The Dallas Cowboys and quarterback Dak Prescott have reached a four-year deal worth $ 160 million, including a guaranteed $ 126 million, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The deal, which is technically valid for six years but expires to four to help Dallas with the salary cap, could be worth up to $ 164 million and has a $ 66 million signing bonus, the highest in history. Prescott averaged $ 42 million for the first three years of the deal.
The deadline for teams to nominate franchise players is Tuesday, March 9, and the Cowboys, who did not disclose details of the deal when they announced this next Wednesday, plan to tag Prescott, but only as a formality before the deal closes.
The process of reaching a long-term deal with Prescott took three years, during which time multimillion dollar offers were made and hours of negotiation. During that time, the Cowboys indicated they wanted Prescott to be their franchise quarterback for the present and the future, and the quarterback said he wanted to stay on the team.
The negotiation took longer than usual.
Prescott, who turns 28 in July, comes to the end of his 2020 season early with a fracture and dislocation of his right ankle in week 5, in a game against the New York Giants, but is expected to be fully recovered at the start. . of training camps in 2021.
The road to the Prescott and Cowboys deal was complicated by renewals signed by quarterbacks drafted in 2016, such as Jared Goff and Carson Wentz in 2019, the last year of the collective bargaining agreement, and a reluctance on the part of both parties to position. related to the duration of the deal. Dallas wanted one for five or more years, and the quarterback wanted one for four.
With the deal closed, the focus shifts to Cowboys’ roster and Prescott is stopping to make Dallas a Super Bowl contender. The Cowboys have not made it to the playoffs in three of the past four seasons.
Prescott’s absence in 2020 underscored his importance in the team’s success. Before getting injured, the quarterback threw for 1,856 yards with nine touchdowns and four interceptions in five games. The Cowboys offense struggled without its quarterback for a few weeks, scoring just one touchdown in three games, after scoring at least 31 points in four of its first five games.
In five seasons, Prescott has seven games of 400 or more yards, a Cowboys record, and 24 touchdowns on the ground, the highest total for a quarterback in franchise history. He is second to Tony Romo with 15 races with at least 300 meters and has proven that he is able to react in moments of pressure with 15 fouls to win.
In his career, Prescott, a fourth-round pick in the 2016 draft, has been 42-27 with 17,364 passing yards and 106 touchdowns per 40 interceptions.
With the contract secured, the expectation will be even higher for Prescott to win the Super Bowl for an organization that won its last championship 25 years ago.
ESPN’s Todd Archer contributed to this report.