NFL free agency kicks off next week, which means the Dallas Cowboys have some important decisions to make. The team's primary focus needs to be securing Dak Prescott to a long-term deal.

The thought from many is that the Cowboys will place the franchise tag on Prescott for the second consecutive offseason. Prescott joined rare company last season when he played a game on the tag.

It seems inevitable that Prescott will be tagged by the Cowboys. The bigger question will be whether or not the Cowboys will be able to sign their quarterback to a contract after doing so. Prescott wants to cash-in after playing for relative pennies during his career, while the Cowboys seemingly do not want to give in to the quarterback market that has been set.

FRANCHISE TAG DEADLINE COULD BE DELAYED

As Prescott and the Cowboys continue to work towards reaching a contract, Ian Rapoport dropped some relevant news on Monday morning. The NFL will have to move the franchise tag deadline if the official salary cap number is not released shortly.

Rapoport reported that general managers are bracing for this, and it "would further stall business for a bit".

A storyline to follow going forward: If the official salary cap number doesn’t come today and soon, NFL will have to move back the deadline to franchise tag players from Tuesday. It’s a situation several GMs are bracing for and would further stall business for a bit.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 8, 2021

This would force us to wait even longer to get some kind of resolution towards the Prescott-Cowboys contract saga. While the true deadline is not until July, March's franchise tag deadline at least gives us some kind of picture of where things stand.

Prescott is represented by Todd France, an agent who has clients all over the league. One of France's clients is Denver Broncos safety Justin Simmons. The Broncos placed the non-exclusive franchise tag on Simmons on Friday. Similar to Prescott, Simmons also played on the franchise tag last season.

The deadline could give the Dallas Cowboys a little more time to work with France and Prescott, but it seems likely that we are destined to see Prescott get tagged for the second year in a row.

Featured image via Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports