The Cowboys used their franchise tag on Dak Prescott on Tuesday, but the move was procedural. Dallas did give Prescott the exclusive tag, per ESPN.com’s Field Yates (on Twitter), for the second straight year. However, the two-year saga is still ending. Prescott agreed to a four-year, $160MM extension Monday night.
This move will further protect Prescott against a future tag down the line. A third tag would bump up the quarterback’s price to an astronomical place. A third tag in 2022 would have cost the Cowboys more than $54MM. They finalized a deal Monday, rather than have his second tag price — $37.7MM — on their books going into free agency.
Players have been tagged three times before; Hall of Fame tackle Walter Jones played three seasons on the tag in the 2000s. But the system now calls for a 44% raise from the previous year’s salary. Dak’s extension contains a no-tag provision, but that applies only to this through-2024 deal. Tuesday’s second tag would make the prospect of the Cowboys tagging Prescott at the end of another contract effectively a non-starter. This will give Dak more leverage over the course of his career.
After counting $22.2MM against Dallas’ 2021 cap, Prescott will see his cap numbers spike to $33.2MM in 2022, $44.2MM in 2023 and $47.2MM in ’24, per OverTheCap. Prescott’s 2021 and ’22 base salaries ($9MM and $20MM, respectively) are fully guaranteed, with Joel Corry of CBS Sports noting the well-compensated quarterback will receive his full $66MM signing bonus — an NFL-record figure — by the end of 2021 (Twitter link).
The guaranteed base salaries and full bonus payout being due this year will give Prescott $95MM guaranteed at signing, making for another NFL record. Matt Ryan‘s $94.5MM full guarantee in 2018 previously topped that list. While Prescott’s 2023 salary ($31MM) is guaranteed for injury only, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk notes it will shift to a full guarantee on the fifth day of the 2022 league year. TL;DR: Prescott is now a far richer man.
Prescott’s total guarantees ($126MM) fall short of Patrick Mahomes‘ ($141MM), and the Chiefs QB still leads the football world with his $45MM-per-year average. But Prescott’s contract has now set records for signing bonus, fully guaranteed money and Year 1 payment. While Mahomes is signed through 2030, Prescott will have the opportunity to cash in again — assuming his play level does not nosedive in the early 2020s — before turning 32.
Massively overpaid. The bar is pretty low for receiving a large contract.
Uh no. Worse QBs will be paid more than this in 3 years.
Worst contract. Cowboys will never win! The NFL in general is dumb. They keep putting to much of an investment in the QB when it’s been proven that when a QB makes more then 14% of the total team salary you don’t win he Super Bowl. Cowboys could win with Dak making 750k so how does anyone think they will win when he’s making north of 20% of the entire teams salary.
Good luck ever fielding a decent team around him.
The dude cannot beat teams with winning records. Enjoy your $200 million .500 team Cowboy fans.
Coming from a Broncos fan. That’s rich. Please explain to us Cowboy fans how to win. We need your advice.
The Broncos won the Super Bowl in 2015. When was the last time Dallas went to a Super Bowl?
When you cannot argue facts you attack individuals. That is the lowest form of argumentation. You need to research Paul Graham’s Hierarchy of Disagreement before you come on this forum again.
Won the SB in 2015 because you had Peyton. You’ve been a worse franchise than the Cowboys since they were both on top in the 90’s. My point was made. You went to SBs
They actually won that SB in spite of Peyton. Just saying.
Agreed .. definitely wasn’t because of Peyton
Just surprised no ones mentioned they won it with Wade Phillips and DeMarcus Ware…
You signed Peyton and won a SB. Congrats. You’ve been a far more mediocre team since both teams were on top in the 90’s. Like I said, I don’t think the Broncos are the epitome of a well run organization.
Justin still thinks it’s the 90s with aikman lol, sadly not the case. Cant win a divison where the best team has a losing record lol. Cowgirls are trash much like your concepts of “winning”
“You’ve been a far more mediocre team since both teams were on top in the 90s”
Cowboys record last 20 years 168-152
Broncos record last 20 years 182-138
Should probably do some research before making such statements. Another case why you can’t take Cowboy fans seriously
The Cowboys were called America’s team back in the 20th century.
But after the last 25 years of mediocrity, with a mere four postseason victories during that time (two fewer than the Arizona Cardinals even – ouch), Jerry’s team has become a bunch of has-beens.
Enjoy spending your 1st picks on trying to get a QB again. I mean how many firsts y’all already use and still haven’t found 1.
As a Redskins fan, I LOVE this contract. South America’s team will continue its quarter century streak of mediocrity.
It’s nice to have company at the bottom…
This coming from a fan that franchise tagged Cousins two straight seasons. I’m pretty sure those two QBs are not even close to being comparable. I’ll take my chances with Dak before I go near the stupidity of WFT.
It’s extremely hard to win in the NFL without a quality quarterback. Speaking of which, who is QBing the WFT these days?
The salary cap will soon explode, and $40MM per year for a quality QB will soon be considered cheap.
In all seriousness, I DO like the WFT defense these days. Look for the Cowboys to be investing heavily on D in the next couple of drafts.
Well 4 years to get to the SB on draft picks. Better draft well. Starts with Surtain or Farley at #10. Corner, Edge Rusher, D Tackle, and OL depth should be the draft focus. I imagine they’ll restructure some deals like Cooper, Lawrence, Smith, or Martin to create space and being in some cap casualties. No one significant that they can cut and replace.
Add Free Safety to your shopping list. Priority should be CB, FS, and DT1.
Jimmy Johnson recently commenting on Prescott’s contract said it best….questions regarding his ability to run after the injury and of course accuracy on some of his throws but all in all, Zak is a very good QB but not the kind that can win without a very good cast of playmakers around him….surrounding him with okay players…because of team finances….when during the course of the long NFL season typically you must rely on the 2nd and third options at positions is going to be a big problem for the Cowboys