Dak Prescott extension: Cowboys make Pro Bowl QB highest-paid player in history with $240 million deal

Jerry and Stephen Jones’ stare down with three-time Pro Bowl quarterback Dak Prescott over his second long-term contract extension with the Dallas Cowboys is finally over. 

The Cowboys are re-signing Prescott, who will be 31 years old as he enters his ninth NFL season in 2024, to a four-year extension worth $240 million with $231 million guaranteed, according to CBS Sports NFL insider Jonathan Jones. He is now the NFL’s highest-paid player in terms of his contract’s average-per-year value of $60 million, surpassing the previous of $55 million APY set by Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow on his five-year, $275 million deal. Both Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence (five years, $275 million) and Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love (four years, $220 million) tied the $55 million APY mark with their new deals this offseason. 

In April, Prescott, who led the NFL with 36 passing touchdowns in 2023, said he was “not trying to be the highest paid necessarily,” but he did smirk when saying it, letting on that he didn’t entirely mean the company line he just said. Not only does this new deal make him the highest-paid player in NFL history overall, but his $231 million in guarantees is also intentional. That wrinkle exceeds the $230 million guaranteed the Cleveland Browns gave quarterback Deshaun Watson upon trading for him in 2022. 

The 31-year-old was drafted by Dallas in the fourth round of the 2016 NFL Draft out of Mississippi State. Prescott was thrown into the fire early as a rookie as he came in under duress following a preseason injury to then-starter Tony Romo. Prescott took the reins of the starting job and largely never looked back. 

He has started 114 games for the organization and the Cowboys are 73-41 in those regular season matchups Prescott has been under center. Already, Prescott ranks third on the franchise’s all-time passing yards list (29,459), looking up only at Troy Aikman and Tony Romo. Prescott’s 202 career passing touchdowns rank second all-time in Cowboys history behind Romo (248). 

With this extension done, the next hurdle for Prescott and the Cowboys to climb comes in the postseason where the franchise has been starved for a deep run as Dallas is 2-5 in the postseason during his tenure.