Dak Prescott, the quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys, unintentionally made news on Thursday after a significant report from NFL insider Jordan Schultz.
Schultz stated on FS1, “(Dak) is going to get between $55 and $60 million (per year).” “We’ve already seen Joe Burrow get that 55 number, Dak Prescott has an opportunity to reset it, I think the floor is around $55 million.”
Given that the allegation is about the Cowboys quarterback, the most divisive position in the game, and his salary, it makes reasonable that the report has taken over the team’s news cycle.
Given that the allegation is about the Cowboys quarterback, the most divisive position in the game, and his salary, it makes reasonable that the report has taken over the team’s news cycle.
That being said, nobody who has been following the news should be surprised by this development. Let’s start by discussing the choice to remain with Dak for many years to come: As much as Cowboys supporters have argued over Prescott’s caliber in the NFL, the matter is now settled.
Under Mike McCarthy, Prescott is playing some of his best football as a legitimate franchise quarterback. Only a few weeks prior, he was the clear favorite to win MVP in simple December. Regardless of your preference for more complex measurements like EPA/play or more conventional figures like touchdowns and interceptions, every statistic you examine points to one simple conclusion: He is among the best in the NFL at the most crucial position in sports.
Teams in need of a quarterback are currently having difficulty (as usual) determining the best solution for their future. There is no disagreement here. Prescott will undoubtedly remain with the Cowboys in the long run. They ought should, too.
Let’s now discuss when it happened: Prescott technically already has a contract until 2024, but an extension was always likely to happen as late as the upcoming summer. His cap hit for the upcoming year is estimated by Over The Cap to be $59.4 million. Since the deal has too many years left for a restructure to make sense, that number needs to alter. The only solution to the problem is an extension.
Now that we have cleared things up, let’s talk about the numbers Schultz provided. It is inevitable and predictable that a lot of supporters will say things like, “Yeah, Dak is good, but signing him for that much money!? No way, no way!” We use quarterbacks in this manner each year.
Heck, we did it with Prescott in 2021 when he got a record-breaking $40 million annual contract with a $126 million guarantee. With an average salary of $40 million annually, Prescott rose to the top of the quarterback position in the league almost instantly. In less than three years, he is currently ranked eleventh in the NFL.
You can whine endlessly about quarterbacks rising to the top of their respective positions in terms of compensation. A few years later, it just won’t matter.
According to Schultz, “both sides are highly motivated.” Remember that he has complete leverage and that there is a no-trade and no-tag clause. I recently attended the owners’ meetings in Dallas, and it’s clear that Dak and Dallas, Jerry, want to see this through to completion.”
Hopefully, the Cowboys and Prescott pull off a spectacular offseason in 2024 rather than pulling off a spectacular one-off job. However, Dak might significantly raise that price in the interim if he makes a deep playoff run. Everyone fasten your seatbelts.