A former agent projects Dak Prescott deal with Dallas Cowboys at $41 million annually

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It goes without saying that if and when the Dallas Cowboys and quarterback Dak Prescott come to terms on a long-term contract it will come with record-setting numbers.

But consider this whopping proposal from from former NFL agent Joel Corry: A five-year deal that voids to three, worth $124.5 million with $100 million fully guaranteed at signing, a $60 Million signing bonus and an average pay out of $41.5 million annually.

Boom.

Per Corry, who now works as a contract analyst for CBS Sports, Prescott has all the leverage against the Cowboys because of the looming franchise tag and their salary cap issues.

And if the team wants to get a deal done before the March 9 deadline to avoid placing a $37.7 million franchise tag on Prescott and triggering a potential doomsday scenario by putting Prescott one year away from unrestricted free agency, Corry says the Cowboys must concede on every major aspect of the deal.

Those aspects include length of contract, average per year, contract guarantees, signing bonus and contract structure.

Regarding length, it’s well understood that talks broke down last year because the Cowboys were insistent on a five-year deal and Prescott was dug in on four.

Corry says Prescott’s agent Todd France should now be adamant about only signing a three-year deal.

“My position would be Prescott wanted to be under contract through the 2023 season once his rookie contract expired. Insisting on a three-year deal after playing under a franchise tag in 2020 would be consistent with this thinking,” he wrote.

As far as average yearly salary is concerned, Corry said the price has gone up significantly since Prescott turned down a five-year deal worth nearly $35 million annually last year.

No agent would accept a deal worth less than the $37.7 million franchise tag.

And then there is the matter of the market going up because Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes and Houston’s Deshaun Watson signed deals worth $45 million and $39 million annually.

Corry says Watson’s contract is the true standard bearer, as it includes $124 million over the first three years of the deal, which averages $41,333,333 per year.

Mahomes’ 10-year deal averages $38.95 million annually over the first four years.

Corry’s guarantee at signing for Prescott would top the $94.5 million that Atlanta gave Matt Ryan.

And the $60 million signing bonus would be second only to the $65 million that Seattle gave Russell Wilson.

Corry added two voiding years to his Prescott deal to help prorate the signing bonus and lower the first-year cap number.

His deal includes a $5 million base salary and $17 million cap number in 2021, which is less than half of the $37.7 franchise tag.

Those numbers jump significantly in 2022 and 2023 but the cap issues won’t be the same with the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic seemingly in the past well as the expectation of a new television contract that should pump $100 billion into the league over next decade.

Prescott’s cap numbers would be $34.5 million and $49 million in 2022 and 2023.

Per Corry, this Prescott-focused proposal would force the Cowboys to consider another contract extension in 2023.

And then they could do this contract dance all over again.