In a move very few people were expecting, the Dallas Cowboys signed tight end Jake Ferguson to preemptive, four-year, $52 million contract extension. The fourth-year player out of Wisconsin was set to hit free agency following the 2025 season. Coming off a historically poor year, many were expecting this season to be a prove-it campaign for the 26-year-old playmaker. The Cowboys clearly thought he’d already proven himself.
The move caught fans off-guard, not only because of the poor season Ferguson just had, but because the franchise has bigger fish to fry at the moment. Micah Parsons, arguably the best player on the team, is actively seeking a new deal with Dallas himself. Recently acquired receiver George Pickens is primed for a career season and an extension for him is not beyond the realm of possibility. A case can be made former All-Pro DaRon Bland is more worthy of an extension as well, playing the last year of his rookie deal. Even Tyler Smith, quite possibly the best guard in the game, is looking for a new deal these days. In other words, there is no shortage of worthy extensions for this front office to offer up right now.
The preemptive signing of someone who is arguably the Cowboys fifth most important free agent to-be, is nothing new for this front office. In 2019 the Cowboys were looking to re-up with quarterback Dak Prescott before his rookie deal expired. Instead of inking their most important player that summer they re-signed Jaylon Smith and Ezekiel Elliott to massive extensions. A few years later in 2023 they were again looking to re-sign Prescott. CeeDee Lamb was also fast approaching his final year, so fans were on extension watch for those two critical players. Instead, the Cowboys offered up extensions for Terence Steele and Trevon Diggs.
In each instance the seemingly pressing matters fell by the wayside with the lower-level deals getting consummated instead. To be fair, each player and situation are uniquely different but the overall trend the Cowboys front office has shown in these matters is difficult to ignore. Sometimes they just take the deals they can get. Never mind arguably all of these aforementioned easy extensions have come back to bite the franchise in the butt, the simple idea of signing the most signable players over the most important players is a problematic strategy on its own.
Not to fall victim to the fallacy of relative privation, but sometimes the most urgent matter, or matters, really are worth receiving the most action. Parsons, Smith, Bland and Pickens aren’t getting cheaper as the days pass, and if any one of those four leave after the season, it’s a pretty safe bet the Cowboys will be taking a noticeable step back with their respective replacements. The same can’t really be said for Ferguson.
By most accounts the Cowboys expect a bounce-back season from Ferguson in 2025. Luke Schoonmaker and Brevyn Spann-Ford have been getting rave reviews for their play this summer, but neither are pushing Ferguson for snaps quite yet. This could change by the end of the year but as of now it looks like a decent re-signing by this front office.
What this signing can’t afford to do is stand in the way of extending at least three of the above four more important players. Smith and Parsons are probably locks to re-sign but the Cowboys need to keep one of Bland or Pickens as well. Trying to replace both in a single offseason will be difficult to overcome for the franchise.
Cowboys HC Brian Schottenheimer after the team got Jake Ferguson’s contract extension done:
“There’s a number of guys we’re trying to get done.”
— Nick Harris (@NickHarrisFWST) July 27, 2025
It’s worth pointing out Smith, Bland, Pickens and Parsons are all expected to command considerably more money than Ferguson. Ferguson’s deal is in line with market values and will not automatically prevent Dallas from re-signing the above four, unless, of course, the front office wants to claim poverty and make it so.
Maybe Ferguson is just an appetizer to a tremendous steak dinner. After all, in previous examples the Cowboys eventually signed, or franchise tagged, their top players. But it’s hard to not get thrown off by re-signing what feels like “replaceable parts” while the uncertain future of the “irreplaceable parts” hangs in the balance.
You can follow Reid on X @ReidDHanson and be sure to follow Cowboys Wire on Facebook to join in on the conversation with fellow fans!
This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: New extension a familiar (problematic) tone from Cowboys’ front office