Leverage??! What leverage? Dak will be coming off a serious injury, a 1 -3 record, multiple turnovers, taking too many sacks, etc. Although he will be expected to make a complete recovery, there are no guarantees he will perform at his current level. Sure other notable players have returned after a similar injury and enjoyed great careers but there are other players that have not such as Allen Hurns, Delanie Walker, etc.
I think Jerry and Stephen will do what they did last offseason and offer Dak a very fair contract. This time, Dak would surely not pass on it given his return from a serious injury. It should work out for both sides. The only X factor would be if Andy Dalton absolutely crushes it and takes the Cowboys deep into the playoffs. No one could have predicted that our beloved Tony Romo would be put out to pasture by a 4th round rookie because of injury. Dalton has the ability to convince the Cowboys brass that he would be a far more affordable option which would allow the Boys to retool the defense in a serious way.
I am a Dak fan and hope he makes a complete recovery and shows us he can be an elite QB. However, I am concerned that the massive stats he piled up as he did last year are not an accurate indication of his ability and potential. He piled up a lot of yards while poor defenses were paying prevent defense to protect 20+ point leads. He did fare better against the Giants defense but again got off to a slow start, turned the ball over, and took too much time to get rid of the ball. I think he needs a Parcells type QB coach to help him break some of these bad habits. We'll see what happens.