The deadline for NFL teams to sign their franchise-tagged players to long-term contract extensions came and went Wednesday, meaning the Cowboys officially will pay quarterback Dak Prescott no less than $31.4 million in 2020 on the exclusive tag. That's by far the highest base salary in the league for this season.
NASCAR driver Martin Truex Jr., meanwhile, was not worried about NFL transaction news while he prepared for Wednesday night's All-Star Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. But as a New Jersey native and a massive Eagles fan, he is always loosely plugged into NFC East happenings.
In the context of Dallas likely having to pay much more to Prescott in the long run than Philadelphia will have to pay QB Carson Wentz, we were curious about Truex's thoughts on Prescott in general, as many Eagles fans feel they have the superior passer in Wentz.
MORE: What's next for the Cowboys and Prescott
"I feel like, just from what I’ve seen — I’m not a football genius by any means — but I feel like when he's on, he can be very dangerous," Truex told Sporting News ahead of Wednesday night's race. "But I feel like he’s off a lot. He’s inconsistent.
"But when he’s good, he’s really, really good and dangerous. Because he can run. He’s big and strong, he’ll run through people. He can run around them (because) he’s fast. Just inconsistent."
Truex understandably defines Prescott as dangerous considering the Cowboys' QB is 5-3 in eight career starts against the Eagles, managing a QB rating of 83.5 in those games and a total of 1,877 passing yards.
But the NASCAR driver also is right to accuse Prescott of inconsistency considering the passer has thrown seven interceptions to go with his eight touchdowns in four years against Philadelphia. Last year, for example, Prescott posted passer ratings of 100.5 and 74.5 in his two games against the Eagles.
For what it's worth, Wentz is only 3-4 as starter against the Cowboys but statistically is much more consistent than Prescott in the rivalry. Wentz has posted 12 TDs to just 2 INTs and a QB rating of 99.4 over seven career games against Dallas.
Truex, who won the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series championship and has 27 career wins at NASCAR's top level, will start on the pole for Wednesday night's All-Star Race at Bristol.
The Eagles beat the Patriots in Super Bowl 52 a few months after Truex won his championship, and the driver attended the big game in Minneapolis.
Damn that just happened! Congrats to all the @Eagles players and fans. Finally!!!!!😬☝️👏👏👏👏👏👏🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻 #SBLII pic.twitter.com/1KoOugpzOo
— Martin Truex Jr. (@MartinTruex_Jr) February 5, 2018