One insider believes the Dallas Cowboys’ Super Bowl aspirations hinge on quarterback Dak Prescott.
On Wednesday, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler named the two-time Pro Bowler as the league’s most important player for the next seven weeks.
“[Prescott] has been quieting doubt this season — or he should be — and is playing as well as just about any passer in the league,” wrote Fowler. “The NFC feels wide open, so earning the No. 1 seed and a playoff bye is plausible for Dallas (though it will need Philadelphia to stumble). It needs Prescott’s elite play to get there.”
The way that I feel, the confidence I have in this group, myself [being] in the zone, I guess you could call it,” Prescott said, per the team website. “Whatever it is — the coaches, the chemistry of this team, yeah, by far the best I’ve ever felt. It’s not just me, it’s a lot of things around me.”
If Prescott thrives over the next seven weeks and leads Dallas on a deep playoff run, he will prove he’s a premier signal-caller. The Cowboys may also reward him with a contract extension. He has two years remaining on a four-year, $160M deal, which includes an out ($61.9M in dead cap) in 2024.
The Vikings ultimately acquired Joshua Dobbs from the Arizona Cardinals before the NFL trade deadline passed on Oct. 31 and sit at 6-5 with Dobbs atop the depth chart. As for Brady, it was suggested as recently as last week that the San Francisco 49ers were interested in signing the seven-time Super Bowl champion as a free agent when Brock Purdy was in the early days of his recovery from surgery he needed to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow this past March.
While the Vikings are moving forward with Dobbs, both the 5-5 Cincinnati Bengals and the 7-3 Cleveland Browns will be without their star starting quarterbacks through the rest of this season. Some linked Brady with those AFC North clubs late last week, but Zolak’s update indicates the 46-year-old doesn’t have another comeback in him.
