A fascinating new report details how Dak Prescott completely outsmarted Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones to maximize his earnings, allowing him to secure far more cash than other top quarterbacks.
Hours before the Cowboys kicked off their 2024 season against the Cleveland Browns, Dak Prescott agreed to a massive four-year contract extension worth $240 million. The new deal goes to show just how much the quarterback market has jumped since 2021, when Prescott signed a four-year, $160 million extension.
Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio put together some interesting analysis to show how Prescott crushed the Cowboys owner and GM in contract negotiations to maximize how much his bank account grows.
“The Cowboys blew the chance to make Dak an offer he couldn’t refuse after his third season, at a time when he was due to make peanuts for 2019. Then they tagged him for 2020. By 2021, they realized they were one year away from Dak becoming a free agent.
So they cried uncle, with a four-year, $160 million deal, designed to put him in position after the third year to get another new deal or become a free agent after the fourth. The Cowboys dragged their feet again. They cried uncle again. And, yet again, Dak has positioned himself to force a new deal after three years or become a free agent after four.”
To put into perspective just how much Dak Prescott won the negotiations? As Florio noted, he’ll have made $400 million on his contracts from 2021 to 2028, whereas Buffalo Bills superstar signal-caller Josh Allen (widely regarded as a better quarterback) will have pocketed just $281.9 million.
Here is the Dak Prescott contract breakdown.
Because he played Sunday on his former deal, there was some slight re-working of the numbers that have been out there. pic.twitter.com/fsWbVctyQx
— Todd Archer (@toddarcher) September 11, 2024
Allen signed his six-year, $258 million extension with the Bills in the 2021 offseason. That contract has quickly become a bargain for the Bills, but it also shows how smart Prescott was to bet on himself by signing shorter-term deals, knowing that the QB market would skyrocket over time.
Dak Prescott Now Has To Deliver For Cowboys
If the Pro Football Hall of Fame focused only on regular season success and statistics, Dak Prescott would be a lack for Canton. But the 31-year-old’s incredible passing numbers have been overshadowed by a lackluster postseason record (2-5 with 14 touchdowns against seven interceptions).
Prescott has secured the bag, but now it’s time to prove the Cowboys that he can actually take them to the promised land. Dallas hasn’t played in the NFC Championship Game since their last Super Bowl-winning season in 1995, with only two Wild Card Round victories in the Prescott era.
Prescott got off to a good start in Sunday’s blowout win over Cleveland. We’ll see if he can build on it this Sunday when the Cowboys welcome the New Orleans Saints in their home opener.
