Dak Prescott’s horrific injury against the Giants on Sunday left everyone in shock, but it also brought up a bigger discussion for some:
Dak should have gotten paid.
Former Cowboys player Jason Hatcher expressed this sentiment on his Instagram page, calling out Prescott’s agent and ripping his ex-team for failing to ink his client to a lucrative long-term deal – which may not happen as the 27-year-old quarterback will need to prove he can come back from season-ending surgery on a compound ankle fracture.
“First of all, I wanna just send my prayers out to Dak,” Hatcher said. “…I’m gonna say this: That young man and the team around him should have never allowed him to ever touch the field if he didn’t have a long-term deal.”
Hatcher played with the Cowboys from 2006-13 but retired in 2015 with Washington, before Prescott became quarterback of the Cowboys.
The former defensive lineman has been very vocal in the past, criticizing both Tony Romo and Jason Garrett on 105.3 The Fan.
Prescott and the Cowboys had been in negotiations of a potential contract extension dating back to last season, but the two sides were never able to reach an agreement and he instead agreed to play the 2020 season on a one-year franchise tender for $31.4 million guaranteed.
“You can’t ever bet on yourself in business,” Hatcher said. “Especially in a violent sport like football, because nine times out of 10 you will lose. Every day you walk off that field, I guarantee you, I remember coaches [said] …, ‘Y’all come out healthy? Y’all come out healthy?’ It’s such a violent sport."
Cowboys executive vice president Stepehn Jones said the injury does not change anything, but even if Prescott is able to make a full recovery and steps on the field again, he will likely have to take a lesser deal – whether with the Cowboys or elsewhere – and prove that he is unaffected by the injury and can still perform at a high level before a team makes a big investment into him.
“Now he gotta start all over again, rewind four years back when he came in as a rookie and prove himself all over again and he can play again and he can work though an injury or whatever,” Hatcher continued. “His team around him should have never allowed him to step foot on the field. Lesson learned man. There’s no loyalty in business.
“Now when y’all see Jerry [Jones] either cut that next year … there’s no loyalty in business. It is business. Whoever his agent is needs to be fired. If Dak took over the agent then the agent should have fired Dak. That’s just simple as that. … Ain’t no way one of my clients is gonna touch the f—king field if the money isn’t right. Period.”
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