The Cowboys used their franchise brand in Dak Prescott on Tuesday, but the change was procedural. Dallas gave Prescott the exclusive tag, according to ESPN.com’s Field Yates (on twitter), for the second consecutive year. However, the two-year saga is still ending. Prescott agreed to a four-year extension, $ 160 million on Monday night.
This move will further protect Prescott against future identification on the line. A third tag would raise the quarterback’s price to an astronomical level. A third label in 2022 would have cost Cowboys more than $ 54 million. They struck a deal on Monday, instead of having their second tag price – $ 37.7 million – on their books going to a free agency.
The players have been scored three times before; Hall of Fame Challenge Walter Jones he played three seasons at the brand in the 2000s. But the system now requires a 44% increase over the previous year’s salary. The Dak extension contains an unlabeled clause, but that only applies to this agreement until 2024. Tuesday’s second appointment would make the prospect of the Cowboys scoring Prescott at the end of another contract effectively making it impossible to start. This will give Dak more advantage over his career.
After counting $ 22.2 million against the Dallas limit in 2021, Prescott will see his maximum number rise to $ 33.2 million in 2022, $ 44.2 million in 2023 and $ 47.2 million in ’24, by OverTheCap . Prescott’s 2021 and ’22 base salaries ($ 9 million and $ 20 million, respectively) are fully guaranteed, with Joel Corry of CBS Sports noting that the well-paid quarterback will receive his $ 66 million signing bonus – a number NFL record – at the end of 2021 (Twitter link)
The guaranteed base wages and the payment of the total bonus due this year will give Prescott $ 95MM guaranteed on subscription, which means another NFL record. Matt RyanThe company’s $ 94.5 million total guarantee in 2018 had already topped that list. While Prescott’s salary in 2023 ($ 31 million) is guaranteed only for injuries, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk notes that he will switch to a full guarantee on the fifth day of the league’s 2022 year. TL; DR: Prescott is now a much richer man.
Prescott’s total guarantees ($ 126MM) fall short of Patrick Mahomes‘($ 141 million), and Chiefs QB still leads the football world with an average of $ 45 million per year. But Prescott’s contract has now set record signing bonuses, fully guaranteed money and first-year payments. Although Mahomes will be hired until 2030, Prescott will have the opportunity to make a profit again – assuming his level of play did not plummet in early 2020 – before turning 32.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.