Cowboys and QB Dak Prescott agree to 4-year, $240 million contract: Source

By Dianna Russini, Saad Yousuf, Jon Machota and Amos Morale III

Dak Prescott will continue to wear the Dallas Cowboys uniform after the 2024 NFL season.

The Cowboys and their starting quarterback agreed to a multi-year contract extension just hours before Dallas' season opener against the Cleveland Browns. This makes the three-time Pro Bowler the highest-paid player in league history. The extension is for four years and is worth up to $240 million, according to a league source.

Prescott, 31, had one of the best seasons of his career last year and was a candidate for league MVP for most of the season. He started every regular-season game and led Dallas to a 12-5 record while completing a career-high 69.5% for 4,516 yards, 36 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Prescott was named to the All-Pro second team and finished second in MVP voting.

But Dallas' 2023 season ended disappointingly in the playoffs with a 48-32 loss to the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Wild Card round, leading to increased questions about Prescott's future. His contract expired after the 2024 season and the Cowboys were not allowed to use the franchise tag on the passer.

On August 15, Prescott told reporters he was confident a deal would be done.

“There are good conversations going on, I can say that,” he said. “A lot of good things are happening there. A lot of trust. I trust that my guys and these guys can get something done.”

Prescott signed a four-year, $160 million contract extension in 2021. He spent his entire career with the Cowboys after Dallas selected him in the fourth round of the 2016 NFL Draft. He started 16 games (of 16) for the Cowboys, leading them to a 13-3 record and was named Offensive Rookie of the Year.

Aside from his injury-related absences in the 2020 and 2022 seasons, he has firmly established himself as a regular player for Dallas.

How Dak got the huge deal

Most assumed a Prescott contract extension would come early in the offseason. Instead, the Cowboys waited all spring and summer and finally made a deal just hours before their opener against the Cleveland Browns. The deal, with an average annual value of $60 million, is exactly what most expected. Trevor Lawrence and Jordan Love recently signed contracts worth $55 million annually this offseason, but Joe Burrow had already reached that value with his contract before this offseason, so the floor was set for Prescott.

The Cowboys quarterback had all the advantages – a no-trade clause, no franchise tag clause, a weak quarterback free agency class in 2025 and a relatively weak quarterback draft class in 2025. He was able to use that to get the deal done that felt inevitable for a while. – Saad Yousuf, Cowboys author

Are there any coaching changes coming up?

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said several times this offseason that he was “all in” for the 2024 season. After not doing much in free agency, most were left scratching their heads. So if he wasn't “all in” to improve the roster, he seemed to be implying that he would be “all in” if things don't go well, and he would make big changes. Those changes could affect the two most important positions – quarterback and coach. But there are no changes at quarterback, regardless of what happens with Prescott's contract this season.

Jones ended up making CeeDee Lamb the second-highest-paid non-QB and Prescott the highest-paid player in league history.

The biggest question to ask with both deals is why they weren't done sooner. Perhaps a new Mike McCarthy contract will be next. — Jon Machota, Cowboys writer

Required reading

(Photo: Cooper Neill/Getty Images)