Cowboys owner Jerry Jones confirmed the four-year, $240 million contract he gave Dak Prescott. Jones and Prescott had a handshake on the deal during the walkthrough practice Saturday, and the sides dotted the i’s and crossed the t’s on Sunday, hours before kickoff of the season opener.
The Cowboys guaranteed Prescott $231 million.
“What the guaranteed money means is a big commitment for the next five years to our future, if you will,” Jones said Sunday, via Patrik Walker of the team website. “There’s a lot of me that thinks that Dak is our quarterback for the rest of my time. That’s not just limited to the terms of this contract, either. I have a lot of confidence in him. He brings so much to the table.”
Prescott has signed three contracts with the Cowboys, and if he signs a fourth, the Cowboys would be wise to do it sooner than later. The second contract took two years of negotiations, with Prescott betting on himself and gaining all the leverage with no-trade and no-tag clauses in the four-year, $160 million deal.
He was headed toward free agency in March without an extension.
“I’m happy that it’s done,” Jones said. “This was a time when it was right there for us to do. We were all set to go and it was critical. I’ve seen so many things that were worthy of doing that were not done because you missed the timing to make it happen. Opening Day, up here against Cleveland, this was a great time to make it happen.
“I think we all felt a little energy to come on in and get to a point where we could say yes. I’ve known all along what a great player Dak is, and I’m satisfied everybody understands I understand [that].”
The Cowboys also signed receiver CeeDee Lamb to a four-year, $136 million deal two weeks ago. They now have to worry about getting edge rusher Micah Parsons signed. Parsons became eligible for an extension after last season.
Prescott, though, was the big one.
The amount of the pay day to Prescott was a huge commitment, but Jones surely remembered the nine quarterbacks the Cowboys started between Troy Aikman and Tony Romo.
“We’re going to be able to handle this,” Jones said, via Jon Machota of TheAthletic.com. “We’re going to be able to get players around him that give us a chance to compete for a Super Bowl. [Prescott] was our best chance of getting one. . . . This was the thing to do for what we’re here for and that’s to win a championship.”
Jones took criticism for waiting so long to sign both Lamb and Prescott, preventing the Cowboys from doing much in free agency. But the Cowboys have never failed to sign a player they really wanted to keep, whatever the cost.
“This was the thing to do for what we’re here for, and that is to win a championship,” Jones said, via Todd Archer of ESPN. “I know our fans know that. I’m surprised that anyone would think that anything short of — they might disagree with the decision — but anything short of a commitment is just not the case with me. I gave everything I ever had or hoped to have to get a chance to be a part of the Cowboys. And it’s beyond my fondest dreams where we stand today.”
Now Prescott, who has a 2-5 postseason record, will try to do what hasn’t been done since Aikman’s time. The Cowboys haven’t played in an NFC Championship Game, much less a Super Bowl, since 1995.