There’s a new highest-paid NFL player

There have been a number of record-setting NFL contracts over the last while, and the bar has now been raised again. On Sunday, only hours before his team kicked off their 2024 season against the Cleveland Browns, Dak Prescott signed a record-breaking deal with the Dallas Cowboys worth $240 million over four years. That will make him the NFL’s highest-paid player, and it reportedly includes the most guaranteed money in league history as well. Here’s how Adam Schefter covered that on ESPN (amidst Sunday’s other remarkable run of breaking news):

The Tyreek Hill news is followed by breaking news from Adam Schefter that Russell Wilson is inactive and Justin Fields will start for the Steelers today… and that Dak Prescott has signed a new deal with the Cowboys to be the highest-paid player in NFL history. 🏈📺🚨🚨🚨 https://t.co/4iT8RjuHer pic.twitter.com/Y6KK8I7BWH

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 8, 2024

Here’s more on that from the piece Schefter and Todd Archer wrote for ESPN.com:

The Dallas Cowboys and Dak Prescott have agreed on a four-year, $240 million contract extension that will make the star quarterback the highest-paid player in NFL history and keep him in a Cowboys uniform through the 2028 season, sources told ESPN.

The deal includes $231 million guaranteed, a source told ESPN, which is the most in league history. Deshaun Watson’s fully guaranteed deal with the Cleveland Browns was worth $230 million.

There had been questions for months on if the Cowboys would be able to reach an extension with Prescott, who was entering the last year of his current contract. He’s performed well, particularly in the regular season, but Dallas’ upset playoff loss at home against the seventh-seeded Green Bay Packers in the wild card round last year added to the criticisms of his postseason play. There was also discussion of if he’d want to stick with the Cowboys for the long term. But that now appears to have all been settled, and in a new market-setting deal, no less.

[ESPN]