On wild day for Dak Prescott, Browns show Cowboys and their QB why megadeal is a win for both

CLEVELAND — At the farthest locker in the Cleveland Browns' visitors locker room, emotions were swirling.

Dak Prescott had reason to celebrate Sunday, after a morning FaceTime call from agent Todd France confirmed France and Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones had reached an NFL-record $60 million per year contract extension.

He had reason to celebrate with his team, too, after a Cowboys team that struggled on the road last season executed a 33-17 win over a Browns team that had been good at home.

But Prescott was also frustrated, or at least miffed. The early offensive momentum that gave the Cowboys more first-half points than the Browns would score all day sputtered in the second half. Prescott’s own stat line was efficient and turnover-free but more in line with a quarterback helping his team than carrying it.

So the never-satisfied bones in the quarterback were speaking to him while a locker room around him wanted to celebrate.

“You try to be bummed about it in the locker, but you know it’s a win on the road, which is good for the team and then you've got teammates telling you, you know, ‘It was a hell of a day for you,’” Prescott said afterward. “I'm not happy with my personal performance today and that's what motivates me.

“Nobody’s a bigger critic than I am personally and I expect greatness out of myself.”

The Cowboys, in making Prescott the highest-paid player in NFL history, signaled that they expect greatness out of him, too. Sunday’s game did not negate their belief. But it illustrated why the deal made sense for both Prescott and the franchise. It also illustrated how societal confluence of quarterback value and quarterback production sometimes mars the reality of the NFL.

Prescott’s $231 million guaranteed bested the previous NFL record of his Sunday counterpart, Deshaun Watson, by $1 million. While their finances now resemble one another, their franchises’ opening performances tell very different stories.

Prescott did enough to contribute to a talented team’s road victory. Watson was hit 17 times and sacked six as he fumbled and threw two interceptions. Shaky protection, quarterback misfires and receiver miscommunications contributed. Even as Watson repeated “no excuses” after the game, the Browns organization knew something needed to change.

“He got hit way too often,” Cleveland head coach Kevin Stefanski said. “We can’t let that happen to him. He fought like crazy, and listen, the football team fought like crazy to the end.

“But bottom line is, we have to protect our quarterback better than that.”

While Prescott took 4 hits, Watson absorbed 17(!)

Before Prescott found his rhythm in Cleveland, he absorbed his own body blow.

A holding penalty had positioned the Cowboys at first-and-20 on their opening drive. Dallas started two rookies on its offensive line, but the first of three sacks Prescott took did not result from a rookie. Browns defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson instead notched the rare sack that comes from beating nine-time Pro Bowl right guard Zack Martin. Tomlinson mauled straight through to Prescott as he sacked him for a loss of 7 yards.

On the sideline, after the resulting punt, Prescott said: “I needed that.”

Consider the wakeup call heard.

Prescott was reminded not only of how hard hits come but also of how quickly and precisely he needed to target his receivers, or in that case tight end Jake Ferguson. His handsome new contract wasn’t going to change the challenge ahead.

So Prescott rebounded on the next drive to find receiver CeeDee Lamb twice, including a go ball 34 yards down the right sideline despite the duo not hammering go-ball timing during training camp with Lamb holding out for a contract extension. Even in Lamb’s week back at practice, their luck on the route was scarce.

But the Cowboys needed momentum for their road game against the 2023 No. 1 defense, and the pricy duo delivered that.

Three plays later, Prescott spotted Brandin Cooks separating from safety Juan Thornhill deep and heaved a 21-yard pass from the collapsing pocket for the game’s first touchdown.

By halftime, the Cowboys had powered 13 first downs to 20 points. The Browns had one first down and a field goal. Cleveland wouldn’t overcome it.

Prescott and the Cowboys' offense returned from the locker room to put on what several Dallas members called a “sloppy” second half. The Cowboys struggled with the first- and second-down rhythm they’d found in the first half, their reduced efficiency leading to third-down pressures from which they weren’t able to overcome. Stalled drives gave kicker Brandon Aubrey ample work on the day, a punt-return touchdown from KaVontae Turpin further cushioning Dallas’ lead. But the Cowboys' offense did not score a second-half touchdown, and netted just two first downs to their first-half 13. By game’s end, the Browns had statistically caught up in several categories even if they never truly seemed in striking distance.

“We just couldn't convert on third down, and that's something that we've been great at, something I take a lot of pride in,” Prescott said. “Had a couple of three-and-outs in the second half that made that team think they had a chance to come back in this game and put a little pressure on our defense.

“I can be better in a lot of ways in this game.”

His counterpart said the same.

Both teams entered this opener knowing they should expect feisty defensive fronts and ample pressures. Neither had a fully established offensive line, though the Cowboys’ two rookie starters fared far better than a Browns group missing both starting tackles. Cleveland also has yet to return running back Nick Chubb from the physically unable to perform list. Chubb commands defensive attention that requires opponents to distill some pressure that Sunday was on Watson.

Even so, the Cowboys rebounded from an early sack to score 33 points, lead for the final 53 minutes and five seconds of the game, and escape with no turnovers and just four hits on Prescott.

The Browns let Watson take 17 hits in his first game back from shoulder surgery, and they entered the final minute of the game with just one touchdown, a score that came on an officiating mixup that featured a first-down attempt in the red zone that both teams thought was a fourth-down attempt. Their defense’s stalwart performance was for naught.

“No excuses,” Watson said. “I’m gonna take the blame and get the guys on the same page and we gotta be better next week. We just gotta go out there and execute. … Find any type of positivity.”

Where the Browns can’t, the Cowboys can.

Jerry Jones hinted deal was near to Dak — and then delivered it

Prescott wasn’t expecting Jerry Jones to approach him on Saturday.

The quarterback was expecting his team owner’s comments so little that when Jones walked out toward the team’s warmups, his quarterback glanced and then returned to throwing.

As Jones kept getting closer, Prescott asked his fellow quarterbacks: Is he coming to talk to me?

“F***,” he said, unsure in what direction he was even exclaiming but knowing more concrete words weren’t going to capture his feelings.

“He did ask me, ‘Have you talked to anybody in the last 24 or 12 hours?’ And I'm like, ‘No, I hadn't,’” Prescott told Yahoo Sports. “So when I left practice, I called [my agent] Todd [France] and was like, ‘Hey, Jerry just came up to me and asked.’ And Todd literally gave me like, ‘Yeah, who knows. Hasn’t really been much movement. We’ve been talking all night. … We’re not that close.’”

“When I got on the plane, I'm like, ‘I'm playing without one.’”

But the Cowboys have long said deadlines make deals and this one proved no exception. The team seemingly conceded to the reality that a 2025 negotiation with other suitors would give Prescott quite literally unimaginable leverage. Prescott and his representation wanted to factor in that earning potential while also recognizing that the Cowboys give him a chance to play for his childhood favorite team, near family, alongside a talented cast.

They agreed $60 million per season now reflected not only the 2024 market but also the 2025 one they were otherwise headed for. Jones said “he was our best chance of getting” a Super Bowl, the 82-year-old adding that he hopes Prescott is the Cowboys’ quarterback for the rest of his lifetime.

Prescott celebrated from his hotel room alongside 2016 draft classmate Ezekiel Elliott and physical therapist Luke Miller. He FaceTimed his team of professionals who have become like family, and then his girlfriend Sarah Jane Ramos and daughter MJ Prescott, called his father, and sent additional texts.

Then he moved forward preparing for the season opener at a stadium within sight of his hotel.

He played a game alongside a superb defense and special teamers who reminded him why the Cowboys roster may give him more of a chance to win a Super Bowl than any 2025 suitors. And the Cowboys watched the Browns unravel with a quarterback unable to keep them afloat amid that day’s chaos, glad that their quarterback had powered a strong start even if the offense showed later vulnerabilities in a league where players and units rarely dominate for an entire day.

Prescott’s teammates reminded him to celebrate the win and the contract even if his and their work wasn't over. Running back Malik Davis spearheaded a playful group giving wrist sizes to Prescott as they asked him when he was gifting them watches with his signing bonus, while Turpin — he of the punt-return touchdown — told Prescott he now owes the receiver $1,500 per week, apropos of pretty much nothing.

Prescott sighed relief that the anticipation of a maybe-soon-maybe-not contract was over, that the prospect of a near divorce from Dallas had dissolved, and that his team had inched one win closer to its ultimate postseason goals.

The Cowboys had made good on their commitment to Prescott financially and from a roster standpoint. He was eager, in the months to come, to make good on theirs.

“I just want to hold up my end of the deal and deliver it to him,” Prescott said. “I’m blessed and thankful.”