Dak Prescott has been money this season for Cowboys, earning 'indispensable' paycheck from Jerry Jones

ARLINGTON, Texas -- The 40-40 tie between the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys on "Sunday Night Football" prevented both Micah Parsons and Jerry Jones from being able to declare a decisive winner in their ongoing beef. 

However at least one thing is clear from Sunday night: Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott is earning every cent from his "indispensable" four-year, $240 million contract that pays him an NFL-most $60 million annual salary. 

"It's very simple. Dak was indispensable in my mind. And Micah wasn't," Jones said postgame when asked about paying Prescott and not Parsons.

Prescott was without All-Pro wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, starting center Cooper Beebe and starting right guard Tyler Booker going into Sunday night against the Parsons-led Packers defense that led the entire NFL in scoring defense (14.7 points per game allowed) entering Week 4. He lit them up to the tune of 319 yards passing and three touchdown passes on 31 of 40 passing while also adding a 2-yard rushing touchdown. Prescott made highlight-reel throw after highlight-reel throw to keep Dallas in the game with none more improbable than his 34-yard heave to wide receiver Jalen Tolbert in overtime.

Facing a second-and-7 from the Green Bay 39, Prescott's pocket collapsed. Packers edge rusher Lukas Van Ness dove to sack him, but the quarterback glided out of his grasp. Parsons and another Green Bay defensive lineman closed in as well as the Dallas quarterback whistled a high-arching laser that hit Tolbert in the chest as he toe-tapped his way out of bounds to set up a first-and-goal at the 5. 

"You go watch that all-22, and you look how precise No. 4 looks tonight. Just getting to his throws, getting to his receivers, the timing. I think he played a better game than we played defense," Parsons said postgame. "So, shout out to Dak. I told him, 'You go watch that film. You're lucky. If you weren't on … it would have been a long day.' But he played a hell of a game."

Given the depleted supporting cast and the high-level talent on the other side of the line of scrimmage, Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer wouldn't take any other quarterback over his own. Prescott currently leads the NFL in passing yards (1,119) while also ranking inside the top 10 in both completion percentage (72.9%, third) and expected points added (EPA) per dropback (0.17, seventh). 

"I like the way Dak was playing. I mean, if there's a better quarterback playing right now than Dak Prescott in the league, I'd love to see him," Schottenheimer said postgame.   

Seeing Prescott play at this level certainly makes him an early front-runner to be the 2025 NFL Comeback Player of the Year after he tore his hamstring in Week 9 at the Atlanta Falcons last season. FanDuel Sportsbook lists Prescott as having the third-best odds at the moment at +340 behind only San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (+160) and Detroit Lions edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson (+230). His mobility and ability to step into throws and push the ball downfield are strengths for Prescott in his 10th NFL season at the age of 32. 

"I've been playing 10 years, 10 months or not," Prescott said. ... "My offseason probably started a lot earlier than anyone else's in the NFL's offseason. [It's] the work that I put into this. ... This is all of the hard work paying off, and it's going to continue. ... This is why quarterbacks think they can play until they're in their 40s, because as you get older, you're getting better. You're seeing things. The quickness in the defense or what allows you to play ahead of it. That on top of me working, being healthy, having trust in my teammates and the play-calling, it's all of it combined."  

After finishing with 319 yards and three touchdowns through the air while playing turnover-free football, Prescott recorded his 10th career game with at least 300 yards passing, three touchdowns and no interceptions. That's now the most in Cowboys history, surpassing predecessor Tony Romo's prior record of nine such games. Prescott also ran up his career passing completions total to 2,901, which lifted him over Pro Football Hall of Famer Troy Aikman (2,898) for the most in franchise history. 

"It's awesome. It's something I never take for granted. It's not something that I'm patting myself on the back for, but it's something that I understand the history before me," Prescott said. "I understand the players who have come before me and it's an honor, but at the end of the day I want to win games and I want to chase Roger [Staubach] and Troy [Aikman] and the accomplishments they have."

In order to chase Roger and Troy and the pursuit of a Super Bowl ring, Prescott and the offense, who lead the NFL in total yards per game (404.3 total yards per game) while ranking fifth in points per game (28.5), are going to need some level of competancy from their defense. The Micah Parsons-less unit is the second-worst scoring defense (33.0 points per game allowed) and the worst total defense (420.5 total yards per game allowed) in the NFL this season. 

"It's not about the defense," Prescott said. "It's about being accountable. It's about handling my job and making sure I take care of everything that I can. If I can influence others to do the same, I'm going to do that. That will take care of itself. ... Make sure they're not finger-pointing. Make sure they're being accountable. I almost want them to answer their own questions. When they get frustrated, ask them why. ... They need to build on the trust they have with one another. Not only me, but this team and this offense has their back."

Prescott certainly does, and Dallas will need him to maintain the playing level of a top five quarterback in the NFL to keep them afloat following a 1-2-1 start to the 2025 season. 

"I just want to keep playing the way that I'm playing and/or get better every week," Prescott said.