Another Dak Prescott tag deadline looms. Also, how are teams adjusting with no combine?
Jim Reineking
The seemingly never-ending Dak Prescott contract situation with the Dallas Cowboys meets another milestone moment this week, as teams have until Tuesday to assign franchise or transition tags to players.
The Cowboys and Prescott were able to begin negotiating a long-term deal once the team's season ended on Jan. 3. But now Prescott and the Cowboys are back to where they were last year, with the Cowboys likely to slap a franchise tag on the quarterback and then attempt to reach a long-term deal before the July 15 deadline.
Jori Epstein has five things to know about where the Prescott and Cowboys stand ahead of Tuesday's deadline.
What's been happening in the NFL?
- NFL owners keep rejecting Black men as coaches. Is it time for legal action? Nothing has moved the needle with NFL owners like taking them to court. That could be next step in addressing league's failure in diversity hiring, Jarrett Bell writes.
- The Alex Smith Comeback Player of the Year Award? Given all that Smith had to overcome to play in 2020, the NFL ought to consider renaming its Comeback Player of the Year Award, Nate Davis writes.
- Meet the first Black woman to become NFL official: Maia Chaka joins the NFL after having served as an official in the Pac-12 and Conference USA.
- Broncos safety is first to get franchise tagged: For the second straight year, the Broncos are franchising Justin Simmons.
- WFT will not have cheerleaders in 2021: The Washington Football Team will add a coed dance squad to replace its cheerleaders.
- Naming rights sold for Arrowhead Stadium: The home of the Kansas City Chiefs has been known as Arrowhead Stadium since it opened in 1972. That'll change this year.
- Meet the man whose jersey was unretired for J.J. Watt: You're forgiven if you've never heard of Marshall Goldberg.
- J.J. Watt took a post-workout ice bath: Well, this is one way to cool off and recover after an intense workout.
- Tom Brady's rookie card sells for record $1.32M: A Brady autographed 2000 Playoff Contenders Championship Ticket card was sold to FitBit CEO.
NFL draft: Teams adjust with no combine
- Preparing for NFL draft got complicated: Preparing for the draft without the combine takes creativity as teams scramble to evaluate players, assemble draft boards.
- Who would have been invited to the combine? Despite no scouting combine in 2021, the NFL still released the list of prospects who merited invites.
- Small-school draft prospect trained in wilderness: Before Wisconsin-Whitewater lineman Quinn Meinerz became a standout at the Senior Bowl, he used trees as defensive linemen and squatted piles of wood.
- Special mock draft: How might a Deshaun Watson trade shake up the first round? Nate Davis tackles that possible scenario.
- Another mock draft: How the first round could look if no running backs are selected in the first round.
NFL Facebook group: Join now!
Football season is here! And, if you love talking football, we have the perfect spot for you. Join our Facebook Group, The Ruling Off the Field, to engage in friendly debate and conversation with fellow football fans and our NFL insiders. You know what to do.
