The Dallas Cowboys came out of the 2020 NFL Draft with one of the league's most universally praised classes. Dallas got things started with a steal of CeeDee Lamb in Round 1, then proceeded to add players in Rounds 2 and 3 that they had been considering with their previous pick. (Trevon Diggs, in consideration at No. 17 overall, fell to them at No. 51, while Neville Gallimore was in the conversation at 51 and ended up falling to them at No. 82.) The Cowboys spent Day 3 adding more depth at corner (Reggie Robinson), edge rusher (Bradlee Anae), and on the offensive line (Tyler Biadasz), and also added a developmental quarterback prospect (Ben DiNucci) behind incumbent starter Dak Prescott. 

Of course, Prescott is not yet signed to a long-term deal. The Cowboys used the franchise tag on Prescott earlier this offseason after being unable to complete a multi-year agreement by the beginning of the free agency period. Prescott is set to draw a salary of approximately $31.4 million under the exclusive franchise tag, but if Cowboys executive vice president and COO Stephen Jones is to be believed, he won't be playing at that number because he'll be signed to a long-term deal at some point between now and the mid-July deadline. 

In an interview with ESPN's Scott Van Pelt on Wednesday, Jones reiterated the Cowboys' confidence that they will get a long-term deal done with Prescott. 

His comments are reminiscent of what his father, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, said during Ezekiel Elliott's contract holdout prior to last season. Asked whether he was worried about not getting a deal done with Elliott, Jones simply responded, "No, I don't consider it ... when have I ever not done one?" 

The Cowboys, of course, proceeded to sign Elliott to what was then a record-setting contract for a running back, totaling six years and $90 million. If they're to get a deal done with Prescott at some point this summer, it will presumably have to be of the record-setting variety as well. 

He is coming off a season where he threw for 4,902 yards and 30 touchdowns, but his recent performance became something near irrelevant to the contract negotiations the moment the Cowboys used the franchise tag anyway. Simply playing on the tag this year and next would put $69.1 million in Prescott's pocket, leaving his average annual salary just shy of Russell Wilson's current high-water mark of $35 million per year. Given the way quarterback contracts work, and the fact that Prescott's salary would skyrocket to over $54 million if he were tagged a third time, he is nearly guaranteed to sign a deal that averages more money per year than Wilson's, and contains more in guarantees than Jared Goff's $110 million. 

Of course, the Cowboys could have avoided putting themselves in a situation where they had to sign their quarterback to a market-setting deal had they prioritized signing him last offseason, but they chose to hand out big-money deals to Elliott, Jaylon Smith, and La'el Collins instead. Now, they're going to have to pay even more to retain their QB. The good news is that the roster they're assembling around him has Prescott as well-positioned to succeed as he has been in his four-year career, making it more likely he can live up to the monster deal he is surely going to get at some point.