As the game approaches, contract talks won’t take Dak Prescott’s attention off the field

FRISCO — Dak Prescott always says he is where his feet are to show he is rooted in the present.

Every news conference the quarterback has held since training camp — or rather, since returning to organized team activities in the spring — has included one, two or 20 questions about the status of his contract negotiations.

With the regular season opener on the horizon, Prescott was hit with a variation of that theme. Does he think it would be in the team’s best interest to resolve his status before the season opener on Sunday afternoon in Cleveland?

Before we hear from the Cowboys quarterback, let’s talk to a teammate who knows a thing or two about waiting for an extension. So, once again, would it be best for this team if Prescott got an extension in the next 72 hours?

“Yeah, absolutely,” receiver CeeDee Lamb said. “Obviously, Dak does a great job of not bringing that into the workspace. But I know personally how that can affect you.”

Lamb skipped the offseason and the entire training camp in Southern California to earn the four-year, $136 million extension he coveted. You can dwell on the time he was away or marvel at how quickly it all came together in the end.

“I feel like 24 hours can really change your life,” Lamb said. “Of course it did for me and the whole process I went through.

“This is Dak’s second contract, second time at the table. I know he’s very familiar with it and how Jerry (Jones) works.

“I have no doubt they will do their job.”

Now let’s get back to Prescott and the original question.

“Maybe from a team standpoint, yeah,” Prescott said of the potential benefit to the team of getting the deal done before taking the field against the Browns. “You know, I’ve always talked about how much of a presence I can be, but understanding that not everybody can do that, honestly.

“There could definitely be some benefits to it.”

The benefit would be not having to answer these questions week after week. The benefit would be eliminating the distraction that would grow with each loss.

Prescott is confident both sides are working sincerely to strike a deal. Done by this weekend?

“I would say they are working,” Prescott said. “I don’t know if that’s necessarily the timeline.

“I can’t say, ‘I’ll set a timeline for Todd (France) and Stephen (Jones) if we don’t do this, this or the other.’

“But I know they work.”

Can both sides continue to work on this in week two?

“I’m still going to work,” Prescott said. “That’s the only thing that matters to me.”

A week earlier, when asked about an extension, Prescott made it clear that it would say a lot about how the Jones family feels if an agreement wasn’t reached, a comment he recalled Thursday.

“People change their feelings every day,” he replied. “I can’t say I feel the same way I did last week.”

Zack Martin isn’t interested in all that emotional talk right now. The Pro Bowl linebacker would rather focus on the task at hand.

“Dak is as mentally strong as anyone in this locker room,” Martin said. “At the end of the day, he cares about what’s important.

“The most important thing now is to play against the Browns in a few days.”

The question remains what will or won’t happen before the game regarding Prescott’s contract.

“He knows we’re rooting for him, me, the most, for sure,” Lamb said. “We’ve got to hurry up and get it done so we can put this behind us and win more games.”

You can catch David Moore with The Musers every Monday through Friday at 9:35 a.m. on The Hardline, daily Tuesday through Friday at 4:35 p.m., and on The Invasion every Wednesday at 11:10 p.m. on The Ticket (KTCK-AM 1310 and 96.7 FM) during the regular season.

Twitter: @DavidMooreDMN

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