Dallas Cowboys Qb Dak Prescott Predicted To Win Nfl Mvp In 2026

ARLINGTON, TX - OCTOBER 19: Dak Prescott #4 of the Dallas Cowboys celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the Washington Commanders during the second half of an NFL football game at AT&T Field on October 19, 2025 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Next year carries a lot of possibilities. 31 teams are hoping to have to coordinate with their local city officials in the name of planning a Super Bowl parade the way that the Seattle Seahawks just did. The path there for whoever winds up taking it begins now, and it likely begins with great quarterback play, although the recently-crowned world champions are a great example at how you need a full and total team to complement the most important position in sports.

As matters relate to the Dallas Cowboys, this past season provided the latest example that even a very good quarterback is not enough on their own. Dak Prescott offered one of his better individual seasons and the Cowboys still fell short of even making the playoffs. It was not exactly the same Prescott that we saw in 2023, but in some respects he was arguably even better.

Prescott played so well this past season that one NFL expert believes he will receive the highest individual award that an NFL player can receive next year. ESPN recently offered predictions for a variety of things relating to the 2026 season and Matt Bowen predicted that Prescott will win the league’s Most Valuable Player award.

Who’s your pick for next season’s MVP?

Bowen: Dak Prescott, QB, Cowboys. Prescott had more than 4,500 passing yards and threw 30 touchdowns this past season. With the Cowboys expected to retain wide receiver George Pickens, whom they will likely give the franchise tag, look for Prescott to produce high-level numbers again for a team that could challenge for the NFC East title in 2026 with an improved defense.

Bowen notes that the Cowboys are expected to retain George Pickens which makes sense given the report over Super Bowl weekend that the team will place the franchise tag on him. One way or another it makes sense that Pickens will at the very least be a part of the mix in 2026.

Year two with Pickens opposite of CeeDee Lamb certainly presents as promising for Prescott. Calling for him to win MVP certainly feels out there, but he did finish second in the aforementioned season of 2023. So much of the award is offensive-driven and it is typically awarded to a quarterback. If things are par for the course there for the Cowboys, and they reach the playoffs, then it isn’t so farfetched.

The easiest way to reach the playoffs is obviously to win the NFC East which Dallas hasn’t done since, sensing a common theme here, 2023. In the same crop of predictions Seth Walder declared that this will happen once more.

Walder: The Cowboys will win the NFC East. Dak Prescott and the Dallas offense played extremely well last season, which went under the radar in part because the defense was so bad. The latter should improve through regression alone. If Dallas can get its defense to be just OK, the Cowboys could become contenders very quickly.

If the offense is indeed driving things as Walder believes, then all of this can quite possibly work together in the right kind of harmony. That “if” is doing a lot of work, though.