I do think it is coveted for non-football reasons. Parcells said it when he was hired... Dallas is "the big room." Very few people have a chance to play the "big room" in their lives, and when that opportunity becomes available, you jump. If you are successful there, you are ingrained in history.
That said, I fully understand what Aikman is saying. Prescott is a declining player with a 90 million dollar cap hit next year due to all the void money from his last contract. You can kick the can down the road on 40 mil of that, but it just makes you less and less competitive down the road. The team is not managed well and has hemorrhaged talent; the talent they are bringing in through the draft is not bad, but not enough to compensate for the losses. And there is the grim reaper constantly hanging over you, saying all sorts of nonsense all the time as soon as he sees a camera.
It would take a very particular type of person to thrive in that environment.