COWBOYS SIGN QB DAK PRESCOTT TO HISTORIC FOUR-YEAR, $240 MILLION EXTENSION
After months of speculation surrounding Dallas Cowboys’ quarterback Dak Prescott’s future, the team finally reached an agreement to sign him to a new contract extension on Sunday, as first reported by NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport.
The new contract extension is a significant four-year, $240 million deal that once again resets the quarterback market, making Prescott the highest paid quarterback in NFL history on an average annual salary of $60 million-a-year. The deal, negotiated by Prescott’s agent Todd France of Athletes First, was finalized just hours before the Dallas Cowboys kicked off their season against the Cleveland Browns in Ohio.
As expected, Prescott is now the first quarterback to hit the $60 million-a-year mark and eclipses Bengals’ quarterback Joe Burrow ($55 million), Packers’ Jordan Love ($55 million), Jaguars’ Trevor Lawrence ($55 million), Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa ($53.1 million), Lions’ Jared Goff ($53 million), Chargers’ Justin Herbert ($52.5 million), Ravens’ Lamar Jackson ($52 million), and Eagles’ Jalen Hurts ($51 million).
The new four-year extension, which keeps the former Mississippi State Bulldog in Dallas through the 2028 season, also includes an historic $231 million in guaranteed money which is more than the Cleveland Browns’ Deshaun Watson’s $230 million guarantee from three years ago. Prescott is now scheduled to earn $39 million more than any other quarterback in the NFL over the next five years. The deal also includes an $80 million signing bonus, the largest ever, eclipsing Lamar Jackson’s $72.5 million and Jordan Love’s $75 million.
Prescott told NFL Network’s Jane Slater before the game that he only learned of the new deal at around 11am EST, just 2 hours before kickoff. Last year’s NFL passing touchdowns leader, Prescott said he was aware that conversations were intensifying in the last two days but his team was handling it while he was working on game prep. The 31-year-old said he was thrilled that the deal finally got done as his goal was to always remain a Dallas Cowboy.
“I’ve never played the game for that [the money],” Prescott told reporters on Thursday. “I’ve played the game for the pure love for the guys in that locker room… Just being out there in between the lines with people that you share a brotherhood with. Yeah, [that’s] something that’s just special about this game of football and we’re just blessed that that money comes with it, and I’m in the position that I’m in that we can be having these conversations. But that doesn’t motivate me.”
The 2022 Walter Payton Man of the Year has been vocal in the past about his desire to win a Super Bowl with the Dallas Cowboys and also reiterated that this summer. Dallas hasn’t been to the Super Bowl in almost three decades and the team is desperate to finally take the step from being a great regular season team to a great postseason team.
“That’s what motivates me on being here,” said Prescott during Week 1 of fully padded practice a few weeks ago. “Just to be the quarterback that does it, that wins it. I don’t think winning it any other place would be the same as winning it here.”
The three-time Pro Bowl quarterback proved why he still is one of the best players in the league last year when he finished second in MVP voting behind Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson. Prescott recorded the third-highest passing yards tally of his career (4,516) and his second highest touchdown mark (36), all while throwing the fewest interceptions (9) of his career since 2018.
The 2023 All-Pro carried last season’s form into this season and started his 2024 campaign with a strong showing in Cleveland this past Sunday. Prescott let his experience and poise shine as he guided his team to an inspired 33-17 win over the Browns at Huntington Bank Field, throwing for 179 yards and one passing touchdown, with no interceptions.
Former New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady, who called the Cowboys’ game against the Browns for FOX on Sunday spoke positively about Prescott’s performance after the game, explaining why he deserved the big contract extension.
“Well, what I love seeing about Dak today, [is] that veteran quarterback, that veteran experience, going on the road, nothing’s too big for him,” said Brady. “That touchdown pass he throws to Cooks early in the game, [he] gets up to the line of scrimmage, recognizes the blitz, actually changes the protection – I think they didn’t actually protect the way that he was hoping – he felt the pressure, drifted away and threw [to] a great route, a little corner route to Brandin Cooks there for an easy touchdown.”
“Again, when you talked earlier in the day about, ‘Why do you sign Dak to this contract?’ Well, because he has the ability at the line of scrimmage to be the true field general that every team is looking for. He’s got great poise and composure in the pocket, and plays like that always exemplify, ‘Are you really a master of the system out there, do you really have a great understanding of what they’re doing on defense, what your guys are capable of doing on offense? And then how do we execute that with crowd noise, going on the road, first game of the year.’”
“He did so many things well today. That was just one example of many of that he was in total control today.”
Despite the win, the Cowboys lost tight end Jake Ferguson in the game on Sunday after he went down with a knee injury but the team believes he did not suffer an ACL tear based on initial tests, leading to Prescott telling reporters, “I think we dodged a big one.” Ferguson will undergo an MRI test on Monday to test the severity of the injury.
-Maher Abucheri
Twitter: @pabloikonyero
Photo: Keith Allison. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.