Kirk Cousins on Dak Prescott’s contract situation: Don’t be afraid of the tag, it can be your friend

A whole lot has happened with regards to the Dallas Cowboys over the course of the last couple of weeks. The NFL Draft brought the greatest results ever for America’s Team (obviously!) and recently the schedule for the upcoming 2020 season was released. These are exciting times.

One of the important dates on the Cowboys’ schedule is Sunday, November 22nd. That is the Sunday before Thanksgiving which will kickstart an intense run for them and as fate would have it they are on the road against the Minnesota Vikings.

It was the Vikings loss last season where Dak Prescott looked to be putting the finishing touches an award-winning drive only to see the team completely implode by running the ball and then botching a punt return. That game came against Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins who many have likened to the current situation that Dak Prescott is in to.

Kirk Cousin’ advice to Dak Prescott is that the franchise tag can be your friend

The reason that people have compared Prescott to Cousins this offseason is because the former has had the franchise tag placed on him just like the latter did. The Washington Redskins infamously tagged Cousins, who seemingly couldn’t push quite past the point where he justified a franchise signal-caller contract, twice, and then ultimately got nothing in return for him when he left for Minnesota.

Cousins was on ESPN on Thursday night reacting to the release of the league schedule and Trey Wingo asked him about the situation that Prescott currently finds himself in. You can watch what Cousins said right here (the 3:09 mark specifically).

“Anybody who I run into who’s been franchise tagged, we have one on our team this year in Anthony Harris, I believe the franchise tag can be your friend. I don’t think it’s something to be disappointed with. I think it enables you to be well-compensated, and deservedly so, for the upcoming season.”

“And then I always say the cream will rise to the top. If you’re good enough the cream’s gonna rise to the top and you’re gonna get compensated the way you want to. Sometimes it doesn’t happy as quickly as you would like, but if you deserve it and you’ve earned it, it’s gonna happen. So you’ve just got to stay the course and stay patient. And certainly in my journey it all worked out. I wouldn’t go back and change a thing.”

“And so my message to Dak, when I saw him midseason last year, was hey, whatever happens, don’t be afraid of the tag, it can be your friend and you can use it to your advantage.”

Cousins did leverage his franchise tag situation in a way that nobody has, and he did so to the point that he got what he wanted - freedom. Kirk Cousins left Washington following the 2017 season and signed a three-year deal with the Vikings that was fully guaranteed. He certainly changed the way the franchise tag was viewed from a player’s perspective.

Dak Prescott is likely not short on people wanting to offer him advice and he is likely well-aware at the leverage he certainly can use to his benefit. The real pushing-meet-shoving won’t happen until the franchise tag deadline in mid-July, for now posturing is being attempted on both sides.

We will continue to wait and see how this develops.