This isn't about Prescott, it is about the team. It's not about establishing his worth. Or any QB's worth.
Do you think the Cowboys would be a championship caliber team with Mahomes or Watson? The two 40M QB's. Think Rodgers or Wilson at 35m and 33M would do it?
TB did what they did with a 25M QB considered the GOAT. KC got there with their QB still on his rookie deal. BAL and BUF got their with QB's on their rookie deals.
When NE was winning all those trophies, what were they paying their QB and why was that? Kraft even said Brady really has no choice meaning if he wanted to stay in NE and keep gathering jewelry, he had to be cooperative on the salary. Because Kraft as the owner understood Belichick the HC was all about the team.
The most successful HC in NFL history would not pay any QB 40M. He had the best and was willing to trade him if he didn't fit in the cap formula. He actually planned on doing that. There's a lesson to be learned there.
It doesn't matter what QB the Cowboys have, they cannot pay him that much of the cap because they are challenged in deciding what to pay other players. They are average team builders at best.
Because of how they distribute the cap, they have to be dead on in the draft, particularly on the D side. Are they? Are they even good in FA with the D? Paying any QB 40M only exacerbates what is already the problem along with being challenged with player evaluations.
The Dallas Cowboys are the prime example of what happens with a team paying too much to too many, it is feast and famine on the same team. And they will all stay hungry.
In the short run, the best thing they can do is get a rookie QB, keep Dalton and focus on the rest of the team. If they don't, the long run doesn't matter.
I completely agree with the statement it is not about Dak it's about the team. Dak is going to get old and retire, like Staubach, Aikman and Romo. The team goes on. The team will go on without Dak. If it has to be next year because Dak refused to sign a long term deal, then so be it. The Cowboys will find a replacement and attempt to build a team around him. Or he could sign a deal and get hurt again.
The team has to be balanced. Right now the Cowboys have committed about $113 million in CAP space to the offense (without Dak) and about $65 million to defense. And keep in mind $25 million of the defensive CAP spend is 1 player, Demarcus Lawrence who has not had double digit sacks since he signed his deal. Anyone want to predict how the defense does in 2021 if this stays as is?
Restating the obvious, building a team with the CAP is hard. It is hard to fit your own players under the CAP and then sign Free Agents. But this is why it is so important to get the deals you do right. If you pay someone like Lawrence he has to make an impact on the defense that is equal to his contract because paying him means another position gets a lesser talent. Lawrence is not making that impact. Neither is Zeke - and neither is Cooper. I will keep harping on Cooper's contract until he does something to change my mind. Add to that list Jaylon Smith, Tyrone Crawford, and all those FAs who were cut in 2020. Everyone makes mistakes, but when those mistakes add up it has to impact the teams won-loss record.
Which brings us to Dak. Let's be honest about Dak, if the Cowboys pay him $40 million, is he going to deliver $40 million performance? I say no, because he is not Mahomes, Brady, Rodgers, or even Brees. Dak is a step below those guys - a good step. Even if they pay Dak $35 million, the imbalance between the offense and defense gets worse. The ability to sign a top free agent DT is erased, or seriously hampered. The defense gets marginally better just because it can't get worse.
But back to your point. The question is not if they can win a Super Bowl with Dak. The question is can they win a Super Bowl with the roster they have with Dak on it. The answer is Dak is good enough to win if the team is good enough to win. But no QB is going to win a Super Bowl with the defense we had last year. Not even Brady and Mahomes.