FRISCO, Texas — It goes without saying that the Dallas Cowboys didn't end their 2025 campaign in the way they had envisioned, but it's equally as obvious that Dak Prescott did all he could to try and change the team's fate. And as the calendar nears February, the All-Pro quarterback is being rewarded for his efforts in keeping the team afloat when they otherwise wouldn't have been.
Prescott has been named a finalist for the 2025 NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award, giving him a very real chance at adding to his growing list of achievements — also honored with his fourth Pro Bowl nod this past season.
It marks the second time Prescott has been named a finalist for the award, the first being in 2021, named runner-up at the time to Cincinnati Bengals' quarterback Joe Burrow, in a year that saw the Cowboys' quarterback return from a season-ending ankle injury that cost him a total of 11 games in 2020, then racking up career-best numbers in the season that followed.
The All-Pro was a man possessed for much of 2025, an impressive feat when considering Prescott suffered a catastrophic injury in Week 8 against the Atlanta Falcons, attempting to escape pressure to make a play, that resulted in his hamstring being torn off of the bone. That, of course, ended his season and required surgery to repair, and putting him on a very long road to recovery.
A little less than nine months later, Prescott was on the field to begin training camp — not on the team's physically unable to perform (PUP) list — igniting Oxnard as arguably the MVP of the three-week program, but that was ultimately just a taste of what was to come, and particularly with the addition of George Pickens via trade to join CeeDee Lamb.
Before the season was all said-and-done, Prescott had overtaken Tony Romo as the Cowboys’ all-time passing leader, going on to start in all 17 games en route to throwing for 4,552 passing yards (the second-highest of his career) and 30 touchdowns (tied for third-highest of his career) to only 10 interceptions (tied for second-fewest through with a minimum of 16 games played).
Add in four fourth-quarter comebacks and three game-winning drives and it was the best showing from Prescott since 2023, when he was named finalist for NFL MVP before ending as runner-up to Lamar Jackson, one year after having been named Walter Payton Man of the Year in 2022.
That season, Prescott threw for only one fewer interception (9), six more touchdowns (36), two more first downs (222), and just 36 more passing yards on six more passing attempts. Even more impressive was Prescott's ability to scramble, something that appeared rejuvenated despite the brutal hamstring injury suffered only months prior.
He rushed for 177 yards and two touchdowns, numbers that were also comparable to 2023, along with 15 first downs that kept the chains moving in critical moments — also using his legs to extend plays that eventually turned into downfield highlights for Lamb, Pickens and others.
If he walks away with this year's NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award, it will mark only the second time a Cowboys' player has won it, the first being former Pro Bowl edge rusher Greg Ellis, when he earned the honor for his work that produced 12.5 sacks in 2007, after his return from a torn Achilles suffered in 2006.
Prescott enters this offseason with a chip on his shoulder, but also fully healthy, and in top form to try and power the Cowboys through to a better outcome in 2026.
