Dak Prescott does not see the Dallas Cowboys' 2024 season opener versus the Cleveland Browns on Sunday as a deadline for the team to make him an acceptable contract offer.
Prescott is set to enter the final season of the four-year, $160million contract he penned in 2021, and talks over a new deal have been ongoing for several weeks.
The ninth-year quarterback is set to hit free agency in 2025, though he has repeatedly expressed confidence his agent Todd France will reach a deal with the team.
The Cowboys begin the new campaign with a potentially tricky visit to Cleveland, but Prescott says his approach to the season will not change if his new contract is not signed before then.
"I'd say they're working. I don't know if that's necessarily the timeline," Prescott told reporters when asked if a new deal could be announced before the game.
"I can't say, 'I'll put a timeline to Todd and [Dallas executive] Stephen [Jones] if we don't get this done, this or that'. I know they're working.
"I'm going to still be working. That's the only thing that matters to me."
Prescott's 410 completions and passer rating of 105.9 in 2023 were career-best figures, while he also played all 17 regular-season games for the first time since being drafted in the fourth round in 2016.
However, the Cowboys collapsed to a stunning 48-32 defeat to the Green Bay Packers in the wild-card round of the NFL Playoffs, ensuring their wait for a record-equalling sixth Super Bowl crown will reach at least 20 years.
Roger Staubach (in 1971 and 1977) and Troy Aikman (1992, 1993 and 1995) remain the only quarterbacks to lead Dallas to Super Bowl glory, and Prescott maintains that winning it all with the Cowboys would mean more than doing so elsewhere.
"I don't think winning it any other place would be the same as winning it here," Prescott said. "That is a number one reason in wanting to be here, to be honest with you."
Star wide receiver CeeDee Lamb held out on the Cowboys' training camp to force through his own new contract during the offseason, but Prescott's team-mate expects him to show nothing but full commitment while he waits on an agreement.
"Obviously, Dak is doing a great job of not really bringing it into the workspace, but I know personally that it can take a toll on you," Lamb said.
"He's doing a great job of leading us in the right direction. He knows that we're rooting for him. Me, the most, for sure.
"We need to hurry up and get this done, so we can just put this all behind us and go win more ballgames."