Before the 2026 season begins, Dak Prescott is already leading the Dallas Cowboys in passing yards and is closing in on the 36,000-yard mark. He’s also the franchise leader in completion percentage at 66.9% and passer rating at 98.3. During the season, Prescott only needs six touchdowns to become the franchise’s all-time leader in passing touchdowns, surpassing franchise legend Tony Romo.

On paper, those numbers establish Dak Prescott as one of the best quarterbacks not only in Cowboys history but also in the league. In reality, however, Dallas has little to show for his individual success, as the Cowboys haven’t reached the NFC Championship Game in the last 30 years, let alone the Super Bowl.

Dale Hansen recently addressed Prescott’s situation in Dallas while speaking with former Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman. He asked Aikman whether he believes the Cowboys will change their trajectory this year or continue playing the same way they have. Aikman, as ever, remained optimistic that the Cowboys will ultimately turn things around.

“I don’t want to be a cynic, but we’ve been saying that for 30 years, so I mean, at some point, the Cowboys are going to break through. It’s just a matter of when,” said Aikman on Dallas Dialogue with Dale.

However, Hansen’s argument is built on the fact that Dak Prescott still isn’t Troy Aikman or Roger Staubach when it comes to driving team success. The Cowboys under Tom Landry, alongside Staubach, won two Super Bowls. Meanwhile, Aikman won the remaining three under Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer.

“He’s not you (Aikman). He’s not Roger Staubach. And hell, I’m not even convinced he’s Danny White. I mean, I don’t know if you know about Danny White’s game, but Danny White was very good,” Hansen told Aikman.

Hansen’s criticism came as Dak Prescott is currently making $60 million per year despite not having a Super Bowl ring, to which Aikman reacted,

“I was asked recently if I thought the Cowboys have let Dak down, and the question came from the perspective of the defense and not addressing that,” Aikman added. “And as I said, I find it hard to say that the Cowboys have let Dak down when he’s the highest-paid guy in the NFL at $60 million a year.”

The Cowboys signed Prescott on a four-year, $240 million extension back in 2024, making him the first player with a $60 million average annual salary. The deal included $231 million guaranteed and an $80 million signing bonus. Heading into the 2026 season, Prescott’s cap charge is $44.5 million, which represents 13.13% of the team’s salary cap.

So, it won’t be wrong to say that the Cowboys have invested a huge chunk of their salary cap in Prescott’s salary. Now, Aikman believes that Prescott’s massive contract has to be considered when evaluating Dallas’ roster construction.

Of course, Prescott’s stats speak for themselves. During the 2025 season, the Cowboys’ QB recorded 4,552 passing yards, 30 touchdowns, and just 10 interceptions. With Prescott leading the offense, Dallas ranked seventh in the league in scoring, averaging 27.7 points per game.

But at the same time, the defense was a major disappointment. For broader context, the Cowboys had one of the worst scoring defenses in the league, allowing 30.1 points per game, while ranking 30th in total defense after surrendering more than 6,400 yards, or 377 yards per game. The pass defense was arguably the biggest problem, as the unit allowed 4,521 passing yards.

Following the 2025 season, the Cowboys fired defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus and brought Christian Parker to replace him ahead of the 2026 season. General manager and owner Jerry Jones, meanwhile, was tasked with a major defensive rebuild.

The only caveat, however, was that Dallas was $55 million over the salary cap heading into the offseason.

That forced the franchise to restructure three major contracts on the roster, including Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, and Tyler Smith. The restructuring saved approximately $66 million in 2026 cap space, largely by converting salary into signing bonuses. Prescott’s original 2026 base salary was $40 million before the restructuring.

The move made sense, considering Jerry Jones showed an urgency to invest heavily on defense during the offseason right after the season was over.

“I would bet we will spend more money in free agency than we have,” he said. “I want you to know that the only way to push forward is for me to go borrow some of my future. Expect me to go borrow some of my future, OK?”

“…I think that would be the area that you would see me bust the budget. Where you would see me do that is what we’re doing defensively. And I would expect anybody that’s a Cowboy fan or a critic of the Cowboys to say, ‘Duh, that’s not hard to see, Jerry, to do.’ But I guess what I’m doing is saying, yes, I intend to do that if given the opportunity.”

Subsequently, the Cowboys used their first three draft picks in 2026 on defense, including Ohio State safety Caleb Downs at No. 11 and EDGE Malachi Lawrence at No. 23. They also added defensive players in free agency and trades, including Rashan Gary’s trade and the signings of Jalen Thompson, P.J. Locke, Cobie Durant, and Derion Kendrick in free agency.

Still, Dak Prescott’s massive $60 million average annual salary remains a significant hurdle for the Cowboys. For starters, the Cowboys franchise-tagged George Pickens as the wide receiver pursued his next contract extension.

However, during one of his press conferences earlier this offseason, Stephen Jones said having one of the highest-paid receivers and quarterbacks on the roster makes it difficult for Dallas to sign Pickens to a new deal.

“It’s not easy having two receivers being paid top of the market,” Jones said. “That’s obviously a stretch, especially when you have other great players on your team, a quarterback that’s been here being the highest-paid player in this league for many years now. Certainly, that’s part of it. The other thing is the newness of George being here.

“I think George has just done an amazing job. He’s exceeded all expectations. … So that’s a plus. A lot of these things, they make their way toward a long-term deal, but that’s the biggest part of it. Between the business and the newness of it, I think that’s a big part of it.”

At the same time, while the Cowboys have restructured major contracts for the 2026 season, those moves will certainly impact the team’s future. To put it simply, Prescott’s cap hit has been increased to over $75 million in 2027 and over $85 million in 2028.

In short, when Troy Aikman suggested that it’s difficult to blame the Cowboys for not giving Dak Prescott more help, considering the quarterback is taking up a significant portion of their resources, it’s safe to say that the Cowboys legend had a point.