Dak Prescott’s New Deal
We recommended $29 million a season for Prescott back in February 2019; that was about $5 million per year more than what many were advocating. Now, the Cowboys would be the best negotiators in the history of calculators if they had him for that price.
That amount was just surpassed by Ryan freaking Tannehill.
Prescott wants a four-year deal to get back on the market quickly, the Cowboys want six or seven years for controlled-cost purposes. Meet in the middle, five years. Prescott absolutely must get more fully guaranteed, total guaranteed and maximum salary than Jared Goff got ($57M/ $110M/ $148M over four years ).
Goff’s contract was structured in a way to work with the 30% rule, but Prescott’s deal has no such parameters.
With the exclusive franchise tag likely getting applied in a lower-than-anticipated amount around $31.5 million, Prescott will get the two-year tag amount (120% of 2020 salary in Year 2) fully guaranteed, $69.3 million.
That’s a nice, neat average of $34.7 million per season, which if kept as an AAV slots him second in the league, behind Seattle’s Russell Wilson. Except Wilson’s deal was based on a 16-game schedule. The league will be moving to 17, and possibly 18 games during Prescott’s contract and with that known, there will be an increase.
Prescott’s salary-per-game at $34.7 million over 16 contests projects to an AAV of $36.9 million a year, which is where we’ll slot him.
When it comes to signing bonus, Prescott will fall more in line with what Goff and Carson Wentz received ($25M, $16M) than what Wilson ($65M), Aaron Rodgers ($57.5M) and Matt Ryan ($46.5M) received as third-contract signings. It will also need to quote-unquote make right the salary Prescott didn’t receive compared to his draft-classmates as a fourth-round comp pick.
Our projection is as follows.
Proposed Dak Prescott Contract5 years, $184.5M, $36.9M AAV
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| Year | Base Salary | Prorated SB | Roster Bonus | Cap Number | Running Cash Total |
| 2020 | $8,300,000 | $6,000,000 | $14,300,000 | $38,300,000 | |
| 2021 | $16,000,000 | $6,000,000 | $15,000,000 | $37,000,000 | $69,300,000 |
| 2022 | $33,000,000 | $6,000,000 | $39,000,000 | $102,300,000 | |
| 2023 | $37,200,000 | $6,000,000 | $43,200,000 | $139,500,000 | |
| 2024 | $25,000,000 | $6,000,000 | $20,000,000 | $51,000,000 | $184,500,000 |
| TOTAL | $119,500,000 | $30,000,000 | $35,000,000 | ||
The 2022 base salary and $10 million of 2023 base salary will fully vest on the fifth day of the previous league years (total guarantees). Roster bonuses due on fifth day of the league year. We expect the salary cap to explode by 2023, as outlined in Part 1 of our Manifesto series.
The fifth year has a balloon payment early in the 2024 league year that will trigger either a release or a renegotiation if the cap doesn’t move as we project.
Robert Quinn’s New Deal
We’re going to project the Cowboys getting Randy Gregory back, but still desperately want Quinn to return. Our previous-player comp for him is Justin Houston, who signed with the Colts in 2019 for $11.5 million over three seasons at 30 years old. Quinn is 29, and we’ll bump him to $12.5 million a year.
Projected Deal: 3-years, $37.5 million
Proposed Robert Quinn Contract3 years, $37.5M, $12.5M AAV
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| Year | Base Salary | Prorated SB | Roster Bonus | Cap Number | Running Cash Total |
| 2020 | $5,000,000 | $3,333,334 | $8,333,334 | $15,000,000 | |
| 2021 | $10,000,000 | $3,333,333 | $13,333,333 | $25,000,000 | |
| 2022 | $12,500,000 | $3,333,333 | $15,833,333 | $37,500,000 | |
| TOTAL | $27,500,000 | $10,000,000 | |||
Continue to see how we’ll round out the rest of the roster, which is still full of holes…
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