Stephen Jones determined to sign Dak Prescott: 'He's our future'

The Dallas Cowboys are looking to ink quarterback Dak Prescott to a long-term contract after coming close in 2019.

"We've got to land the plane and get his deal done. That's on Jerry and myself," Cowboys vice president Stephen Jones said, according to The Athletic's Jon Machota. "He's our future."

Both parties were close to an agreement last year, but the signal-caller opted to shut down negotiations with the season underway.

"We got real, real, real close there to start the season and just didn't get it finished up," Jones said. "He's so laser-focused on wanting to win football games and compete that he really didn't want the distraction once we didn't get it done in that first week of going back and forth with the contract."

Jones thinks Prescott deserves a long-term extension - and he has the green light from Dallas' new head coach Mike McCarthy.

"I think he stepped up and improved in all ways last year," Jones said. "We went over this in depth with coach McCarthy and he thinks (Dak) is a top-end, top-caliber quarterback. We can do everything we want and more with Dak."

Prescott posted career highs in yards (4,902) and touchdowns (30) last season. The 26-year-old played the last year of his rookie contract in 2019 and can become a free agent once the 2020 season officially begins on March 18.

McCarthy praised Prescott during his introductory press conference and discussed how important he will be to their offense.

"Our offensive system will be built around making the quarterback successful," he said Wednesday.