FRISCO, Texas — Entering his 10th season, Dak Prescott is now the longest-tenured member of the Dallas Cowboys with the retirement of Zack Martin and the free agent loss of DeMarcus Lawrence.
“It’s amazing how fast it happens, yeah,” Prescott said after the second organized team activity of the Cowboys’ offseason program on Tuesday. “Not taking anything for granted.”
He joked his teammates call him the uncle.
Prescott, who turns 32 in July, was a fourth-round pick in 2016 and started all 122 games he has played. His 2024 season was cut short after eight games because of a hamstring avulsion that required surgery.
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While not cleared for full contact yet, Prescott took part in all aspects of Tuesday’s OTA, taking every first-team rep in seven-on-seven drills.
“Pretty much can do it all. Feel good,” Prescott said. “Yeah, I think I’m just not cleared for contact, which we’ve got a while for that anyways. Yeah, I’m out there in the team activities, feel good. Just trying to stay that way.”
Prescott said he does not feel behind, despite the rehab work following the surgery.
“My offseason started way earlier so that’s really essentially why I’m ahead,” he said, “on top of working with [director of rehabilitation Britt Brown], working with this training staff and [Prescott’s personal trainer] Luke [Wilson].”
Earlier in the offseason, the feeling in the organization was that Prescott would likely be limited as he returned from surgery.
“People say a lot of things about me, man,” Prescott said. “I just show up and control what I can control healthy. Trying to stay healthy. Feels good. Just trying to push the energy and make sure I continue to get better.”
Prescott has missed games because of injuries in four of the past five seasons. In five of the seven seasons in which Prescott has started at least 12 games, the Cowboys have made the playoffs although they have not advanced past the divisional round.
In 2023, Prescott finished second in MVP voting and led the NFL with 36 touchdown passes. This offseason, the Cowboys added wide receiver George Pickens in a trade from the Pittsburgh Steelers, selected guard Tyler Booker in the first round of the draft and have Pro Bowler CeeDee Lamb around for the offseason after he skipped the workouts last year while awaiting a contract extension.
“He looks good,” head coach Brian Schottenheimer said. “He’s doing his normal stuff. He’s getting most of the work with the ones. We’re rolling some guys through there, but he looks good. I think he’s progressing nicely.”
Last summer, Prescott signed a four-year, $240 million extension that made him the highest-paid quarterback in NFL history. Since then, he has seen a changeover inside the organization from the head coach (Schottenheimer replacing Mike McCarthy) to the locker room.
“There’s reflection here and there, especially, when you’re injured at the time that I was injured, as long as I was injured,” Prescott said. “Different games. There was time for that reflection. And, yeah, it just makes you that much more humble, that much more hungry and blessed. Blessed to be here. Blessed to be doing what I’m doing, walking through these doors every day, playing the game that I love.”
