Dak Prescott is about to make history in a way some fans might not love, but it's largely the Dallas Cowboys' fault
Right or wrong, sports fans have a tendency to hate it when a player gets a ton of money from their team. It's an interesting phenomenon but it's true. It happens most with NFL quarterbacks.And if you're looking for the perfect example, look no further than Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott.Prescott is a polarizing quarterback. […]
Right or wrong, sports fans have a tendency to hate it when a player gets a ton of money from their team. It's an interesting phenomenon but it's true. It happens most with NFL quarterbacks.
And if you're looking for the perfect example, look no further than Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott.
Prescott is a polarizing quarterback. Some confidently say he's a Top 10 QB in the league. Others say he straight up sucks. And others—many, many, many others—admit he's not bad at all. . . but for $60 million a year? He's robbing the team!
And let's be very clear: Prescott is on pace to earn over $430 million in a nine-year span. That means he's well on his way to finish his career as the highest-earning quarterback of all time. Per Over the Cap, Rodgers tops the list at $382 million in career earnings. He will make history financially speaking.
However, while many hold that against Prescott, it's important to remind us that it was largely the Cowboys fault. But before we dive into that, let's get into why the conversation is back in the middle of the 2025 dead period.
Prescott's agency describes its strategy to secure massive deals from Cowboys
Athletes First's negotiator A.J. Stevens was in the middle of making the controversial contract(s) of Dak happen and he recently explained more of his strategy during the "NFL Spotlight" podcast with Ari Meirov. In it, he described how they made the record deal happen.
"It was very strategic from the very first conversations with the Cowboys, they had a tradition of these long contracts where, you look at all of their guys going back—they're five, six, seven, even ten-year contracts," Stevens said on the show.
"So our focal point of that negotiation was: we should have a four-year contract, because that's going to maximize the guarantees, where the three years are going to be guaranteed, and then we're going to be back at the table," Stevens added. "And just looking at how quickly the quarterback market grows, that extra year is so important."
Prescott's negotiation team deserves so much credit, but the Cowboys had a hand in making it happen
Full transparency: I think Dak remains one of the best quarterbacks in the league, even if he must be better in the postseason for his legacy to truly change.
And the thing is, the Cowboys should've admitted to that fact earlier on. They should've realized Prescott was willing to bet on himself and play under the franchise tag. They should've gotten a deal done earlier (and the same can be said about CeeDee Lamb, Micah Parsons, and many others).
Yet, at every turn, they waited. And waited. And waited. In turn, that gave Prescott's camp leverage. League earnings skyrocketed and so did the salary cap. Each time, Prescott got closer to controlling his future, which meant the Cowboys had to decide between losing him for nothing in return or retaining the man they wanted to be their franchise QB.
So when Stevens and Todd France from Athletes First insisted on no-tag and no-trade clauses and on shorter deals, the Cowboys couldn't say no. It was the equivalent of a football blowout but on the negotiating table.
You might be thinking, why are we even talking about this in 2025? Prescott's deal got done, didn't it? True.
But look over to Parsons and his deal not progressing at all this offseason. The Cowboys better be ready to pay up this year or agent David Mulugheta will do his best to replicate that hard-bargain success from Athletes First. Just something to think about.
