Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys agreed to a mammoth new deal on Monday evening, keeping the 27-year-old quarterback as the team’s franchise quarterback for at least the next few seasons.
News of the signing ends a lengthy saga between the two parties that dates back well before the 2020 season. Negotiations were tabled last year as Prescott played under the franchise tag before suffering a major injury in Week 5.
Although the compound fracture in his ankle cast further doubt on his future in Dallas, the 27-year-old quarterback remained committed to the team that drafted him. The Cowboys have now rewarded him accordingly.
The contract will earn Prescott $160 million over the next four years with $126 million guaranteed. Certainly not a small price to pay for Jerry Jones and the Cowboys.
According to a report from ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter, there might’ve been a very specific reason for the Dallas front office to adhere to Prescott’s demands. The hefty contract could signal that a new television deal for the NFL is just around the corner.
“You know what this is? This is Jerry Jones tipping off the extraordinary TV deal that is coming,” an anonymous league source told Schefter on Monday night.
One league source on the Dak Prescott deal: “You know what this is? This is Jerry Jones tipping off the extraordinary TV deal that is coming.”
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 9, 2021
The source’s comments are certainly worth considering, given the circumstances. Most NFL organizations are desperately trying to shed salary headed into the new league year, but the Cowboys just willingly parted with substantial sum of cash to keep Prescott on board. That means team leadership could be anticipating that the cap will skyrocket at some point during the quarterback’s contract over the next few years.
However, $40 million per year was what Prescott has said he wanted, so it’s possible the Jones finally decided to open his checkbook all the way. Considering the 27-year-old is one of the most reliable young quarterbacks in the game, the final number seems to make sense.
It’s also worth nothing that Dallas purposely structured Prescott’s deal to only land a $22.2 million against the salary cap in 2021. If the Cowboys had used the franchise tag, the cap hit would’ve been over $37 million.
No matter the reasoning for the timing of Prescott’s new contract, Jones and the Dallas front office should feel fairly good. With a few improvements elsewhere, the Cowboys could be right in the mix in the tightly packed NFC East in 2021.
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