Divine intervention? How Dallas landed Dak Prescott at No. 135 in the 2016 NFL draft

FRISCO, Texas -- Despite being surrounded by family and friends, Dak Prescott was in a bad mood on April 30, 2016.

The NFL draft was entering its third day, featuring the fourth through seventh rounds, and Prescott was still available, despite a starry, productive quarterback career at Mississippi State that included leading the Bulldogs to their first No. 1 ranking in school history.

After the first two rounds went by, he wasn't upset. Before the draft, he had a feeling the Arizona Cardinals would take him in the third round, but they passed. So, too, had the Dallas Cowboys, the team he rooted for growing up in Haughton, Louisiana.

His mood had soured by Day 3.

"I was mad as hell. Like mad at everybody," Prescott said. "What's crazy, I have an aunt, she wore a Cowboy T-shirt that day. And I'm like, 'What the f--- are you doing?' And we ended up getting picked by the Cowboys."

Today, Prescott is the NFL's highest-paid player with a contract of $60 million a year. He has become the Cowboys' all-time leader in passing yards, attempts and completions. With six touchdown passes in 2026, he will become the franchise leader in that category as well.

For 10 years, Prescott has been the Cowboys' starting quarterback, taking over as a rookie for an injured Tony Romo, and he has been trying to do what Pro Football Hall of Famers Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman did -- lead Dallas to a Super Bowl victory.

The process that led to the Cowboys securing the face of their franchise with a fourth-round pick -- not even their first selection that round, and with a compensatory pick, no less -- suggests some kind of divine intervention.

How exactly did Dallas land on Prescott -- who wasn't their first choice as a potential successor to Romo -- and what led them to believe in the Mississippi State quarterback?

For all that he has accomplished and still wants to accomplish, Prescott carries with him a daily reminder of the 2016 draft. It's tattooed on the inside of his right wrist: "135" -- the spot he was drafted.

"I'll never forget it either: 135," Prescott said. "Eighth quarterback taken. One hundred percent."

THE COWBOYS WINDING up with Prescott has been described by many over the years as lucky -- as lucky as Dallas ending up with Prescott's predecessor in Romo, an undrafted free agent who became a household name.

With Romo turning 35, having undergone multiple back surgeries, and coming off a 2015 season in which he started and finished only two games because of a twice broken collarbone, the Cowboys wanted to draft a quarterback.

After its 4-12 finish that season, Dallas held the No. 4 pick in 2016.

The Cowboys' investment into understanding the top quarterbacks in that draft was something they had not really done under owner and general manager Jerry Jones. In 1989, just a few months into Jones' tenure, the Cowboys had the No. 1 pick and selected Troy Aikman, who went on to lead them to three Super Bowl championships. They also took Steve Walsh in the first round of the 1989 supplemental draft. In 2001, they took Quincy Carter in the second round but had not made any other major commitment to drafting and developing a quarterback.

In January 2016, the Cowboys were selected to coach the Senior Bowl. One of their requirements to accept that offer was that they would get to coach North Dakota State quarterback Carson Wentz. Prescott was on the other team -- and would go on to win MVP of the Senior Bowl.

The Cowboys had private workouts with quarterbacks Jared Goff, Wentz, Paxton Lynch, Connor Cook, Christian Hackenberg and Prescott. Prior to the draft, all but Hackenberg made an official visit to Valley Ranch, the Cowboys' old practice facility. Jacoby Brissett was also a predraft visitor.

Goff was a near lock to go No. 1 to the Los Angeles Rams. And eight days before the draft, Dallas lost its chance to draft Wentz, because the Philadelphia Eagles gave up their first-, third- and fourth-round picks, a first-round pick in 2017 and a second-round pick in 2018 to the Cleveland Browns to secure Wentz at No. 2. Lynch had some first- and second-round grades from those inside the Cowboys' draft room.

With the fourth pick, the Cowboys' decision came down to Ohio State running back Ezekiel Elliott and Florida State cornerback Jalen Ramsey. Looking to extend Romo's career and play the same style of offense Dallas used in 2014, when DeMarco Murray was named NFL Offensive Player of the Year, coach Jason Garrett's influence won out and Elliott became the Cowboys' first pick. Elliott would go on to lead the NFL in rushing as a rookie.

But that did not mean the Cowboys found themselves out of the quarterback business in the first round.

In late March, the Cowboys' contingent at the annual NFL meeting in Boca Raton, Florida, made the short trip to Orlando where they were met by director of pro and college scouting Will McClay, offensive coordinator Scott Linehan, quarterbacks coach Wade Wilson and others for Lynch's private workout.

"A lot of times in the draft, we talk ceilings," Linehan said. "[Paxton Lynch] is this big, tall quarterback. His workout was very good. He had a lot of production in the pass game, and a really mobile guy. I just remember the ceiling being pretty high because he was a latecomer ... There was nothing about him that we didn't like. I think we were alongside everybody else in the league with that."

With Lynch still available later in the first round, Jones went to work on a proposed trade. The Cowboys offered their second- and fourth-round picks (Nos. 34, 101) to the Seattle Seahawks, but Seattle sent the No. 26 pick to the Denver Broncos for their first- and third-round picks (Nos. 31, 94) so Denver could select Lynch.

Disappointed the Cowboys could not get Lynch, Jones got about three hours of sleep after the first round.

"I can't remember if we were close to pulling the trigger, but there's conversations all the time," McClay said. "We're never going to bat 1,000%. Everybody sees little things that they like or they don't like. At the end of the day, those that didn't like [Lynch] can say, 'Oh, I didn't like him,' and say it worked out."

THE COWBOYS DID not plan to draft Prescott, but they grew to like him in the evaluation process.

In 2015, his junior season, Prescott led Mississippi State to its first No. 1 ranking. He established 12 school records that season and led the Bulldogs to their first win at LSU since 1991.

Had he come out after that season, one NFC personnel chief said Prescott might have been a first- or second-round pick, but he returned for his senior year. While he threw for more yards and had fewer interceptions, Mississippi State finished with a 9-4 record.

Questions about Mississippi State's offensive system had some questioning Prescott's fit in the NFL. In one team's predraft process, according to a league source, there was a thought from a scout that Prescott would become an H-back at the next level.

A position switch was never a thought for the Cowboys.

"Honestly, I loved the dude, the leader, what he had done," McClay said. "My concern, just being honest, was passing at the NFL level based on the offense that we were in and what we were looking for."

Linehan was more certain that Prescott could make the transition.

"From the time he started until the end, I just thought he really got better as a thrower," Linehan said. "He looked like an NFL guy back there throwing the rock. He was big, sturdy."

The Cowboys had a late/mid-fourth-round grade on Prescott when their board was settled, but they still had things to work through in the process.

Wilson attended Prescott's pro day at Mississippi State on March 10, 2016. Garrett once said that the quarterbacks coach was hardly ever impressed by quarterbacks. But Wilson, who had a high bar for quarterbacks to climb because of his own 17-year NFL playing career, had nothing but good things to say about Prescott.

Former strength and conditioning coach Mike Woicik, who had been with the New England Patriots for three Super Bowls, as well as for the 1990s Cowboys' Super Bowls, told the coaches and scouts that Prescott had a Tom Brady-like effect in the way he carried himself and instilled confidence in those around him. When Prescott was at Valley Ranch for his visit, the other potential draftees followed his lead.

Those traits led Prescott to guide others, but his actions six weeks before the draft left questions about his leadership potential at the next level.

ON MARCH 12, 2016, Prescott was arrested and charged with DUI in Starkville, Mississippi, two days before his pro day.

When he arrived at Valley Ranch for his predraft visit, the Cowboys wanted answers as to why he was pulled over by police.

Like they had with the other quarterbacks, Garrett tested Prescott by going over three plays from the Cowboys' offense and asking him to diagram and talk through each play. It was a way for Garrett to see how the player retained information.

Along the way, Garrett kept interrupting Prescott and asked again and again about the DUI. Each time, Prescott gave the same answer: He had a couple of margaritas after a workout, he was driving too fast and took complete accountability.

When he was interrupted again, he was perturbed, telling Garrett, "I don't know what to tell you," and recounted the story again.

What Garrett did not know until after Wilson died in 2019 -- three years into Prescott's tenure with Dallas -- was that Wilson was so high on Prescott that he gave him the test questions ahead of time, so Prescott could study and have all of the answers before coming in for the visit.

"The No. 1 trait I think you have to have in these guys that are accomplished athletes is that they're accountable," Linehan, now a senior offensive assistant under Kellen Moore with the New Orleans Saints, said recently. "They're able to own up to everything, whether it's positive or negative. They have great self-awareness. He knew he wasn't perfect. He wasn't trying to hide anything or sound like he was wrongly accused."

IN THE SECOND round with the No. 34 pick, the Cowboys took a gamble on Notre Dame linebacker Jaylon Smith despite knowing he would not play as a rookie after suffering a serious knee injury in the Irish's Fiesta Bowl game against Ohio State.

In the third round, they selected Nebraska defensive tackle Maliek Collins with the No. 67 pick.

Still no Prescott.

Watching the draft with friends and family, Prescott's mood worsened after the first day.

"I thought I was going to Arizona in like the third round," Prescott said about Day 2. "Like I knew that's where I was going. They had a first-rounder and didn't have a second. I thought I'd go third round. The first day, I wasn't mad. I thought if I went, it would be a good, cool deal. Second day, got pissed because I thought that's where I was supposed to be.

As Rounds 4-7 of the draft approached, the Cowboys zeroed in on a quarterback. It still wasn't Prescott. Their hope was to take Cook out of Michigan State with the second pick of Round 4 (No. 101 overall).

"There was a faction that was strong on him," McClay said of Cook.

But when the Raiders made a trade with the Browns for pick No. 100 -- one spot ahead of Dallas -- and drafted Cook, the Cowboys were thwarted once again.

Instead of picking Prescott with the 101st pick, the Cowboys opted for Oklahoma defensive end Charles Tapper.

Those in the draft room said Prescott's name was mentioned as a possibility, but they felt like he would be available when the Cowboys picked later in the round, with No. 135, a compensatory selection.

"I remember thinking, 'Someone else is going to take him,' with every pick and we've got no chance," Linehan said. "I was just holding my breath."

There was an exhale as the Cowboys were on the clock at No. 135. While the draft's audience in Chicago watched the announcement of the pick, the televised announcement was made by a Telemundo executive, sitting alongside Hall of Famer Rayfield Wright back at AT&T Stadium.

The Cowboys had a quarterback. They didn't know they had the quarterback.

WHEN HE WAS on a conference call with Dallas media not long after being picked, it became clear Prescott was irked at his draft position on Day 3, even if the Cowboys were his favorite team growing up.

"I remember thinking there was a little bit of a chip on his shoulder the minute he walked in the door," McClay said.

The Cowboys viewed Prescott as a developmental quarterback. Dallas had Romo, with Kellen Moore set to be the backup. The team also had Jameill Showers, an undrafted free agent in 2015 who played some safety, too. Initially, Showers got more work than Prescott in the 2016 offseason.

But then Moore broke an ankle during the first week of training camp and was lost for the season. In the third preseason game against the Seahawks, Romo suffered a compression fracture in his back and would not be ready to start Week 1.

The Cowboys contemplated adding a veteran, such as Nick Foles, as a starter. Eventually they signed Mark Sanchez.

"Unfortunately, as soon as those guys got hurt, I was like, 'Good. This is where I'm supposed to be,' and, 'I'm not giving this back,'" Prescott said. "Yeah, it all worked out."

Prescott beat out Sanchez, started the opener and directed the Cowboys to a 13-3 record, best in the NFC. He was named NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, setting team rookie records for passing yards (3,667) and touchdowns (23).

"He made us right by playing good," Linehan said.

Teams spend millions on the draft process, but there is no surefire way to determine if a pick will work out. Had the Cowboys truly believed Prescott would become the franchise's all-time leading passer and one of their greatest leaders, they wouldn't have waited and he wouldn't have "135" tattooed on his wrist.

"Sometimes you're just fortunate," executive vice president Stephen Jones said. "I mean it turned out the Dak thing just fell into place and it's the best thing that happened to us. I think we're glad we picked him over any quarterback in that draft."