Fans of the Dallas Cowboys can breathe a sigh of relief. Dak Prescott’s bank account can be excited.
According to Yahoo Sports’ Jori Epstein, Prescott and the Cowboys agreed to a four-year, $240 million contract extension on Sunday, resolving the team’s — and perhaps the NFL’s — biggest looming contract situation and keeping the star quarterback with the team for the foreseeable future.
Just in: The Cowboys and Dak Prescott have agreed to a four-year, $240 million deal with $231 million, his agent Todd France confirmed on Instagram.
$60 million a year for Dak. pic.twitter.com/pwYPnDxApi
— Jori Epstein (@JoriEpstein) 8 September 2024
The deal, which pays Prescott $60 million a year, is the largest in NFL history. Prescott and the Cowboys finalized the contract just hours before the start of the 2024 season in Dallas. Prescott will also reportedly receive an $80 million signing bonus – another record.
While the Cowboys’ playoff failures, which Prescott’s play contributed to, will remain in focus until they get over the hump, there was no choice but to sign him to a mega-deal. Quarterbacks as good as Prescott don’t come around often, and he played at an MVP level in 2023, completing 69.5 percent of his passes for 4,516 yards and 36 touchdowns against nine interceptions. He is a three-time Pro Bowler and was named to the All-Pro second team for the first time last season.
At training camp in mid-August, Prescott reflected on a possible drop in free agency, telling Yahoo Sports’ Jori Epstein:
“I’m free now in terms of my path in life and what I’ve done here – not what I’ve done here, but who I was here. I understand that I obviously deserve (the next contract). But on the other hand, I told (my physical therapist) Luke (Miller): This game will be judged by whether we win the Super Bowl. And I understand people’s fear, maybe their fear that I didn’t do that.
“Hey, if these people want to continue, that’s a business. But I know, as I said in the media, it’s a two-way street.
“It has to be right from my side too.”
Financially, Prescott has certainly done well, as he is now the highest-paid player in NFL history. This is Prescott’s second big payday in the NFL. He signed a four-year, $160 million contract in 2021 that included clauses that excluded transfer and franchise – a maneuver that gave him maximum negotiating power with the Cowboys earlier this season.
Prescott’s contract comes shortly after star wideout CeeDee Lamb cashed in big with a contract extension worth $136 million over four seasons, with $67 million guaranteed at signing. The next big negotiation for the Cowboys is with star edge rusher Micah Parsons, who has a club option for a fifth year worth $21.3 million for the 2025 season. Parsons, one of the NFL’s best defensive players, will likely try to set a record as the league’s highest-paid defensive lineman. How the Cowboys balance those expensive salaries with the salary cap and field a competitive team will be the subject of fierce debate and analysis over the next few seasons.
