Cowboys offer Prescott $30 million contract
It has been reported that the Dallas Cowboys have offered starting quarterback Dak Prescott a contract worth $30 million dollars per year over 4 years for a total of $120 Million dollars – the guaranteed amount was not disclosed. A contract that Prescott has turned down. It is believed by many that this contract would have been more attractive to Dak, had it been offered earlier this off-season. Carson Wentz of the Philadelphia Eagles who was drafted the same year as Prescott just recently signed a deal worth $128 million over four years with $107 guaranteed. This is significant to Prescott and hurts the Cowboys position since Prescott has better stats and is more available than Wentz.? Since Prescott has better stats over the same time period and has been much healthier, playing in 8 more games over those three years.
Prescott Can Bet on Himself
The question at hand however is should Prescott, who is in the last year of his rookie deal, play out his contract and “bet on himself” so to speak. This is the tactic that Joe Flacco, then of the Baltimore Raven, took when he was in the last season of his contract. Flacco chose to play out his rookie contract and wait and see how the season would turn out. That year the Ravens won the Super Bowl and Joe Flacco cashed into the tune of 6 years and $120 Million dollars.
Kirk Cousins got a three year, $89 million dollars fully guaranteed contract from the Minnesota Vikings by betting on himself as well. Cousins, a former 4th round draft pick of the Washington Redskins played out his rookie deal and signed the one-year Franchise Tag offered by the Redskins who chose not offer him a multi-year contract. The next year he was released into the free-agent market and he inked his deal with the Vikings.
So the question is should Dak Prescott take a similar route? It is risky but it would offer him a chance to improve his bargaining power if he takes the Cowboys deep into the playoffs this year. If the Cowboys reach the Super Bowl and win, then the skies the limit to what Prescott could ask the Cowboys to pay him.. As it stands, the market says that today Prescott should be in the $33 to $35 million range per year. A Super Bowl win could get him $40 million dollars per year!
All of these massive numbers for Dak Prescott may seem – “out of whack” but this is what the NFL market for Franchise Quarterbacks is bearing. The QB position is without a doubt the single most important position on any NFL team as the game is played today….even if your Franchise QB may be the 8th or 9th best player at his position. Dak Prescott is not out of line expecting to be the highest-paid quarterback in the league…he’s just next up. The contract after his…the next QB to sign an extension…will get more. Wait till you see what Kansas City has to pay Pat Mahomes!
The Cowboys Have Options, Too
The Cowboys still have options as well. It’s not guaranteed that Prescott will have a great season. The Cowboys can let Prescott play out the final year of his contract and no matter what happens, franchise him the next two seasons. So the Cowboys can play the wait and see game as well. …that is assuming that Prescott would sign a Franchise Tag offer….and not choose to sit out. One additional factor to consider – while Stephen Jones appears to want to play hardball as it pertains to “setting the market” on these key free agents – Jerry Jones will soon be 77 years old and he wants at least one more shot at a Super Bowl. If the Cowboys don’t sign Prescott to an extension then the waiting game for Super Bowls in Dallas is guaranteed to be extended quite some time. There is no other quarterback of any pedigree on the current Dallas Cowboys roster. Whatever happens, this season is yet to unfold and the holdout of Ezekiel Elliot will have a definite impact one way or another.
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