In Dak Prescott, the Dallas Cowboys have one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL on their roster.
But Stephen A. Smith has delivered a scathing assessment of how the passer cripples under the pressure when the postseason playoffs begin, questioning whether he should be handed another lucrative payday.
Dak Prescott’s celebrates New Year with a BBQ
Following the news that Trevor Lawrence has signed a record-breaking $275million extension to stay with the Jacksonville Jaguars, it is believed other quarterbacks in the league could try to renegotiate their deals to get parity with Lawrence.
But Smith, a long-time ESPN analyst who often speaks his mind with hard-hitting opinions, doesn’t believe Prescott is deserving of a pay hike due to his tendency to struggle when the playoffs come around.
“Dak Prescott doesn’t deserve to get paid more than Trevor Lawrence,” Smith said on his YouTube show. “Trevor Lawrence has been in this league for three years, Dak Prescott has been in the league for eight. Dak Prescott got two playoff victories in eight years and continuously falters come postseason time.”
Smith‘s words will cut deep for the 30-year-old, but it is difficult to prove him wrong after Prescott threw two interceptions – one of which led to a touchdown return – in their divisional-round defeat to the Green Bay Packers in the 2023-24 playoffs.
The presenter conceded Prescott is a fine operator during the regular season, only for him to wilt when the pressure is on: “Oh, he’s phenomenal from September through December, without question,” Smith added. “But as the playoffs loom, that brother folds like a cheap tent.”
Dak Prescott ready to gamble
Prescott, who signed a four-year deal worth $160m in 2021, could pursue free agency in 2025 if negotiations with the Cowboys do not reach a positive conclusion.
He has been with Dallas since they acquired him as a fourth-round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, but Prescott is backing himself to earn a new deal in the final year of his contract.
“It’s the urgency you should always have to be honest,” he said. “Maybe guys who normally wouldn’t feel it 1718628241 feel it. I don’t mind it. I’ve been in this position before, I’m a gambling man, and I’ll gamble on myself and my guys.”
