CLEVELAND — Let’s face it: When the Cowboys scored their third touchdown of the game early in the third quarter on Sunday to extend their lead to 24 points in a 33-17 victory over the Cleveland Browns, Dak Prescott had nothing to do with it.
(It was a 60-yard punt return by KaVontae Turpin).
And as for Dak’s only touchdown pass of the afternoon, a 21-yard corner route pass to a completely free Brandin Cooks, I think even $40 million-a-year earner Dak could have made the throw.
Still, reviews of the NFL’s first $60 million man on Opening Day were positive. Just hours after agreeing to a four-year, $240 million contract extension with $231 million guaranteed, Prescott led the Cowboys to a seemingly routine road win against a 2023 playoff team. Prescott finished the game completing a mediocre 19 of 32 passes for 179 yards and a touchdown, but Dallas’ 17-point halftime lead required no extravagances.
“I’m not happy with my personal play today, just a sloppy second half,” Prescott said. “But it’s a great team win, great defensive effort, super exciting start on the road where we weren’t good last year, against a team that was great at home.”
And the money?
“For me, it just means I’m next,” Dak said. “I told you guys I have an obligation to the league and to the other quarterbacks. One of the guys in the locker room says I have to buy everyone a Rolex now, everyone tells me their wrist size.”
All in all, not the worst problem after the first week in the NFL.
So things are looking pretty good at the beginning of September. Does anyone have any idea where New Dak and Dallas are in January? Can I even mention February?
About an hour before kickoff, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones recounted how he returned to Arkansas and walked through his childhood neighborhood before committing to paying Deion Sanders a $12 million signing bonus, a move that helped him win a third Lombardi Trophy in four years.
Fast forward a generation, and the commitment to a player is 20 times as much. Does the $94 million per season commitment to Dak and CeeDee Lamb come with any real assurances other than that Dallas has a good QB-WR combination? Lamb had five catches for 61 yards.
Until Sunday, Dak was on the verge of playing out his second contract and trying to hit the $60 million per year mark with his play in 2024. Instead, he and Lamb have both received contracts in the last two weeks that make them by far the highest-paid quarterback-receiver duo in league history.
These things are fluid, of course. Eventually, Buffalo’s Josh Allen will overtake Prescott and enter the $65-70 million-per-year stratosphere, but that will be a while away. Prescott will likely hold the floating title of highest-paid player in NFL history for at least one more season. Does he deserve it? Can it be assumed that a quarterback with excellent regular-season stats but an unsightly 2-5 record in the playoffs has earned his way to the top? It’s more a matter of style of play, and as long as you’re a top-10 quarterback in the eyes of your employers, the money will flow when it’s your turn.
“It’s a big step to be able to keep your quarterback for so many years,” said head coach Mike McCarthy.
I thought the idea of Dak playing for his future wasn’t the worst approach for 2024. Instead, we’re left with McCarthy working for him as a coach.
The last time Dak played for his money was during the 2020 season, and it’s hard to say the pressure hurt his game. He threw for over 400 yards in three of the Cowboys’ first five games, but was injured in the second half against the New York Giants and missed the rest of the season. That didn’t stop him from signing a four-year, $160 million contract ahead of the 2021 season.
At a recent press conference, Jones said while it makes sense in the abstract for players to compete for those salaries, that’s only a small piece of the puzzle. He said in Dak’s case, the negotiations were more about fitting it into the bigger picture of the team. Now the club has two players playing pitch and catch who will make an average of $94 million over the next few years. Adding Micah Parsons next season, the Cowboys will pay an average of about $130 million for three of their 53 players.
Is this sustainable?
I guess the recent contracts Detroit signed with quarterback Jared Goff, wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown and elite offensive tackle Penei Sewell (average of around $111 million) suggest this is possible, especially with a salary cap that increases about 10 percent per season.
But that puts a bigger burden on Prescott than ever before. It’s one thing to get a second contract after starting your career as an underpaid fourth-round pick. It’s quite another to overtake Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Jalen Hurts and others who led their teams to the Super Bowl.
The drawn-out negotiations may be over, but the clock is ticking louder than ever for Dak to make a real impact in February. Jones expects Dak to go where no quarterback has gone since Troy Aikman in mid-career. Aikman, by the way, is 57.
“I want to keep my part of the bargain and deliver,” Prescott said.
It was nothing more than the beginning of a long road on Sunday, but it was better than most of us expected.
X: @TimCowlishaw
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