Sources: Prescott, Cowboys comply with $240M deal

The Dallas Cowboys and Dak Prescott have agreed on a four-year, $240 million contract extension that may make the star quarterback the highest-paid participant in NFL historical past and hold him in a Cowboys uniform by the 2028 season, sources instructed ESPN.

The deal contains $231 million assured, a supply instructed ESPN, which is probably the most in league historical past. Deshaun Watson‘s totally assured cope with the Cleveland Browns was price $230 million.

The $60 million common annual worth of Prescott’s contract is also the very best in NFL historical past, simply surpassing latest offers price $55 million in common annual worth signed by Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow, Inexperienced Bay’s Jordan Love and Jacksonville’s Trevor Lawrence.

The Cowboys announced Sunday morning that they agreed to a cope with Prescott, however they didn’t disclose phrases.

The record-setting deal comes hours earlier than Dallas’ season opener in Cleveland towards the Cleveland Browns, after the Cowboys and Prescott engaged in negotiations all through the weekend, in accordance with sources.

In lower than two weeks, the Cowboys had been capable of make Prescott the highest-paid quarterback within the NFL and make CeeDee Lamb the league’s second-highest paid receiver, securing each gamers by 2028.

The Prescott deal additionally helped the Cowboys avert a possible wage cap mess and hold them from needing to discover a franchise quarterback both by free company, commerce or the draft in 2025. The trail to the biggest contract in Cowboys historical past was not so long as the primary time Prescott signed the most important contract in crew historical past, nevertheless it nonetheless had some drama.

Prescott had been set to play this season on the ultimate yr of a four-year, $160 million deal that he signed in 2021. The Cowboys and Prescott had been unable to seek out widespread floor because the begin of this previous offseason, however they entered the weekend with the information that they’d attempt to work out a deal earlier than the season kicked off.

By agreeing to a deal Sunday, the Cowboys prevented Prescott from changing into a free agent subsequent winter in a market that figures to incorporate various groups on the lookout for a quarterback. Because of the no-trade and no-franchise-tag clause in his earlier contract, Prescott would have hit the open market as a rarity within the NFL — a no-strings-attached quarterback within the prime of his profession.

However Sunday’s deal ensures that Prescott will keep in Dallas, the place he has shaped a robust bond with coach Mike McCarthy. After taking part in simply 5 video games in 2020 earlier than a season-ending ankle damage, Prescott led the Cowboys to the postseason in every of the previous three seasons underneath McCarthy, who’s 36-15 over that stretch.

This deal may see Prescott finish his profession because the franchise’s all-time chief in wins, passing yards, landing passes, makes an attempt and completions. However the greatest aim for either side is ending a Tremendous Bowl drought that’s drawing nearer to 30 years.

Prescott, 31, completed final season with 4,516 passing yards and a league-leading 36 landing passes. The three-time Professional Bowler is the third-leading passer in Cowboys historical past, behind solely Tony Romo and Troy Aikman, and his 202 profession TD passes path solely Romo (248) on the franchise’s all-time record.

Prescott has directed the Cowboys to the postseason 5 occasions in his profession (2016, 2018, 2021-23), however they haven’t gotten previous the divisional spherical of the playoffs. In 2016, the Cowboys had home-field benefit and misplaced within the divisional spherical to the Green Bay Packers, then coached by McCarthy.

Final season, the Cowboys had been bounced by the Packers within the wild-card spherical. Whereas Prescott threw for 403 yards and three landing passes, he was intercepted twice as Inexperienced Bay ran out to a 27-0 lead within the first half.

The final time the Cowboys received a championship was in Tremendous Bowl XXX with Aikman as their quarterback. The final time the Cowboys made an NFC Championship Recreation was for the 1995 season. Solely the Washington Commanders have an extended NFC title sport drought than the Cowboys.

Prescott has embraced the stress of attempting to ship a Tremendous Bowl and dwelling as much as the usual Corridor of Famers Roger Staubach and Aikman have set. He has additionally embraced serving to the neighborhood together with his Religion, Struggle, End Basis. In 2022, he was named the winner of the Walter Payton Man of the Yr award.