No one denies Dak Prescott is one of the NFL’s most talented quarterbacks. That said, the Dallas Cowboys’ continued playoff failures with him under center is drawing some understandable criticism.

“He always does well enough to be in the top 10 but never gets over the hump,” an NFC executive told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. “He makes all the throws. He’s playing the position at a high level. But something’s missing. There are a lot of factors in that, from the running game, playcalling, defense, and Dallas hasn’t won in a long while. But certain guys are going to elevate their team late in the game, and Dak doesn’t seem to do that.”

Prescott was ranked as the NFL’s 10th-best quarterback in a survey of coaches, executives and scouts conducted by Fowler. He’s coming off the best regular season of his NFL career, throwing for 4,516 yards and 36 touchdowns against nine interceptions while finishing second in MVP voting.

One could argue Prescott would have won MVP if it weren’t for the continued stigma of his playoff shortcomings playing in the minds of voters. His counting stats were more impressive than winner Lamar Jackson’s, and the Cowboys’ 12-5 record was only one game worse than the Baltimore Ravens’ 13-4 mark.

Prescott did nothing to prove his doubters wrong in the 2024 playoffs, struggling mightily in the first half in a 48-32 loss to the Green Bay Packers in the Wild Card Round. While Prescott finished with 403 passing yards and three touchdowns against two picks, the vast majority of his numbers came in garbage time.

The Cowboys also clearly have concerns regarding Prescott as their franchise quarterback. With his contract carrying an eye-popping $55.4 million cap charge and a potential $40.5 million dead charge coming next offseason, most expected the Cowboys to extend Prescott to lower his cap number in 2024.

Instead, Dallas has sat on its hands and is seemingly prepared to allow this season to play out before making a decision. That’s not typically the behavior displayed by a team with a 30-year-old quarterback coming off a borderline MVP season.

Based on the Cowboys’ actions this offseason, they apparently agree with the exec who sees Prescott as missing something vital to postseason success.