Dak Prescott Reportedly Turned Down Record $175 Million Contract
Dak Prescott reportedly turned down a contract that would have made him the highest-paid quarterback in the history of the NFL. According to a post on Twitter from NFL insider Dov Kleiman, the Dallas Cowboys offered Prescott $175 million over five years. Kleiman said the two sides still can’t come to an agreement because the quarterback wants a big payday, including a number “north of $45 million” in the final year of any new deal.
Kleiman went on to question just why Prescott believes he’s worth the biggest quarterback contract in the league. The analyst put together his personal Top 10 quarterbacks list and said Prescott is outside that list. He believes Russell Wilson, Deshaun Watson, Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes, Carson Wentz, Lamar Jackson, Aaron Rodgers, Matt Ryan, Drew Brees, and Ryan Tannehill are all currently better than the Cowboys signal-caller.
The analyst conceded that someone could make the argument that Prescott is better than Tannehill, Wentz and Ryan. He then said it’s still more than likely that Prescott isn’t a Top 10 QB.
Ignoring the argument about whether or not Prescott deserves to be called one of the best in the league, the report sheds more light on struggles between the quarterback and the Cowboys to find common ground on a new deal. Earlier this month, The Inquisitr reported rumors of a “lull” in negotiations.
Cowboys vice president Stephen Jones went on the record that he’s worried about putting all of the team’s cap room toward one player. Jones alleged that there are studies showing spending a high percentage of a team’s cap on one player leads to less success. Analysts around the NFL rebutted that point by saying the claim seemed highly dubious. Jones never produced the report backing up his statement.
Rumors that Prescott wanted more than $35 million per year have been around since the beginning of the offseason. It’s long been thought he would be the highest-paid quarterback in the league after he signed his new contract.
Kleiman lamented the “game” of the last player signing automatically being the highest-paid at his position. In a subsequent tweet, the analyst wondered what was going to happen when Mahomes gets his new contract. He used the hypothetical of earning $2 billion. Kleiman said the next guy would get $2.5 billion and wouldn’t be nearly as good as Mahomes.
The Cowboys and Prescott have until July 15 to work out a long-term deal. If they cannot get a new contract done by that date, Prescott will play 2020 under the terms of a franchise tag.
