Mac Engel: Sorry, Dak; the Dallas Cowboys must consider drafting a quarterback in the 1st round

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Dak Prescott is now an “Injury Prone” quarterback who is on the wrong side of 30, and the Dallas Cowboys need to be real about the man they love.

The Cowboys should discuss the scenario that if a quarterback they like is available when they select (high) in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft it’s smart to take him now. (It is).

The Dallas Cowboys 2024 season is increasingly about 2025 draft position, and their $60 million man just needs to return to a healthy state before he plays another game. Other than the internal pressure he feels to play ASAP, Dak Prescott has no need to return to the field this season.

The Cowboys’ starting quarterback missed Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles in Arlington with a nasty hamstring injury that will require season-ending surgery. In an effort to exhaust all options, he is scheduled to visit with one more specialist in the hopes of hearing the opinion he seeks, but he’s not apt to find it.

This team has more needs than Jerry Jones has fingers, toes, socks, and yachts combined, but we’re talking about quarterbacks. If you like him, take him. This is pro sports, where finding replacements is a priority.

The Cooper Rush story is inspiring, and evidenced by how he played on Sunday in the Cowboys’ 34-6 loss, this Hallmark movie saga has hit its ceiling. The defense kept the Cowboys in the game for the first half against Philly on Sunday, and Rush’s offense set the game of football back by at least a decade.

Rush is a career backup, which, good for him. The coaching staff has no interest in backup-backup Trey Lance, but because Rush was so blah they put the former third overall pick in the game late in the third quarter. For two plays. He played most of the fourth quarter, at which time the afternoon felt like a preseason game, and Lance squeezed in an interception.

If you want to say it, go ahead. This thing is a clown show, only that’s a bit of an insult to clowns.

Dak’s monster contract will affect how the team approaches drafting a quarterback, but should not end it. If you are looking for a comp’, check Atlanta.

On March 11, the Falcons handed free agent quarterback Kirk Cousins a four-year $180 million contract. The deal is effectively a two-year contract that includes $100 million in guarantees.

On April 25, the same Falcons drafted University of Washington quarterback Michael Penix with the eighth overall pick. A player they projected would be off their draft board by the time they picked was available, and they selected Cousins’ replacement.

It’s unconventional, and may ultimately be dumb, but when it comes to quarterbacks logic and reason don’t always fit.

The Cowboys have to entertain this sort of thinking because there are troubling signs that Dak is going through what hit Tony Romo near the end of his career.

Starting in 2013, when Romo was 33, he began to show signs that the consequences of the game were catching him. In Romo’s final two seasons, his body finally had had enough, which opened the door for Dak to take his job, in 2016. The difference there is Romo was dealing with back issues, which are typically more threatening than a leg.

Prescott will be 32 next year, and his legs are closer to 52.

In 2020, he suffered a gruesome ankle injury that limited him to five games and required multiple surgeries. In 2021, he missed one game with a calf injury. In 2022, he missed four games with a fractured thumb on his throwing hand.

In 2023, he appeared in all 17 games and was a finalist for the NFL’s regular-season MVP award.

Here in 2024, he will likely be limited to eight games.

Not every injury is related, but injured players do have a terrible track record of suffering injuries again and again. The injuries aren’t Dak’s fault, but the trend is undeniable.

When the Cowboys selected Prescott in the fourth round of the ‘16 draft, it was not done to replace Romo. They liked the player, and he was available. Cowboys director of scouting Will McClay deserves a lot of the credit for not only drafting Prescott, and for convincing the team he could handle the starting role when Romo went down in training camp of 2016.

It was the highest they had selected a quarterback in the draft since they used a second round pick on Georgia’s Quincy Carter. The last time they used a first round pick on a quarterback was 1989, when they picked Troy Aikman No. 1 overall. The results of their respective careers were just a little different.

The last remaining challenge to this scenario are the potential rookie quarterbacks themselves. After Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders, this is not considered a deep class of quarterbacks. Texas’ Quinn Ewers, Miami’s Cam Ward and Alabama’s Jalen Milroe are all in the discussion of potential first rounders.

Neither the Cowboys nor Dak want to be in this situation, but they’re here for a reason.

The team stinks, the QB keeps getting hurt, and, at his age, the Cowboys must address whether it’s time to consider drafting his replacement should he be available.