Quarterback Dak Prescott said in an interview with ESPN that he's confident he and the Dallas Cowboys will be able to agree to a contract this offseason.

The Cowboys and Prescott have discussed a new contract since the end of the 2018 season, but so far the sides have not been able to agree to a deal. He is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent when the new league year begins on March 18.

"I'm confident a new contract is coming. I'm confident in my agent and my team and I'm confident in the Cowboys that something will get done," he said in the interview with ESPN's Sage Steele, when asked how close he was to agreeing to a new contract.

Asked why he and the Cowboys couldn't agree to a new contract before the start of last season, Prescott said, "There's a lot of variables that go into it."

"There's a lot of things that have to come into play when you're talking about a contract. Never just look at the money, never just look at what people see or the attention-grabber. There's a lot of details to it," he said. "There's people that know that handle that, so I'm leaving that up to my agent and I have all the confidence in both sides."

Cowboys vice president Stephen Jones said last week at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama, that signing Prescott to a new deal was the franchise's No. 1 priority this offseason. If Prescott and the Cowboys can't agree to a contract, Dallas has the option to use its franchise tag on the quarterback.

"It's been urgent for us," Jones said, according to USA Today Sports. "We want to certainly get that done. Get his contract, find some resolution to it and get it done."

Prescott told ESPN that the fact that he was unable to get a deal before last season didn't affect his focus.

"I don't play the game for money. Never once in my life have I touched a football and thought about money," he said. "I play the game because of my love and my passion, so once the season began, that's all my focus was on, was my love of the game and my commitment to my teammates to go get something done, to get the job done. We all had a shared responsibility and a promise to go after something and it had nothing to do about individual bank accounts or what was to come, so it never crossed my mind."

Although the Cowboys finished 8-8 last season, missing the playoffs and ultimately costing coach Jason Garrett his job, Prescott had a career year, posting career highs in passing yards (4,902) and touchdowns passes (30).

Prescott said he is grateful for everything Garrett did for his career and that he has exchanged text messages with his former coach. Garrett will remain coaching in the NFC East next season after joining the New York Giants as their offensive coordinator.

"I'm happy that he's still coaching; the league needs him, but [I'm] not happy where he is," Prescott said.