Ian Rapoport: $60M per year 'now pretty real' for Dak Prescott, Cowboys contract

Another quarterback contract domino fell Thursday night. It was in Jacksonville, where Trevor Lawrence signed a five-year contract worth $275 million, including $200 million guaranteed.

But there’s still a big one left on the board in Dallas where Dak Prescott is entering the final year of his four-year, $160 million extension. With OTAs and mandatory minicamp in the books, Prescott and the Cowboys are still working to get a new contract together, and Lawrence’s extension added another layer to the discussion.

In fact, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Prescott could be looking at an even bigger payday now that two quarterbacks – Lawrence and Joe Burrow – make $55 million per year. As for whether $60 million could be in play, Rapoport indicated it’s a possibility.

“Really, the ball is in the Dallas Cowboys’ court,” Rapoport said on The Insiders Thursday night. “We have talked about it … that the Cowboys have really made no moves toward an extension for Dak. That still is where it remains. Now, you can do a new deal before training camp, you can do a new deal before the season. There is still time. But all of the leaves … they are now falling for the Cowboys. The market is showing what it is.

“Judy [Battista] mentioned it. Is it possible Dak Prescott gets $60 million if Trevor Lawrence and Joe Burrow are getting $55 [million] and Dak has all the leverage and a huge number next year if they franchise him, which they can’t? $60 million now becomes legitimately possible. Whether the Cowboys end up trying somehow some way to do something for Dak, whether he just simply plays it out, crushes it, goes to the free agent market – the number 60, as in $60 million, is no longer crazy. It’s now pretty real.”

Prescott signed his current contract ahead of the 2021 season, meaning he’s looking at free agency after this season if he and the Cowboys don’t agree on a new deal. He set a new career-high for completions last season as he threw for 4,516 yards – his most since 2019 – and an NFL-leading 36 touchdowns in 2023.

But with training camp approaching next month, the clock is ticking on a new deal. According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, Prescott is also preparing “loosely” for the possibility of donning a new uniform in 2024.

“Negotiations with Prescott and the Cowboys will need to heat up eventually this summer,” Fowler said on SportsCenter over the weekend. “The Cowboys have made clear privately behind the scenes that they want to extend Dak Prescott, that they want him in the fold beyond 2024. He is a 2025 free agent, but their negotiations have been described to me so far as passive. 

“So, Prescott has considerable leverage here with a cap hit of nearly $60 million in the final year of his deal. He would have many suitors next year if got to free agency. So he wants to be a Cowboy but he’s preparing loosely for the possibility that he might be elsewhere in the future unless the Cowboys stop him.”