CBS Sport: Cowboys mega star agree to a four-year, $240 million contract extension.
The Dallas Cowboys and quarterback Dak Prescott have reached an agreement on a four-year, $240 million contract extension that will make the star player the highest-paid player in NFL history and keep him in a Cowboys uniform through the 2028 season, sources told ESPN.
The deal includes the highest amount of guaranteed money in league history—$231,500,000—with Deshaun Watson’s fully guaranteed deal with the Cleveland Browns coming in at $230 million.
Additionally, Prescott’s $60 million average annual value is the highest in NFL history, easily surpassing recent deals worth $55 million signed by Joe Burrow of Cincinnati, Jordan Love of Green Bay, and Trevor Lawrence of Jacksonville.
The terms of the agreement between the Cowboys and Prescott were not disclosed when they made their announcement on Sunday morning.
Hours before Dallas’ season opener against the Cleveland Browns, the record-breaking agreement was reached after extensive negotiations between the Cowboys and Prescott over the weekend, according to sources.
In less than two weeks, the Cowboys were able to make Prescott the highest-paid quarterback in the NFL and make CeeDee Lamb the league’s second-highest paid receiver, securing both players through 2028.
The Cowboys avoided a possible salary cap disaster and avoided having to select a franchise quarterback in the draft, free agency, or trade in 2025 thanks to the Prescott deal. Though it did not take as long as it did for Prescott to sign the largest contract in Cowboys history, there was still drama along the way.
Prescott had been set to play this season on the final year of a four-year, $160 million deal that he signed in 2021. The Cowboys and Prescott had been unable to find common ground since the start of this past offseason, but they entered the weekend with the knowledge that they would try to work out a deal before the season
Because of the no-trade and no-franchise-tag clause in his previous contract, Prescott would have entered the free agency market as a rare NFL quarterback in the prime of his career—a no-strings-attached quarterback in the prime of his career. However, by agreeing to a deal on Sunday, the Cowboys avoided Prescott from becoming a free agent in a market that is expected to include a number of teams looking for a quarterback.
Instead, Prescott will remain in Dallas, where he has developed a close relationship with coach Mike McCarthy. Under McCarthy, who is 36-15 in his three seasons as head coach, Prescott led the Cowboys to the postseason each of the previous three seasons.
