Throughout the last several months, the Dallas Cowboys have been engulfed by the lingering contract situation with Pro Bowl quarterback Dak Prescott. The team has yet to secure a long-term deal with Prescott, which has pushed the matter to persist on into the offseason with no uncertainty that a resolution will come before the July 15 deadline for players under a franchise tag. That said, it appears that all of it is boiling down to one detail that could finally get Prescott under a long-term deal ahead of the 2020 season.

Dak Prescott’s contract situation

The entire chatter around Prescott‘s contractual standing with the Cowboys became a prominent topic of discussion last offseason.

The initial hope was to get a new extension in place before the 2019 campaign, but those talks bleed into the start of the regular season. They foreseeably stalled and didn’t pick back up until this past February around the Scouting Combine.

The two sides had attempted to hammer out a new contract before the franchise tag deadline in March, but that led to the team designating the tender on the 26-year-old. Since then, things have taken some intriguing turns as Prescott has yet to put pen to paper for his franchise tag and elected to not participate in voluntary team virtual workouts.

It has sent a clear message that Prescott is eyeing a new deal with the Cowboys this offseason with no desire to play out the 2020 campaign on essentially a one-year contract. The two sides have picked up contract talks in recent weeks, but it hasn’t seen the progress that was hoped to be made ahead of the July 15 deadline.

That said, there appears to finally be clarity as to why Prescott isn’t signed to a lucrative extension.

Dak Prescott’s request to Jerry Jones

The Cowboys have made it clear that they are more than willing to pay their star quarterback on his next deal.

Prescott is gearing toward becoming one of the league’s highest-paid players at his position, if not top of the list. However, Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports is reporting that the Pro Bowler wants a four-year deal and not a five-year contract. (H/T NJ.com)

“Cowboys fans should know this: the entire negotiation argument with Dak boils down to the ‘5 years’ aspect of what Dallas wants. This fight is 4 yrs vs 5 yrs. If that’s not a situation that can be worked out by July 15, I don’t know what is. Yet both are standing firm.”

It comes after a report from Mike Fisher of 105.3 The Fan reported over the weekend that the Cowboys have a massive offer on the table for Prescott. It would make him the highest-paid in NFL history with a five-year deal with $35 million annually and $106 million guaranteed.

Prescott is likely looking for a shorter deal to maximize his ability to garner another mega deal at age 30. It’s a desire that the Cowboys will probably have to meet to finally get a new contract completed within roughly the next two months before the deadline.

Will the Cowboys ink Dak Prescott to a new extension?

That is the million-dollar question that the Cowboys still don’t have a firm answer to concerning Prescott’s long-term future.

The further the talks have moved along, the greater clarity that Dallas has in what the Mississippi State product wants in his next deal. Not only does he want to be paid top dollar at his position, but wants it under a four-year contract.

It may just be a matter of the Cowboys bending their way toward that demand to have their franchise cornerstone under center in place for the long haul.