Dak Prescott Just Turned Down $30 Million From The Dallas Cowboys – Is That Crazy Or A Smart Move?

ByJoey Heldon August 12, 2019inArticles›Sports News

The Dallas Cowboys find themselves in a tough situation. They’ve got a franchise running back in Ezekiel Elliott , a star receiver in Amari Cooper , and a good to great quarterback (depending on who you ask) in Dak Prescott . And all three are nearing the end of their contracts. Having all that talent is nice, but when it comes time to pay, the Cowboys will have to dish out some hefty deals.

A new report emerged today on one of those deals: a multi-year contract for Prescott that would pay around $30 million annually. That’s a huge chunk of change, yet Prescott turned it down.

Is he nuts or will this turn out to be a smart move?

Prescott is aided by a couple of other moves that happened this offseason. First, the Seattle Seahawks gave Russell Wilson an unprecedented four-year, $140 million extension with $107 million guaranteed. Just two months later, the Philadelphia Eagles and Carson Wentz agreed to a four-year, $128 million extension, including a record $107.87 million guaranteed.

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That puts Prescott in a position of power. He can point to these deals and ask for a similar amount of money (about two to five million dollars more annually). Another report suggested Prescott wants at least $40 million, though Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio called that report " all-caps false. "

Prescott is set to make just $2.7 million thanks to his rookie contract. It’s understandable why he’d seek such a massive salary increase. The former Rookie of the Year comes out favorably when compared to Wentz. Prescott has a better career completion percentage, QB rating, and has thrown fewer interceptions despite starting 11 more games.

With Wentz making so much per year, Prescott has no reason to stop negotiating until he gets a price he feels is fair.

While $40 million annually might be a stretch, Prescott will almost certainly get more than $30 million per year. We’ll just have to see how much – and for how many years.

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Dak Prescott Will Make More Than $30 Million Next Year – But Will He Be Happy?

ByJoey Heldon July 2, 2020inArticles›Sports News

It seems like ever since Dak Prescott replaced an injured Tony Romo , he’s had to deal with questions about his future. At first, it was whether he’d hold onto his starting job. Then, it was whether he could return the Dallas Cowboys to postseason greatness. And lately, it’s been whether he’ll get the contract he wants from the team.

We have an answer to that last one: No, at least not yet.

The Cowboys placed the franchise tag on Prescott, which will give the quarterback $31.4 million next year. The two sides do have until July 15 to agree on a long-term deal, but it’s looking likely that Prescott will be playing under the franchise tag this year.

In most situations, receiving more than $30 million to play one season of football would be a dream come true. But Prescott was looking for a long-term contract worth about $40 million per season.

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Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Prescott and the Cowboys never really seemed close to coming to terms, and that could be an underlying issue. It may just be that paying Prescott that much money for several seasons could hurt the team financially. Or could it be something bigger?

Quarterbacks have been dominating the market over the past few years as more teams realize the importance of the position. However, even with the rising price of franchise quarterbacks, the most expensive player next season will be Russell Wilson , at $35 million. Prescott wanted more than that, and he doesn’t have the career pedigree of some of the other highest-paid quarterbacks, including Ben Roethlisberger and Aaron Rodgers .

Instead of taking over that top spot, Prescott now finds himself the seventh-highest-paid quarterback in the league. That’s still nothing to scoff at, but it presents the possibility that the Cowboys don’t view Prescott in that same tier. The team gave extensions to running back Ezekiel Elliott and wide receiver Amari Cooper ; they could have done the same with Prescott, yet didn’t.

The COVID-19 pandemic adds another wrinkle to any contract negotiations. Professional sports teams are likely to lose a lot of money this year, and probably for several years to come. Maybe the Cowboys looked at the landscape and thought they’d say some money this year.

Whatever the case may be, it looks like Prescott is going to have to prove himself once again this year. If he can put up solid numbers and lead the Cowboys deep into the playoffs, he’ll probably get the exact number he wants.

For now, he’ll have to be content playing under the franchise tag. It’s an expensive one-year tryout that could pay tremendous dividends.

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