By Dianna Russini, Saad Yousuf, Jon Machota and Amos Morale III

Dak Prescott will continue to wear the Dallas Cowboys uniform after the 2024 NFL season.

The Cowboys and their starting quarterback agreed to a multi-year contract extension just hours before Dallas’ season opener against the Cleveland Browns, making the Pro Bowler the highest-paid player in league history. The extension is for four years and is worth up to $240 million, according to a league source.

Prescott, 31, had one of the best seasons of his career last year and was a candidate for league MVP for most of the season. He started every regular-season game and led Dallas to a 12-5 record while completing a career-high 69.5% for 4,516 yards, 36 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Prescott was named to the All-Pro second team and finished second in MVP voting.

But Dallas’ 2023 season ended disappointingly in the playoffs with a 48-32 loss to the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Wild Card round, leading to increased questions about his future. Prescott’s contract was set to expire after the 2024 season and the Cowboys could not use the franchise tag on the passer.

On August 15, Prescott told reporters he was confident a deal would be done.

“There are good conversations going on, I can say that,” he said. “A lot of good things are happening there. A lot of trust. I trust that my guys and these guys can get something done.”

Prescott signed a four-year, $160 million contract extension in 2021. The three-time Pro Bowler has spent his entire career with the Cowboys after Dallas selected him in the fourth round of the 2016 NFL Draft. He started 16 games (of 16) for the Cowboys, leading them to a 13-3 record and was named Offensive Rookie of the Year.

Aside from his injury-related absences in the 2020 and 2022 seasons, he has firmly established himself as a regular player for Dallas.

How Dak got the huge deal

Most assumed a Prescott contract extension would come early in the offseason. Instead, the Cowboys waited all spring and summer and finally made a deal just hours before their opener against the Browns. The deal, with an AAV of $60 million, is exactly what most expected. Trevor Lawrence and Jordan Love recently signed contracts this offseason with an AAC of $55 million, but Joe Burrow had already reached that number with his contract before this offseason, which set the floor for Prescott.

The Cowboys quarterback had all the advantages – a no-trade clause, no franchise tag clause, a weak quarterback free agency class in 2025 and a relatively weak quarterback draft class in 2025. He was able to use that to get the deal done that felt inevitable for a while. – Saad Yousuf, Cowboys author

Are there any coaching changes coming up?

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said several times this offseason that he was “all in” on the 2024 season. After not doing much in free agency, most were left scratching their heads. So if he wasn’t “all in” on improving the roster, he seemed to be implying that if things don’t go well, there would be big changes. Those changes could affect the two most important positions, quarterback and head coach. But there are no changes at quarterback no matter what happens this season because Prescott’s contract is now complete. So in the end, Jones made CeeDee Lamb the second-highest-paid non-quarterback and Prescott the highest-paid player in league history.

The biggest question to ask with both deals: Why weren’t they done sooner? Perhaps a new Mike McCarthy contract will be next. — Jon Machota, Cowboys writer

Required reading

(Photo: Cooper Neill/Getty Images)