How does Packers QB Jordan Love’s holdout affect Cowboys and Dak Prescott?

As the Dallas Cowboys head to Oxnard, California today for the start of training camp, the team continues to hold off on extending the contracts of their top two offensive players, quarterback Dak Prescott and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb. While it appears clear that Lamb will not show up to training camp at all until he gets what he wants out of a deal, Prescott is expected to practice on Thursday when the team holds their first open practice.

Quarterback market more expensive by the day

Both players have leverage, but it’s Prescott who’s contract will be the biggest. Green Bay Packers (sorry to bring them up, Cowboys fans) quarterback Jordan Love is in the midst of a holdout of his own as well. While quarterbacks like Jaguars’ Trevor Lawrence and Bengals’ Joe Burrow have set the tone for all quarterbacks with an average salary of $55 million, other top QBs around the league are starting to expect the same.

While Prescott is not holding out like Love and Lamb are, the Cowboys will still be affected by his holdout. The longer the Cowboys wait to give Prescott his extension, the higher the price to pay him becomes. (There’s also the point to be made that the salary cap goes up each year as well, which I go into here.)

Jordan Love, for his part, has 18 starts in the league, including two playoff starts - one which took the Cowboys down last season, I’m sure you recall. He’s currently getting paid way under the average for an NFL quarterback. Whatever he ends up getting is likely going to raise the bar for Prescott’s paycheck as well.

The Cowboys do expect to get a deal done, but when that happens is not yet known. They are reportedly prioritizing CeeDee at the moment, which is a smart move considering he may miss all of training camp if they don’t. But COO Stephen Jones remains confident they’ll get a deal with Prescott done.