Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys had a 2025 NFL season to forget. Under first-year head coach Brian Schottenheimer, the Cowboys finished losing four of their last five games, ending with a 7-9-1 record and missing out on the playoffs for a second consecutive season

While the Cowboys may have had a disappointing season, Prescott did not. The former Mississippi State quarterback earned his fourth Pro Bowl nod after completing 404-of-600 passes for 4,552 yards, 30 touchdowns and ten interceptions, adding another 177 yards and two scores on the ground. The star wide receiver duo of CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens certainly helped.

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Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (4) celebrates with wide receiver George Pickens (3) after a touchdown pass.Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (4) celebrates with wide receiver George Pickens (3) after a touchdown pass.Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

(Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images)

While Prescott still has three seasons remaining on his four-year, $240 million deal with the Cowboys, the team is looking to return to the playoffs in the 2026 NFL season. With Dallas well over the salary cap before free agency begins, the team elected to restructure the contracts of Prescott and left guard Tyler Smith, creating roughly $47 million in cap space. The Cowboys are also expected to restructure Lamb’s deal, pushing that total to around $66 million.

With a portion of Prescott’s base salary now converted into a signing bonus, the quarterback can turn his full attention to the 2026 NFL season as he eyes a return to the playoffs. On Wednesday, while speaking at a Children’s Cancer Fund event, Prescott revealed that he plans to improve multiple aspects of his game this offseason, especially his footwork.

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“Yeah, just all those little nuances,” Prescott said. “I think if there’s one thing, it’s probably just some rhythm in my footwork. And that’s something that other people might not even realise or see, but it’s just me wanting to be a perfectionist in the way that we do things. I started doing good things last year with Schotty, and the point of the footwork, and some of them aren’t quite to the standards we want them to be. So that’s a big part of it, but as you said, the whole game.”

NFL free agency will officially open on March 11. Then, the Cowboys will have the No. 12 and No. 20 picks in the upcoming 2026 NFL Draft.

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This story was originally published by Athlon Sports on Mar 4, 2026, where it first appeared in the NFL section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.