Waiting for the right time? Clearly, the Cowboys CEO Jerry Jones just can’t seem to find it yet. The owner bluntly stated, “I just don’t want to talk about it,” when asked about any chances of Dak Prescott’s contract extension soon. Despite hinting that Prescott will be on the team in his “all-in” project, there is a hush in the camp, and no one appears to know the reason. This has the NFL analyst Kevin Wildes throwing some strong allegations and evidently it is Jerry Jones who is under the limelight again.

After Jordan Love received a new four-year contract extension worth $220 million, the Dallas Cowboys owner was asked if Prescott was better than Love. To which he replied, “We saw a head-to-head match with Green Bay last year. We’ve all got that burr in our saddle. I’m anxious for Dak to get a chance to show he’s the best with a Cowboys star on.” So, why the delay in the contract? Apparently, Wildes accused that it is to “own the news cycle.”

NFL analyst throws serious allegations at Jerry Jones as Dak Prescott’s contract still nowhere in discussion

In a recent episode of First Things First on August 6, 2024, Nick Wright, Chris Broussard, and Kevin Wildes discussed why the Cowboys haven’t signed Dak Prescott yet. Many analysts see this delay as salary cap constraints or Jerry Jones’ “misjudgment.” However, Wildes has a different theory to put on the table. In the episode, he asked Wright and Broussard, “Can I pitch a theory to you why this hasn’t happened?”

After getting a nod, he proposed that despite the two parties wanting this deal to get done soon, Jerry Jones might be waiting for the perfect moment to make a splash in the news. He staunchly expressed, “This guy [Jones] wants to own the news cycle. We come back from vacation, not that it’s about us we come back from vacation, football’s heating up, oh my gosh school supplies are there. It’s football time and then bang, guess what, I just signed Dak Prescott to the richest contract because I’m Jerry Jones we do things big in Dallas.”

So, all in all, Wildes accused Jones of wanting to own the news cycle by reportedly jeopardizing Dak Prescott— a personal gain of getting media coverage, because they “do things big in Dallas.” Prescott will play in the final year of his four-year, $160 million contract in 2024. If the QB decides to switch teams, he might have a lot of options available as well. However, the uncertainty that looms thick over Prescott right now slowly brings down those chances.

But, if the Cowboys don’t re-sign him in 2025, “he’d still count $40.14 million against the Cowboys’ salary cap.“And that’s all because of his “no-tag and no-trade clauses,” which gives Prescott some edge to decide about his future. Perhaps, that’s the reason why Jones might not want him to exit the team and see a good negotiation between the two in the future. But why is he waiting? For a hope to get a Super Bowl? Well, according to NFL analyst Chris Broussard, Jones’ team is actually “fraud” as they are promising something else, and doing something else.

He said, “It’s Jerry Jones’ fault that they have not won a Super Bowl in 30 years. The Cowboys have foolhardy priorities and the Cowboys finally, are fake and fraudulent contenders.” Besides Broussard’s, there is another perspective given by Mike Florio. According to him, Jerry Jones worth $14.2B is “cheap,” “short-sighted,” and “not as smart as they think they are.”

He believes that Jones and others knew that the market price of the quarterbacks was going to rise in the offseason. Since the owner failed to properly manage their finances, the Cowboys are stuck in this situation. However, Jones isn’t one to take all these hearsays seriously as he has a potential reason behind the delay.

Is Jerry Jones cautious with money because of a valid reason?

Last month, a snippet from Jerry Jones’ press conference sent ripples through the NFL community. That was an employee’s tweet which made it seem like the league might use salary cap funds to cover a $14.1 billion Sunday Ticket judgment if they lose their appeal. But here’s the kicker! Clarence E. Hill Jr. from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram painted a different picture.

According to Hill, Jones is using this potential financial hit as an excuse to delay paying big contracts to stars like Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, and Micah Parsons. However, Jones, on his side, stressed his foresight in predicting NFL revenues, pointing to the unexpected COVID revenue drop as a reason to be cautious.

He said, “You need to have a feel of where the revenue is going to be down the road. I feel like I know better than anybody living or got a feel for what the revenue is going to be four, five, six years from now, than anybody living. I’ve spent all this time doing that. And if you don’t understand what the revenue is going to do, then you can’t look and see what the cap is going to be. And so it is an art, almost, about how to look ahead.”

This means, as per Mike Florio, Jones implied that the Sunday Ticket verdict could significantly impact future revenue, justifying his hesitancy to spend now. The NFL, however, insisted the verdict won’t affect the salary cap. But as per Florio, Jones is clearly preparing for the worst, using his reputation for predicting financial trends to back his cautious stance.