The Dallas Cowboys fulfilled Dak Prescott’s every wish. He plans to reimburse them in full.
Just hours before the season began, Prescott and the Cowboys reached an agreement on a $240 million, four-year contract that would make the quarterback the highest paid player in the NFL and give him the opportunity to play for his beloved team in the Super Bowl.
He declared, “I wanted to be a Cowboy.” “It worked out that I wanted to remain a Cowboy.”
According to a source familiar with the talks who spoke with The Associated Press on Sunday, Prescott is the first player in league history to average $60 million annually. The individual mentioned to the AP only agreed to remain anonymous as the deal has not yet been made public.
The NFL MVP runner-up was about to enter the last year of a four-year contract worth $160 million, which set a franchise record prior to this agreement. According to the source, it includes $231 million in guaranteed money, which is $1 million more than Deshaun Watson’s record fully guaranteed contract with the Browns signed two years prior.
“I owed it to the other quarterbacks and the league,” he declared. “It’s because I expected the next guy to beat me and I was up (due).”
Prescott’s agent informed him that the deal was finalized while he was getting ready to leave for Sunday’s game against the Browns in his Cleveland hotel room.
After that, he went on to throw one touchdown pass and help the Cowboys win their season opener 33-17 with ease.
Weeks had passed while rumors swirled about whether or not the parties could come to an understanding. As Prescott approached the last year of his contract, he had been hoping for a clear response, which one day arrived.
As Prescott prepared to depart for Sunday’s game against the Browns from his hotel room in Cleveland, his agent informed him that the deal had been finalized.
Subsequently, he led the Cowboys to a comfortable 33-17 victory in their season opener, throwing one touchdown pass.
For weeks, there had been conjecture regarding the potential for the parties to come to a consensus. As he approached his last year on the deal, Prescott had hoped for a clear response, which was eventually provided.
He stated, “In any negotiation, there are two sides: one wants one thing, and the other wants something else.” “You need to come together in the center. I’m just happy that it’s finished and functions for everyone.
Prescott claimed that during his Saturday conversation with general manager and owner Jerry Jones, he received assurances that the Cowboys were eager to complete a deal.
Just before kickoff, Jones told reporters, “I know that these numbers are beyond anything that I could have ever imagined.”
Over the last three seasons and five times in his first eight years, Prescott has guided the Cowboys to the postseason. However, Dallas is searching for a postseason breakthrough that hasn’t been achieved since the franchise’s final five Super Bowl victories in 1995.
The 31-year-old has stated on numerous occasions that he wants to stay in Dallas and be the quarterback who leads the team to its first divisional round victory in 29 years. Prescott will now have a minimum of a few more opportunities.
“It’s about me keeping up my half of the bargain,” he declared.
“We came here to win a championship, so this was the right thing to do,” Jones remarked. “In order to have the opportunity to play for the Cowboys, I gave everything I ever had or hoped to have.” And where we are now is beyond anything I could have imagined.”
Less than two weeks ago, Dallas signed All-Pro receiver CeeDee Lamb to a four-year, $136 million contract, making him the second-highest paid player at his position. Lamb’s deal with Prescott follows.
In 2016, as Tony Romo was starting his tenth consecutive season as the starting quarterback, Prescott was selected in the fourth round out of Mississippi State.
Due to backup Kellen Moore’s injury prior to the season opener, Prescott began playing from Week 1 of his rookie campaign after Romo suffered a back injury in a preseason game.
Prescott oversaw an 11-game winning streak that set a franchise record for the most wins in a single season following a defeat to the New York Giants.
Before the Cowboys lost their playoff opener to Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers, Prescott defeated his running back teammate Ezekiel Elliott to win the 2016 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year award.
Two years later, against Seattle, came Prescott’s first playoff win before a divisional loss at the hands of the Los Angeles Rams.
2021’s first of three consecutive 12-win playoff seasons came to an end at home against San Francisco in a wild-card match.
A year later, in Tom Brady’s final game, Prescott had one of his best performances in a wild-card win at Tampa Bay. It was followed by another 49ers loss, this time in San Francisco.
Last season, when the Cowboys came back to the NFC as the No. 2 seed and were in position to advance past the divisional round at home, expectations for a deep Dallas playoff run were at an all-time high under head coach Daryl Prescott.
Dallas was shut out of the game, as their first-half collapse against Jordan Love and the Packers in a stunning 48-32 wild-card loss included Prescott’s pick-6.
Prescott had a fantastic regular season, leading the NFL with a career-high 36 touchdown passes against nine interceptions and 4,516 yards of passing. However, the game was marred by arguably the most disappointing loss in the 34 years since Jones acquired the team.
Prescott, who has already climbed the Cowboys’ career QB charts, will now have an opportunity to surpass both Romo and two Pro Football Hall of Famers—Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach, who have each won multiple Super Bowls.
In terms of career victories, all three of his predecessors still have more than Prescott, who is currently four wins behind Romo’s 78 in third place. Ranks third in yards behind Romo and Aikman, second in touchdowns, and 44 behind Romo.
Prescott leads the team in career completion percentage (67%). He has 203 touchdowns and 29,638 passing yards.
