Dallas Cowboys: How much will it cost to re-sign Dak Prescott?

Those Dallas Cowboys fans who are hoping to re-sign Dak Prescott for just average QB1 money are about to get a rude awakening.

Not since the “make Tony Romo our offensive coordinator” crowd dominated social media, has such a sizable portion of Dallas Cowboys fans been so far outside of reality. Dak Prescott is going to be re-signed by the Dallas Cowboys. It’s a fact. And he’s going to become one of the highest paid players in the NFL. That’s unavoidable.

The first statement should be obvious to everybody by now. Whether you personally like him or not, it really doesn’t matter. The Dallas Cowboys adore him and will be unquestionably extending his service. Even Dak’s biggest haters have come to realize that.

The second statement (regarding his future compensation) isn’t quite so widely accepted. How much Dak Prescott stands to make on his second deal is a point of contention around Cowboys Nation. While some are accepting reality, others are stuck in fantasy land, expecting Dak to accept a contract offer that’s ridiculously below market value.

Supply and Demand

As we all know, the current demand for starting quarterbacks greatly outweighs the current supply. Teams are throwing money at anyone who even resembles a starting QB, it’s almost irrelevant if they are good or not.

In other words, it doesn’t matter what you or I, or frankly even the what the Jones’ think Dak deserves, the league-wide demand is so great multiple teams would be thrilled to throw enormous sums of money at our Mr. Prescott. And I guarantee Dak and his agent knows this.

What’s market value?

Market Value is not what it used to be. Funny thing about a “market”, it changes constantly. And in the NFL, that change is always pointed up. QB’s aren’t getting paid according to how good they are; they’re getting paid according to when they sign the contract. The biggest deals on the market aren’t going to the best players per se, but rather the ones who most recently hit the market.

While Aaron Rodgers currently has a stranglehold on the highest annual QB compensation (and rightfully so), his QB counterparts at the top of pay chart aren’t quite so “deserving”. Matt Ryan, Kirk Cousins, Jimmy Garoppolo, Matthew Stafford, Derek Carr, Drew Brees, Andrew Luck, Alex Smith, and Joe Flacco all round out the top 10.

Only two of the top-10 paid QBs led their teams to the postseason and only two of them are generally considered to be consistent top-10 performers (Brees and Rodgers… Luck if he stayed healthy). The average mean annual compensation of these quarterbacks is $26.62 million. This essentially provides a jumping off point for the Dallas Cowboys in their negotiations with Dak Prescott…

What will it take to re-sign Dak Prescott?

While I think something in the $22M-$25M range is perfectly possible, we should be prepared for the Dallas Cowboys to spend more. It’s really a non-debate as to whether or not Dak Prescott is a top-10 QB deserving of top-10 money. He’s going to get top-10 money.

In free agency, there are about a dozen teams willing to pay just about anything to secure a QB of Dak Prescott’s standing. Playing hardball isn’t an option for the Dallas Cowboys and anything resembling a “prove-it” deal will get laughed out of the building.

There are currently four notable quarterbacks looking for new deals this offseason: Patrick Mahomes, Carson Wentz, Jared Goff, and Dak Prescott. According to Spotrac, all are slated to command north of $25 million per year on their next deals.

Current average top-10 annual compensation: $26.62M (If anything, these individual projections are on the low side)

Based on the position they play, natural NFL salary growth, and their respective performance levels, these are all very acceptable salaries. If anything, we can expect Dak’s compensation to be MORE than what he’s projected here. Much of that is based largely on how well he played down the stretch and how he finished as the postseason’s second rated passer in the playoffs.

The reality is Dak Prescott, entering the final year on his rookie deal, will not be accepting anything less than market value. And with market value through the roof, he’s going to get paid handsomely.

• Published on 01/23/2019 at 13:01 PM
• Last updated at 01/23/2019 at 09:29 AM