Dak Prescott, Cowboys agree to contract extension

Dak Prescott was never likely to leave the NFC East this offseason since the Dallas Cowboys could’ve placed the franchise tag on him for the second year in a row.

But now the Cowboys will officially be keeping their starting quarterback in 2021 ... and beyond. The team announced they agreed to terms with Prescott on Monday evening.

Prescott and the Cowboys reached an agreement on a four-year contract worth $160 million with a record-breaking $126 million guaranteed, according to NFL insider Adam Schefter.

I have to say, I’m surprised that Prescott blinked. Don’t get me wrong, an annual value of $42 million is, uh, nothing to sneeze at. That only ranks behind Patrick Mahomes at $45 million per year and it’s ahead of Deshaun Watson at $39 million per year. $75 million in his first year is pretty nice as well!

Prescott really should’ve just played a second season on the tag, though. He would’ve been able to crush it next offseason with the Cowboys not so easily able to tag him a third time. And potentially being able to test the open market in a year where teams are expected to have more cap space. Prescott had all the leverage.

But now he has a contract extension, which means the Philadelphia Eagles will continue to have to deal with him for the forseeable future. The Eagles are 3-5 against the Cowboys with Prescott starting. If you exclude a 1-1 record in meaningless Week 17 games, the Eagles are 2-4 against him. One of those two wins came when Prescott was less than 100% healthy at the end of the 2019 season.

The Cowboys re-signing Prescott is bad news for the Eagles in that it solidifies Dallas as NFC East favorites. Assuming Prescott fully recovers from his 2020 season-ending ankle injury, that is. Dallas had a lot of offensive success early last year (32.6 points per game) prior to him getting hurt.

One could argue Dallas re-signing Prescott is good news for the Eagles if you believe Prescott limits the Cowboys’ ceiling. The Cowboys’ initial reluctance to pay Prescott could’ve been because they felt like he’s a quarterback you win with and not one you win because of ... and they knew they had to pay him like the latter. The problem with that, though, is that committing so much money to Prescott theoretically limits the talent they can surround him with.

But don’t just accuse me of having a bitter Eagles bias. Take it from Blogging The Boys’ own RJ Ochoa on his own podcast!

BLG: Do you think Dak is ultimately a quarterback you win because of as opposed to win with?

OCHOA: Well, despite the fact that I have read many an article at BleedingGreenNation.com, I believe Dak Prescott is a quarterback you win with.

Boom. No need to even listen to the rest of that full quote.

In all seriousness, though, probably not great for the Eagles that Prescott caved and will be staying in the division. All while Philly has yet to find a definite, long-term answer at quarterback.