FRISCO, Texas — When the Dallas Cowboys signed quarterback Dak Prescott to a four-year, $160 million contract last March, there was much conjecture and lamenting about the timing of the deal.
It was the second richest deal in NFL history behind Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes at the time while making Prescott the richest player in franchise history.
But if the Cowboys had shown the foresight to get Prescott signed a couple of years earlier, before the quarterback contracts exploded, they might have gotten him at a much friendlier price.
And there was also immediate concern about how the Cowboys would field a roster with a quarterback making $40 million annually.
Prescott’s deal is now fifth in the NFL in annual average and poised to fall further down the rankings thanks to new deals for Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers ($50 million annually), Cleveland Browns quarterback DeShaun Watson ($46 million), Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen ($43 million) and Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matt Stafford ($40 million).
Mahomes, who signed roughly eight months before Prescott, has a deal averaging $45 million annually.
And this doesn’t include Los Angeles Raiders quarterback Derek Carr, who signed a three-year, $121.5 million extension on Wednesday. His new money average per year of $40.5 million (for the extension only) ranks fifth among NFL quarterbacks, though Carr is scheduled to make $19.87 million in base salary in 2022.
Expected new deals for quarterbacks Russell Wilson, Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson, Kyler Murray and Justin Herbert in the coming year or years might make Prescott’s look like a bargain before it expires.
In the first year of the deal, Prescott passed for 4,449 yards and set a team record with 37 touchdowns in 2021 while leading a Cowboys offense that ranked first in yards and first in points.
Jones’ focus now is finding players in the draft to build around Prescott, particularly offensive linemen and receivers after losing guard Connor Williams, tackle La’el Collins and pass catchers Amari Cooper and Cedrick Wilson from last year’s team.
“When I look at what has happened since we’ve done (Dak’s) contract, the reps, the way Dak has evolved, what we’re doing in here to look for players to complement what he does the best,” Jones said. “That’s who, in my mind, we’re complementing whether we’re blocking them out, whether we’re basically trying to get him some field position. So yes, we’re glad we got him.”
The real game-changers were the guaranteed deals for Rodgers and Watson.
Rodgers became the first NFL player to receive $100 million fully guaranteed at signing. Watson signed a record-setting five-year, $230 million fully guaranteed deal. They will be the standard by which all new deals will be measured.
“I’m proud we have it,” Jones said of the deal with Prescott. “Deshaun’s contract was a big one. Just reinforces that it just takes one or two teams to really covet a player and they really get those numbers on up there.”
On the flip side, Prescott’s deal has become reasonable, just as many also predicted a year ago because the numbers always go up.
