Sources Dak Prescott, Cowboys agree to record $240M deal ESPN

The Dallas Cowboys and Dak Prescott have agreed on a four-year, $240 million contract extension that will make the star quarterback the highest-paid player in NFL history and keep him in a Cowboys uniform through the 2028 season, sources told ESPN.

The deal includes $231 million guaranteed, a source told ESPN, which is the most in league history. Deshaun Watson's fully guaranteed deal with the Cleveland Browns was worth $230 million.

The $60 million average annual value of Prescott's contract is the highest in NFL history, easily surpassing recent deals worth $55 million in average annual value signed by Cincinnati's Joe Burrow, Green Bay's Jordan Love and Jacksonville's Trevor Lawrence.

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The Cowboys announced Sunday morning that they agreed to a deal with Prescott but did not disclose terms.

The record-setting deal comes hours before Dallas' season opener in Cleveland against the Browns, after the Cowboys and Prescott engaged in negotiations throughout 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 wide receiver, securing both players through 2028.

The Prescott deal also helped the Cowboys avert a potential salary cap mess and keep them from needing to find a franchise quarterback either through free agency, trade or the draft in 2025. The path to the largest contract in Cowboys history was not as long as the first time Prescott signed the biggest contract in team history, but it still had some drama.

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 kicked off.

By agreeing to a deal Sunday, the Cowboys prevented Prescott from becoming a free agent next winter in a market that figures to include a number of teams looking for a quarterback. Thanks to the no-trade and no-franchise-tag clause in his previous contract, Prescott would have hit the open market as a rarity in the NFL -- a no-strings-attached quarterback in the prime of his career.

But Sunday's deal ensures that Prescott will stay in Dallas, where he has formed a strong bond with coach Mike McCarthy. After playing just five games in 2020 before a season-ending ankle injury, Prescott led the Cowboys to the postseason in each of the past three seasons under McCarthy, who is 36-15 over that stretch.

This deal could see Prescott end his career as the franchise's all-time leader in wins, passing yards, touchdown passes, attempts and completions. But the biggest goal for both sides is ending a Super Bowl drought that is drawing closer to 30 years.

Prescott, 31, finished last season with 4,516 passing yards and a league-leading 36 touchdown passes. The three-time Pro Bowler is the third-leading passer in Cowboys history, behind only Tony Romo and Troy Aikman, and his 202 career TD passes trail only Romo (248) on the franchise's all-time list.

Prescott has directed the Cowboys to the postseason five times in his career (2016, 2018, 2021-23), but they have not gotten past the divisional round of the playoffs. In 2016, the Cowboys had home-field advantage and lost in the divisional round to the Green Bay Packers, then coached by McCarthy.

Last season, the Cowboys were bounced by the Packers in the wild-card round. While Prescott threw for 403 yards and three touchdown passes, he was intercepted twice as Green Bay ran out to a 27-0 lead in the first half.

The last time the Cowboys won a championship was in Super Bowl XXX with Aikman as their quarterback. The last time the Cowboys made an NFC Championship Game was for the 1995 season. Only the Washington Commanders have a longer NFC title game drought than the Cowboys.

Prescott has embraced the pressure of trying to deliver a Super Bowl and living up to the standard Hall of Famers Roger Staubach and Aikman have set. He has also embraced helping the community with his Faith, Fight, Finish Foundation. In 2022, he was named the winner of the Walter Payton Man of the Year award.