Dak Prescott and 9 other NFL stars handling contract disputes very differently

It’s odd to think of Dak Prescott as a businessman. But that’s what he is. Yes, he has his team of agents and managers and negotiators. But he might be the Dallas Cowboys’ most important employee right now. And because the Cowboys are one of the NFL’s most important teams, Prescott might just be one of the NFL’s most important employees.

And the guy just wants to get paid in a way that reflects his value.

He’s not alone. This year, many players are in contentious contract situations — with Dallas having three different fraught financial negotiations (Prescott, CeeDee Lamb and Micah Parsons). Outside of Dallas, superstars like quarterback Jordan Love, tackle Trent Brown, receiver Brandon Aiyuk, running back Alvin Kamara and edge Matthew Judon are also fighting for more money. And they’re doing it in unique ways. 

Let’s break these battles into categories to determine who’s doing what to get a new contract.

Holding out

CeeDee Lamb, WR, Cowboys

Lamb is the latest Dallas star who has gotten in line for a big deal. He finished last season with 135 catches, 1,746 yards and 12 touchdowns. He’s actually set to earn $17.9 million in 2024 on his fifth-year rookie option, which doesn’t make him criminally underpaid. But it pales in comparison to what Justin Jefferson ($35 million/year) and Jaylen Waddle ($28.3M/year) are set to earn. 

The question for Lamb isn’t whether he’s deserving of a new deal. He absolutely is. It’s a matter of whether his holdout can push him to the front of the line — ahead of Prescott and Parsons, both due massive contracts. 

It seems owner and team president Jerry Jones has fallen behind on his accounting.

The biggest issue for Dallas and Lamb is Jefferson’s deal. 

The Minnesota Vikings were on the verge of falling deeper into the basement of the NFL without their star WR. Their offense was already taking a massive hit without Kirk Cousins. Without Jefferson? It would be a disaster. So Jefferson isn’t just a top-five receiver, he also caught Minnesota in a moment of desperation. That’s why his deal is probably what other receivers want — but what teams are currently unwilling to match.

Trent Williams, LT, 49ers

When you’re as good as Williams, widely considered the best player at his position (and one of the best players in the NFL at any position), you want to make sure your pay is commensurate with your talent. The thing is, his deal isn’t far off the market value. He’s currently making the third-most among tackles while entering the fourth year of his six-year, $138 million deal. There are other players on this list who are getting snubbed. 

Williams — well, he’s just accustomed to making astronomically more than his peers.

“It was something I knew could be a possibility, and I was hoping that he would be here,” coach Kyle Shanahan said of Williams’ camp absence. “But I knew it could be a possibility, and I felt pretty confident it’ll all work out in the long run. … I think Trent will be all right missing a few practices.”

The good news is that Williams might be happy with just a few million more per year — because his deal, in theory, isn’t far off the top of the market. But the bad news is that he’s not the only star embroiled in a major contract dispute with the 49ers. (Keep reading, folks.)

Haason Reddick, edge, Jets

The Jets had their first Jets-being-Jets moment of the offseason. After trading for Reddick, who reportedly told New York he didn’t need a new deal right away, he asked for a new deal right away. 

So the Jets are caught in a pickle. They thought Reddick would play on his current contract. Now they’ve got a big hole on their depth chart, with Reddick not in the building.

“We have 89 other guys that we have to prepare,” coach Robert Saleh told reporters. “He’s a veteran, he’s been with multiple teams, he’s played multiple positions, he’s had success in multiple different ways. At this point in his career, I’m sure he knows exactly what he needs to do to prepare himself to play football. So I’m not overly concerned.”

Saleh and GM Joe Douglas have brought in a smattering of highly talented young defensive linemen in recent years, from Jermaine Johnson to Michael Clemons to Will McDonald, who will have extra opportunities to develop. Saleh pushed that message to the media, which feels like a veiled threat to Reddick: Get back here or you might lose your job by the time you rejoin us.

“There’s a bunch of guys on this team that are going to get reps that they would not have necessarily gotten with him [Reddick] being here,” Saleh said. “So I see it more as an opportunity for guys to really work their craft and find ways to get better and force their way onto the football field.”

Holding in

Jordan Love, QB, Packers

Love is present for practices, but he has not participated. This method is an optics-friendly way of forcing the Packers to offer him a new contract.

For Green Bay, it’s a be-careful-what-you-wish-for scenario. The Packers thrust Love into a starting role after years of backing up Aaron Rodgers. Green Bay’s transition from one quarterback to the next has gone as smoothly as the team could have hoped. The Packers have a young, high-quality QB (Love) — even after losing a future Hall of Famer (Rodgers).

But given the timing of the transition, Love is on a one-year deal and wants his new contract — now. And he’s smart to fight for it. 

There’s no saying whether he can keep playing as well as he did in the second half of last season. But the Packers have put themselves in a situation where they need to bet that he will.

So Love is likely to get paid top dollar, even though he has started for only one season (which, by the way, is more than Rodgers played when he received an extension).

“We certainly understand where he’s coming from,” general manager Brian Gutekunst said. “We’d like him to be out there. It’s important for him to be out there. Obviously, you guys know how important practice is, and working with his teammates. But as of now, until we get that resolved, he will not be practicing.”

Tua Tagovailoa, QB, Dolphins

Here’s a contract that no one — especially not Tua and the Dolphins — can agree upon. Tagovailoa’s performance over the past two years has turned into a kaleidoscope of debate. Is he a replaceable quarterback, built up by his scheme and supporting cast? Or is he the essential cog in the scheme?

Given how poorly the Dolphins have played when Tua has been injured, it feels like he’s an essential cog. Miami will eventually have to give up its fight and relent to what Tagovailoa has done — he’s the best quarterback this franchise has seen since Dan Marino. 

At training camp, Tagovailoa spent some time on the field on Wednesday but decided not to participate at all on Thursday. It’s a smart play. There might not be an offense in the NFL more reliant on timing, which means the Dolphins need their QB on the field to make things work. It’s the perfect move for Tua, who is gently reminding everyone that Mike McDaniel’s system is a house of cards without its QB1.

Brandon Aiyuk, WR, 49ers

Aiyuk went so far as to demand a trade, copying his teammate Deebo Samuel’s tactic for pushing the negotiations into DEFCON 5 — or thereabouts. There’s no doubt teams will have interest in Aiyuk, who might be one of the more underrated receivers in the NFL. His production doesn’t properly demonstrate the way that he created separation on every route and in every circumstance last year.

That’s why the 49ers won’t want to honor Aiyuk’s trade demand. 

“We fully intend on Brandon being a Niner moving forward,” GM John Lynch said. “We’re always open to listen to things, but like I said, we expect Brandon to be an integral part of our team like he has been and [we’re] excited about that.”

Aiyuk’s deal will likely end up comparable to that of Jefferson, because the 49ers receiver is that good and that essential to this offense. And it helps, too, that San Francisco has ample cap space, the most in the NFL right now.

Practicing but openly discontent

Matthew Judon, edge, Patriots

A source close to Judon told FOX Sports that negotiations with the star pass-rusher and the Patriots were not close heading into training camp. He’s unhappy with the current terms, which will pay him just $7.5 million in 2024. With a void year tacked onto the contract in 2025, this is essentially the final season on Judon’s deal. But because the team gave him a raise after a holdout last year, he told reporters during the spring that he didn’t want to hold out this year. 

But on the first day of training camp Wednesday, he also made his discontent loud and clear.

“It’s tough going into the last year of the deal,” Judon said. “You kind of look at everybody around the league and in the building, and you see them getting deals done and worked out, and it’s tough to not be jealous or envious of something like that. But honestly, I got to focus on myself. I’m happy for those guys.”

The Patriots have granted extensions to seven of their starters this year (DT Christian Barmore, OT Michael Onwenu, SS Kyle Dugger, RB Rhamondre Stevenson, TE Hunter Henry, C David Andrews, LB Jahlani Tavai) with deals that are worth $292 million over the life of their contracts. 

There’s some question whether the Patriots, who don’t seem equipped to win this year, would be better off trading Judon — and letting someone else give him a lucrative contract.

“Do I want to be traded? Hell no,” Judon said. “… If I’m traded, that’s not up to me. … That’s one thing that I don’t get to control. So if I go to San Francisco, or I’ve seen trades to Atlanta, Detroit, all that stuff — the stuff y’all see, I see as well. But I just don’t buy into it. Once they tell me I’m gone, that’s when I’m gone.”

Alvin Kamara, RB, Saints

Kamara is set to make $11.8 million in new money in 2024, which is fourth-most among running backs behind Saquon Barkley, Josh Jacobs and Christian McCaffrey.

Kamara’s contract gets tentative next season when he’ll be due around $25 million in new money — a sum Kamara knows is too high for the Saints. It’s likely they cut him, take a small dead cap hit and let him hit free agency. 

Kamara’s agent, Bradley Cicala, wouldn’t get into details about how they’d like New Orleans to sweeten the contract.

“We have had dialogue with the Saints on and off this offseason,” Cicala told FOX Sports. “Alvin is a top running back in the NFL and the Saints need to take that into consideration and compensate him appropriately.”

Kamara has made it clear he wants to re-up with New Orleans, seemingly to get a raise this year and extend his deal into 2025 (and perhaps longer).

“I ain’t stupid. I ain’t gonna give the money up,” Kamara said of his decision to report. “I’m trying to get some money, right? I was gonna be here. It’s no one that has a jersey on; I wouldn’t even blame any coaches [with] what’s going on with contract issues right now. This happens all across the league. 

“I’ll be a fool to spite my teammates because of a dispute I’m having with upstairs. I wouldn’t even call it a dispute. We’re just having conversations about compensation. … I’m not that guy. I’m for the team. So I’m here, I’m doing what I’ve got to do. I’m working.”

Sitting tight

Dak Prescott, QB, Cowboys

Dak is on the final season of a four-year, $160 million contract. His 2024 cash — $34 million — pales in comparison to new contracts of his peers, who are making more than $50 million annually. Prescott would break the bank if he ended up in free agency in 2025, but Dallas would probably use the franchise tag to keep him around. And that’s a scenario no one wants. It worked for Kirk Cousins, of course, who has made a habit of testing free agency. But it’s easy to imagine that Prescott, who had a major ankle injury, doesn’t want to risk his health on the tag, which is essentially a one-year deal.

The Cowboys might not have ample cap space this year ($12 million), but they have plenty next year. With roughly $65 million in spending money in 2025, the Cowboys figure to have the fifth-most cap space. And they’re going to need it to settle things up with Lamb, Prescott and Parsons.

As for Jerry Jones, he explained his approach to the stall in negotiations for all three players by likening himself to an option quarterback — waiting until the last moment to choose where to pitch the ball. 

Let’s just hope that hesitancy doesn’t lead to the quarterback getting crushed by the opposition.

Micah Parsons, edge, Cowboys

That the Cowboys are in three different major contract disputes is actually a testament to Jerry Jones saying that he’s “all-in” on 2024. Because he has overspent on the whole roster — a push for talent right now — while neglecting the team’s future. That has made things awkward between him and his best players. 

The good news is that the 49ers have gotten into blowups with their top players over money, and it’s generally an easy fix: you pay them.

It’s hard to imagine Dallas without Parsons, right? Or without Prescott or Lamb? So it’s most likely that Jones will do what is logical: extend all three between now and March.

But even with all that cap space in 2025, there should be some question about whether the Cowboys will retain all three of these core players. Because — if we’re going to keep using Jones’ “option quarterback” analogy — two players end up without the ball. And that can create increased discontent.

Prior to joining FOX Sports as the AFC East reporter, Henry McKenna spent seven years covering the Patriots for USA TODAY Sports Media Group and Boston Globe Media. Follow him on Twitter at @henrycmckenna.

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