’s best human beings is unquestioned, and he’s still expected to do big things for fantasy owners. But all of that is window dressing to the team’s success, and what Prescott does to either help or hurt them in those ultimate goals.
Contract Status
Years Left: 3
2026 Cap Hit: $44.6 million
For many, Prescott’s contract is the catalyst for criticism. If he were only making $33 million per year like Baker Mayfield or Sam Darnold, he’d be much less maligned. But when the Cowboys made him the most expensive player in NFL history (since passed by Pat Mahomes) in 2021, they opened the door to Prescott’s performance often being compared against his compensation.
One of the biggest issues with the contract is that, to conduct other business, Dallas has had to consistently restructure the deal to reduce salary cap hits. This has made Prescott virtually untouchable in terms of job security: even the final year of the deal in 2028 still has over $55 million in dead money currently. You don’t mind that when a guy is winning Super Bowls, but it’s much harder to swallow given Prescott’s postseason record.
2026 Projections
Role: Starting QB
Roster Chance: 100%
While they’ve dabbled with reclaiming Trey Lance or developing Joe Milton, the Cowboys have yet to make any major addition to their QB pipeline during Prescott’s run. That becomes increasingly concerning as he turns 33 later this month, nearing the precipice for career decline. While we’ve become more used to quarterbacks starting in their late-30s and sometimes even 40s, it’s hard to project when Prescott’s effectiveness is going to drop off.
Since 2020, Prescott has had an off-and-on relationship with the injured reserve list. He missed 11 games that year with his major leg injury, five games in 2022, and nine games in 2024. The pattern does raise eyebrows when it comes to 2026: is Prescott due for another big injury? The older and more worn-and-torn he gets, the odds only increase.
Coming off of last year, though, there’s far more concern about the Cowboys’ defense. Prescott and the offense got a pass from many in 2025, generally considered to be sabotaged by the other side of the ball. The hope this season is that Dallas’ work to at least get defensively solvent again increased the overall balance, allowing the statistical success of the offense to translate to more wins and hopefully a return to the playoffs.
Check out our previous player profiles from this series:
RB Israel Abanikanda | P Bryan Anger | S Justin Barron | G T.J. Bass | C Cooper Beebe | CB DaRon Bland | RB Jaydon Blue | G Tyler Booker | CB Josh Butler | S Alijah Clark | OT Ajani Cornelius | RB Malik Davis | S Caleb Downs | DT Tommy Dunn | CB Cobie Durant | OLB Donovan Ezeiruaku | TE Princeton Fant | TE Jake Ferguson | WR Ryan Flournoy | OLB Rashan Gary | C Matt Hennessy | S Malik Hooker | OLB James Houston | QB Sam Howell | WR Jordan Hudson | LB Shemar James | G Trevor Keegan | CB Derion Kendrick | WR CeeDee Lamb | OLB Isaiah Land | OLB Marist Liufau | S P.J. Locke | FB Hunter Luepke | RB Phil Mafah | QB Joe Milton III | WR Jonathan Mingo | CB Devin Moore | DT Otito Ogbonnia | LB DeMarvion Overshown | TE DJ Rogers | TE Luke Schoonmaker | LS Trent Sieg | WR Anthony Smith | G Tyler Smith | TE Brevyn Spann-Ford | OT Terence Steele | CB Reddy Steward | OT Nate Thomas | S Jalen Thompson | DT Jay Toia | TE Michael Trigg | WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling | OLB Tyrus Wheat | RB Javonte Williams | DT Quinnen Williams | OLB Sam Williams | LB Dee Winters | DT D.J. Withers | S Julius Wood
