Just before the start of the 2024 regular season, the Dallas Cowboys signed quarterback Dak Prescott to a massive contract that made him the highest-paid player in NFL history. After months of negotiations, the two sides finally came to an agreement on the record-setting contract. Let’s break down Prescott’s contract, salary, net worth, and career earnings, plus how he’s performing since inking the new deal.
Dak Prescott’s Contract and 2024 Salary
An extension between Prescott and the Cowboys seemed inevitable, so it wasn’t a huge surprise when the two sides finally reached a deal.
After the Miami Dolphins extended Tua Tagovailoa and the Green Bay Packers gave Jordan Love a $220 million deal, Prescott was next up to get paid.
The Cowboys gave Prescott a record four-year, $240 million deal. His average annual value (AAV) is a whopping $60 million, which is $5 million more than the next-closest player. And the deal features $231 million in guaranteed money, just beating out Cleveland Browns QB Deshaun Watson for the most ever.
MORE: Who Are the NFL’s Highest-Paid Quarterbacks?
This new contract takes effect next season, so Prescott is currently playing on the final year of his four-year, $160 million deal. He is earning $29 million this season, plus a $5 million bonus for restructuring his contract.
Now, with a record-setting contract, all eyes will be on Prescott to see if he produces like one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks and can help the Cowboys hoist the Lombardi Trophy.
Prescott’s Net Worth and Career Earnings
Prescott’s net worth jumped quite a bit after signing this monster extension. While previous estimates were in the $50 million to $60 million range, his net worth is currently listed at $90 million.
Prescott has earned $248,567,825 from his NFL contracts alone. And thanks to this new deal, Prescott is projected to have the highest career earnings of any player in NFL history by 2028, with $436,317,825 in the bank.
Prescott has opened up about how his family didn’t have much money growing up, making his big payday even more special for the quarterback and his family.
Prescott’s parents, Nathaniel and Peggy, divorced when he was young, and he was raised by his mother, who managed a truck stop. Prescott lived in a trailer park; in fact, he even has a tattoo of the Pine Creek Estates mobile home community on his leg sleeve. Prescott said there were times when his mom couldn’t afford the electric bill, so she would rent a cheap motel instead since it was more affordable than paying the bill.
Dak Prescott: Mom did everything she could for us to survive pic.twitter.com/hxJPLc9bkv
— Graham Bensinger (@GrahamBensinger) September 28, 2024
“My mom did whatever it took for us to survive. Sometimes, my mom didn’t have the money for the electric bill, but she could get $40 or so to get a motel room. … Most people would be upset, most people would be mad, but we saw it as a vacation. We saw it as a time to go swimming and to get out of the house, and we’ll figure it out because we have Mom and we’re behind her no matter what.
“My mom did a great job of just masking the adversity or masking the struggle that we went through. … As I got older, obviously you discuss things, and it made sense; it’s easier for her to get $40 to put us in a motel tonight than it is to pay the $170 or $200 bill because three boys are leaving all of her lights on.”
Now, Prescott has achieved generational wealth for his family.
In addition to his huge NFL contracts, Prescott has many endorsement deals, including partnerships with companies like DirectTV, Jordan Brand, Beats, Pepsi, Campbell’s, Sleep Number, Oikos Triple Zero, and Citi Bank. That’s one of the perks of being a superstar quarterback for America’s Team.
MORE: Why Does Dak Prescott Yell “Yeah, Here We Go!” Before Every Snap?
Prescott also has a number of off-field ventures. For example, he has a notable stake in four Walk-On’s restaurants in Texas. Walk-On’s was founded by Brandon Landry, another former football player (who played at LSU). There are more than 50 of these restaurants in America, and Prescott became a co-owner of the Dallas location.
Prescott also invested in RealTruck, which specializes in truck add-ons, decor, and accessories, including bed covers, nerf bars, running boards, wheels, and tires.
Additionally, GLOW Beverages, founded in 2016, makes hydration and energy drinks, and Prescott is an equity stakeholder and ambassador, along with Kylie Jenner. GLOW Beverages offers hydration and energy drinks that blend vitamins, herbs, antioxidants, and much more to give customers a replacement for high-calorie drinks.
Prescott also invested in OxeFit, which sells artificial intelligence-powered exercise equipment. Their first consumer product uses AI to track movements and recognize muscle weaknesses that put the average person at risk for particular injuries. Prescott invested $12.5 million alongside a number of former NFL players.
Prescott has some real estate investments as well. In 2010, he purchased a 9,000-square-foot mansion surrounded by seven acres of land in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area for just over $3 million, and he sold this property in 2022. He’s involved with Monument Realty, serving as the “Chief QB Officer.”
Where Does Prescott Rank in PFN’s QB+ Metric?
In 2023, Prescott finished second in MVP voting after throwing career-highs in touchdown passes (36) and completion percentage (69.5%), along with 4,516 passing yards.
However, according to PFN’s QB+ metric, Prescott is the 28th-ranked quarterback in the NFL this season with a D grade. This ranking is strictly based on the games that Prescott has played, so it has nothing to do with his season-ending hamstring injury.
But based on Prescott’s performances this year, you have to wonder if there has been an underlying health issue all season.
This has been Prescott’s worst season since 2019 by a considerable distance. He’s struggled in all aspects, sitting just outside the bottom 10 in passing from a clean pocket and when pressured. He’s also struggled on third downs this year, which is unusual for Prescott and this offense.
Overall, this is such an odd year. It’s hard to know if it’s meaningful or just an aberration.
For reference, some of the quarterbacks ranked ahead of Prescott are New York Jets QB Aaron Rodgers (26th), Indianapolis Colts QB Joe Flacco (24th), Denver Broncos QB Bo Nix (23rd), Las Vegas Raiders QB Aidan O’Connell (22nd), and Cleveland Browns QB Jameis Winston (17th).
PFN’s QB+ metric is a formula that we created to assign a letter grade to every quarterback’s performance. Is it perfect? No. Nothing is. We’re molding stats that include success rates when pressured, third-down conversion rate, and pocket production. The added wrinkle in this PFN Insight is quantifying “clutch.” Defining “clutch” performance is an imperfect science, but we use timeliness-based stats to account for score and situation.
