Hours Before The Season Started, The Cowboys Made Dak Prescott The First $60 Million Quarterback
ByJoey Heldon September 11, 2024inArticles›Sports News
Say what you will about Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones , but the man has a penchant for theatrics. The Cowboys dragged out a deal for star receiver CeeDee Lamb , who finally signed one of the largest wide receiver contracts ever just a couple of weeks ago. Jones waited even longer to secure quarterback Dak Prescott to an extension, getting the deal done hours before the team’s first game of the season.
And, in traditional Jerry World fashion, it’s a flashy deal. Prescott agreed to a four-year, $240 million contract to stay in Dallas. He’s the first player in NFL history to make an average of $60 million per season.
Prescott’s contract extension includes $231 million in guaranteed money, which is also a new record. It’s $1 million more than the $230 million guaranteed Deshaun Watson got from the Cleveland Browns in 2022.
Perhaps it was fitting, then, that Prescott and the Cowboys easily handled Watson and the Browns in the season opener, 33-17.
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Prescott also has the advantage of playing in a state with no income tax. While he’ll still pay a “jock” tax for road games outside of Texas, Washington, Nevada, Florida, and Tennessee, he won’t owe state income tax on money earned for games at AT&T Stadium and can keep more of his money.
Despite chatter all summer long about whether Prescott would remain a Cowboy, both sides wanted to get the deal done. Prescott also noted he had an obligation to his fellow quarterbacks, saying it was his time and “the next guy, I expect to beat me” in terms of salary.
Prescott was the runner-up in MVP voting last year, finishing a distant second behind Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson . Both quarterbacks are coming off strong regular seasons that ended in disappointment.
For Prescott and the Cowboys, it was an embarrassing 48-32 home loss to the Green Bay Packers in the Wild Card round. Prescott has led the Cowboys to the playoffs in five of eight seasons, including the past three years. But the team hasn’t advanced to an NFC Championship Game since 1995.
While an MVP award would be great recognition, Prescott has his sights set on the bigger prize of a Super Bowl championship.
“It’s about me holding up my end of the deal,” the quarterback said. Now that his contract is signed, he can focus on making another dream come true.
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Dak Prescott Will Make More Than $30 Million Next Year – But Will He Be Happy?
ByJoey Heldon July 2, 2020inArticles›Sports News
It seems like ever since Dak Prescott replaced an injured Tony Romo , he’s had to deal with questions about his future. At first, it was whether he’d hold onto his starting job. Then, it was whether he could return the Dallas Cowboys to postseason greatness. And lately, it’s been whether he’ll get the contract he wants from the team.
We have an answer to that last one: No, at least not yet.
The Cowboys placed the franchise tag on Prescott, which will give the quarterback $31.4 million next year. The two sides do have until July 15 to agree on a long-term deal, but it’s looking likely that Prescott will be playing under the franchise tag this year.
In most situations, receiving more than $30 million to play one season of football would be a dream come true. But Prescott was looking for a long-term contract worth about $40 million per season.
Chris Graythen/Getty Images
Prescott and the Cowboys never really seemed close to coming to terms, and that could be an underlying issue. It may just be that paying Prescott that much money for several seasons could hurt the team financially. Or could it be something bigger?
Quarterbacks have been dominating the market over the past few years as more teams realize the importance of the position. However, even with the rising price of franchise quarterbacks, the most expensive player next season will be Russell Wilson , at $35 million. Prescott wanted more than that, and he doesn’t have the career pedigree of some of the other highest-paid quarterbacks, including Ben Roethlisberger and Aaron Rodgers .
Instead of taking over that top spot, Prescott now finds himself the seventh-highest-paid quarterback in the league. That’s still nothing to scoff at, but it presents the possibility that the Cowboys don’t view Prescott in that same tier. The team gave extensions to running back Ezekiel Elliott and wide receiver Amari Cooper ; they could have done the same with Prescott, yet didn’t.
The COVID-19 pandemic adds another wrinkle to any contract negotiations. Professional sports teams are likely to lose a lot of money this year, and probably for several years to come. Maybe the Cowboys looked at the landscape and thought they’d say some money this year.
Whatever the case may be, it looks like Prescott is going to have to prove himself once again this year. If he can put up solid numbers and lead the Cowboys deep into the playoffs, he’ll probably get the exact number he wants.
For now, he’ll have to be content playing under the franchise tag. It’s an expensive one-year tryout that could pay tremendous dividends.
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