‘Healthy’ QB Dak Prescott eyes leading Dallas Cowboys to next year’s Super Bowl

FRISCO, Texas — Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott is rehabilitating from a compound fracture and dislocation of his right ankle that he sustained last October, but he is already thinking about next February and Super Bowl LVI.

“That’s my plan, get a parade in Dallas,” Prescott said on the day he officially signed the richest deal in Cowboys’ history: Four years, $160 million and an NFL-record $66 million signing bonus. “As a competitor, you watch people celebrate, you watch people do what you want to do and there’s not too many more things that light a fire under you than somebody having what you want. And every year we’re not in the playoffs, or we didn’t make that run, that’s just more fire to it.

“You throw on there that I was holding my leg and didn’t have a chance to be out there while guys were doing what was taken away from me, I’m just excited to get out there and show you what this team can do. The next big press conference we have is hopefully in another year after that big parade. So there you go.”

Prescott’s contract has been a story since the 2019 offseason when he was playing on the final year of his rookie contract for $2 million. It dragged on for the 2020 season as he played on the $31.4 million franchise tag and finally culminated on Monday when the team and Prescott’s agent, Todd France, reached an agreement.

It took some time, but to owner and general manager Jerry Jones, it was worth it.

“From the very beginning we have certainly said that our future is with Dak,” Jones said “We are keenly aware that the process that we’ve done over the last several years has created, if you will, a conversation and maybe even a life of its own … Don’t confuse that with how right we think this decision is and how much it’s been there from the very beginning. This fits.”

Prescott said he never imagined leaving for another team.

“I’m excited to be here, to never leave, and excited for what this organization, what this team, what he fans are going to get,” Prescott said. “I’m excited just to go do it and just to know that this is my home, I’m not leaving. I’m a Cowboy and this is only the beginning.”

To fulfill his Super Bowl dreams, Prescott still has work to do in his recovery. He has been at The Star in Frisco, Texas, constantly working on his rehab and he said he’s progressing fine. Prescott said a second surgery performed in December was more about his long-term ability to play than anything to do with the injury he sustained in the Week 5 win against the New York Giants.

“I’m healthy,” Prescott said. “I’ll control what I can control. I’ll follow the doctor’s orders the whole time. Put my own work ethic into it. I’m healthy, I’m getting close. I’ll be ready when it matters.”

At the time of the injury, there was a 4-6 month recovery period. The Cowboys start their official offseason program in April and Prescott plans to take part in everything. He said he will continue his offseason work with John Beck, his quarterback coach at 3DQB.

Prescott, however, acknowledged he needs to be “smarter,” in his on-field decision making, especially when he runs, like when he was hurt vs. the Giants.

“Before the injury, going back to high…