Jerry Jones’ Dallas Cowboys agreed to a huge contract with Dak Prescott, and the deal may signify some big league news ahead.
The Cowboys and Prescott agreed to a four-year, $160 million deal on Monday. Prescott is guaranteed $126 million as part of the deal. His signing bonus is the highest in NFL history.
Highest signing bonus in NFL history:
Dak Prescott $66M
Russell Wilson $65M
Aaron Rodgers $57.5M
Matthew Stafford $50M
Matt Ryan $46.5M
Joe Flacco $40M
Aaron Donald $40M— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 9, 2021
Though Prescott is a good quarterback, he is not in the same category as Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson, who are other extremely high-paid quarterbacks. So why would the Cowboys give him that kind of money? For one, they didn’t want to lose him. But secondly, ESPN’s Adam Schefter says a league source told him they believe the Dak deal signifies a huge NFL TV contract is coming.
One league source on the Dak Prescott deal: "You know what this is? This is Jerry Jones tipping off the extraordinary TV deal that is coming."
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 9, 2021
This sounds about right. The NFL reportedly was asking for double in its renewed deal with ABC/ESPN and is said to have received a 30 percent increase. They will likely get a big raise when their deals with CBS, NBC, FOX and DirecTV expire after the 2022 season.
More money on the NFL’s TV deals would translate to a higher salary cap and therefore more money available to pay the players. The expectation of a higher salary cap due to increased TV rights fees is the reason why Prescott had been reluctant to sign a 5-year deal with the Cowboys all along.
