Spotrac predicts 3-year, $180M contract extension for Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott

One projected contract extension has the Dallas Cowboys paying Dak Prescott $60M per year.

We officially have less than two weeks to go until the new league year begins for the NFL. This is significant. Once the clock strikes midnight and the new year begins, all agreed-upon contracts will be made official and players will lock in with their new teams (as in free agents finding new homes). We all hope that the Dallas Cowboys will be active in this portion of annual roster building, despite it looking grim that they will do so, but in order for them to be even close to ‘all-in’ they are going to have to make a decision about quarterback Dak Prescott.

At present time Dak has a cap number just south of $60M, and even in a world where the salary cap is $255.4M, that is a difficult pill to swallow. Dallas is going to have to do something one way or another whether that is restructuring Prescott’s current deal or extending him by way of a new one, and given the timeline involve if anything like that is going to happen it is going to need to do so rather quickly.

Spotrac predicted a 3-year, $180M extension for Dak Prescott

The number $60M has been thrown around a lot when talking about a potential Prescott extension given that Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow is currently leading the pack at $55M per year. $60M is the next bump that feels logical (it could be somewhere just below this when it is all said and done).

The folks over at Spotrac believe this is more than just a feeling, though. In their recent prediction on a Prescott extension they have him hitting that mark over the course of a three-year deal.

Spotrac

First and foremost, this would produce $18M in salary cap savings this year (similar to a restructure of the current contract). It also sets up some monstrous cap hits in ensuing years, things the Cowboys would touch up and kick down the road as Prescott quarterbacked the team into his 30s.

From an AAV standpoint, this is on par with the way things tend to go with the quarterback position. That it is referred to as a three-year deal is an interesting way to frame this given the void year in 2028, something they explained in their write-up.

The Cowboys have a few options with Dak Prescott, but the most likely outcome is an extension for the 31-year-old this offseason. We haven’t been shy with this one, making Prescott the first $60M per year player in terms of new money average. In total, we’ve projected a 4 year, $214M contract, with $169M guaranteed for practical purposes, and $119M of it fully guaranteed at signing. Prescott secures an historic $75M signing bonus, and his cap figure for 2024 lowers from $59.4M to $41.6M.

It goes without saying that this would be a significant decision for the Cowboys which would partly explain why they are taking so long to make it. This would/will be Prescott’s second extension with the team and an incredible amount of cash directly handed to him. It pays to be a quarterback in the NFL these days.

Given the timeframe involved, this deal still allows the Cowboys time to move on from Prescott if they want when he reaches his mid-30s, and the three-year window from 2025-2027 would be one in which he could work with the new head coach if the team does move on from Mike McCarthy after this season.