Like Tony Romo before him, Dak Prescott must drive contract talks with Dallas Cowboys

The story that is now years in the making, with no end in sight, will only conclude when Dak Prescott takes control of his own life.

Every player who has ever played, at some point, realizes his agent works for him, not the other way around. No different than the attorney you just hired to handle the latest crisis.

For the third consecutive February the Dallas Cowboys are talking to their franchise quarterback about the franchise tag, or a franchise-changing contract.

In 2019, it was if the Cowboys could sign Dak to a long-term deal, thus avoiding the dreaded tag the following year.

In 2020, it was if the Cowboys could sign Dak to a long-term deal, thus avoiding the dreaded tag in the next few days.

It’s 2021, and it’s if the Cowboys can sign Dak to a long-term deal, thus avoiding the dreaded tag for a second consecutive year.

It’s time for this to end, and the only way that happens is if Dak has a face-to-face with the man himself, Pro Football Hall of Famer Jerry Jones.

On Tuesday, the NFL’s period for teams to designate players for the franchise tag began. The Cowboys elected not to use the tag on Dak. Yet.

The franchise tag designation period ends on March 9. If the Cowboys don’t have a deal done by then, they’ll use the tag again in the hopes of securing a long-term extension before the NFL’s July 15 deadline.

If Dak is “franchised” again, it will be a one-year, $37.7 million deal. That would be the third highest salary cap figure ever; it would also mean he would have made $69.1 million over 2020 and 2121.

FWIW: Twenty years ago the Dallas Cowboys’ team payroll was $54 million.

Back in 2021, the NFL’s salary floor for its 32 teams is projected to $180 million.

The Cowboys will not have enough cap room to give Dak a franchise tag without restructuring everybody on the roster, up to and including the water boys.

Given the generational wealth we are talking about with this prolonged negotiation, there is no need for righteous indignation or cries of unfairness about this deal in either direction. All parties involved are fine. And so are their children.

The only way this “showdown” at the Dallas Cowboys Country Club Corral finishes without another franchise tag means Dak has to personally get involved in the negotiation.

He hired an agent, and then switched to a higher-profile agency, to handle these sort of financial decisions. Not a dumb decision.

Dak is also 27, a grown up and now he will soon have to follow the similar path as many Cowboys before.

Former Cowboys Tony Romo, Terence Newman, Zack Martin, Jason Witten, Orlando Scandrick, Sean Lee, Greg Ellis et all all had good agents, and all of these players personally got involved in their respective contract negotiations with the Cowboys to complete their big extensions.

Not a single one of them signed a bad deal in the process.

All of them, and by all of them I mean all of them, walked away happy, and grateful for Jerry Jones.

The Cowboys don’t win Super Bowls, but you’ll notice not a single one of them ever says, “Get me the bleep outta here!”

No, former Cowboys defensive end David Irving doesn’t count. He recently signed a contract with the Las Vegas Raiders and ripped the Cowboys, mostly because he wasn’t a fan of former coach Jason Garrett. Garrett didn’t want Irving to get suspended by the NFL for smoking weed.

Even though Dak suffered that disgusting fractured ankle last season in a Week 5 win over the New York Giants, the prudent thing here may be to give Dak that franchise tag again.

Just to be sure that ankle is fine, which no one can know right now.

But these are the Cowboys. This is Jerry Jones.

Jerry believes every season the Cowboys will win the Super Bowl. Jerry believes every big contract extension is for a player who is destined to join him in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Jerry is sure every morning will be blessed with sunshine, rainbows and endless amounts of cash.

Endless optimism isn’t a bad way to walk through life, as long as you can endure the disappointment when it rains — or snows.

The Cowboys are not going to pull a Rams, Lions or Eagles and trade their franchise quarterback this offseason.

Dak will soon enough “get his,” and he will be paid among the top five quarterbacks in the game.

He let his agent set it all up, but now he needs to pull a Romo/Witten and take control to end this.