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Breaking down Dak Prescott’s new contract and how it could impact the Cowboys in the future

Beginning in 2024, the Cowboys can clear more cap space if they choose to restructure Prescott’s contract.

The NFL agent, who represents Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, belongs on no reporter’s medical emergency call list. France is known in media circles for seldom returning messages or calls. So, he seemed content during a 79-minute news conference, sitting in a back corner of Prescott’s friends and family section, listening to others answer reporters’ questions.

“I had to bite my tongue for two years,” France said.

Until the deal was done.

France spoke publicly after the event, shedding light on the richest contract in Cowboys history. His comments provided some clarification on the four-year, $160 million deal’s structure, revealing how the franchise positioned itself to tweak in the future for extra salary cap relief.

Prescott officially signed the contract today

Weeks ago, France established the tone to the offseason’s negotiations when he reached out to the Cowboys. Last year, their talks weren’t productive at all last, France and the team unable to agree on the contract’s length.

“I really enjoyed working with [France] these past three or four weeks,” said Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones. “We got a lot of great momentum going. He beat me to the punch, picking up the phone and calling me. We were going to put all of that in the rearview mirror, and we did — who was going to call who next, that type of thing.

“It was a great working relationship. And I’ll say this: Whenever it came to a negotiation point that was going to make our team better and help us with our team, we said, ‘OK, you get that.’ And so what was really important about this deal was the structure.”

There is more to Prescott’s contract length than its four-year duration.

The Cowboys pushed for a voidable fifth and sixth year to be added to it.

This was done for two salary cap purposes. The first is fairly standard. Barring an early termination of a contract, a signing bonus spreads evenly across a contract’s length from a salary cap accounting standpoint. Prescott received a $66 million signing bonus. Under a four-year deal, the bonus alone — without accounting for Prescott’s salary — would count count $16.5 million annually. With the fifth voidable year, it counts $13.2 million.