Contract negotiations can be messy and contentious. However, only in sports do we see them played out in public as both sides try to gain the upper hand in public opinion. Too often we see the media siding with management and encouraging players to accept less money and discounts in their hometown.
Last week, Colin Cowherd commented on the standoff between Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys. Prescott isn’t holding back, and he’s not even making a fuss publicly. By all accounts, the star quarterback has conducted 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.
Cowherd took exception to this last part.
About the Herd with Colin Cowherdhe argued that Prescott should get less money. He made these comments after reading an article in The Athletic with the headline, “Can the Cowboys Afford to Pay Dak Prescott in the NFL’s Broken Quarterback Economics?” The article points out the Cowboys’ financial dilemma of paying potentially top-tier salaries to a player who may not be an elite quarterback.
Cowherd’s solution? Prescott should accept a hometown discount.
“Tom Brady never talked about it. He just talked about winning the Super Bowl. Dak makes a decision.”
— @ColinCowherd pic.twitter.com/2dNg3JuC7b
— Herd with Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) 8 August 2024
“There are a lot of different ways to make money: real estate, pensions, stocks, a business, the stock market,” Cowherd said. “There are a lot of different ways. Same with quarterbacks. I think the more talented quarterbacks who are really smart take a little less, are 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 look good, but because you won more.
“Ask Drew Brees. He carried the bag for a couple of years in New Orleans with Sean Payton and lost. Then he took a lot less and restructured his contract to help the squad win a Super Bowl. He’s an icon now and won’t have to worry about money for the rest of his life. Brady made cuts because he had faith in himself and the organization to surround him with championship-level players.”
This is a pro-management stance from Cowherd. The “take less for the good of the team” argument is the most important argument of the owners. This argument has been around for decades. It should also remind us of the primary function of the salary cap.
The league says the salary cap is necessary to keep the competition level, but its goal is to limit salaries. In a fair system, Jerry Jones, the owner of the most valuable sports franchise in the world, could pay Prescott fair market value and it wouldn’t matter. In a system with a salary cap, however, Prescott’s salary is a percentage of what the Cowboys can spend on their roster overall.
Because of that, the Cowboys will have to make difficult decisions. But as longtime NFL reporter Ed Werder pointed out, it’s not Prescott’s responsibility to make those decisions. Werder disagreed with Cowherd’s comments about Prescott, posting on X: “He played four years on a contract, selected in the fourth round of the draft, and was labeled a franchise player twice, so now he finally has all the power. Why does a player have to manage his team’s salary cap?”
He played for four years on a fourth-round draft pick contract and was twice named a franchise player, so now he can finally pull all the stops. Why does a player have to manage his team’s salary cap? https://t.co/4C1QNIjHws
— Ed Werder (@WerderEdESPN) 8 August 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. If he chooses to take less, that’s fine too. It’s his business. Not Cowherd’s or anyone else’s. Media members shouldn’t be telling players to take hometown discounts.
Dallas faces roster problems, not because of Prescott, but because of Jones. The owner waited too long to offer contracts to Prescott and CeeDee Lamb, and now it’s going to cost him dearly. Plus, pass rusher Micah Parsons is trying to become the highest-paid non-quarterback. The Cowboys drafted and developed these players. It’s up to them to keep these homegrown stars. Mike Florio has called the organization “cheap, short-sighted and not as smart as they think they are.”
Jones famously said, “Deals are made by deadlines,” so there could ultimately be a solution that is satisfactory to all parties. The business of sports should be thoroughly investigated and analyzed. What should not be done, however, is to allow media figures like Cowherd to lobby the unions to diminish their financial well-being.
The owners of the NFL make a lot of money. And the players deserve to make a lot of money, too.
