The report doesn’t put it the way the above headline does, but when considering the value of contracts at the time the contracts are signed, that’s the clear implication.
Via Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News, the Cowboys have offered quarterback Dak Prescott a contract with an average value of $33 million per year. Because Prescott currently has no contract, the so-called “new money” value of any deal he accepts will match the more practical assessment of a new contract: What that new contract is worth, from the moment it’s signed.
For Prescott, both numbers under the reported offer would be $33 million. For Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson‘s most recent deal, currently the richest in league history, the new money was $35 million per year. The total value at signing was $31.4 million per year.
Of course, the more important number comes from the amount of money that is truly and fully guaranteed at signing. Per Watkins, the offer to Prescott carries $105 million in guaranteed money generally. Which says nothing about signing bonus or other fully-guaranteed payments at the time the deal is signed.
Wilson has $107 million guaranteed in his deal, $70 million of which was guaranteed at signing. For Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, the general guarantee was lower ($98.7 million), but the full guarantee at signing was higher ($79.2 million).
For Prescott’s deal, the devil will reside in details like signing bonus and fully-guaranteed salaries and fully-guaranteed roster bonuses and other fully-guaranteed payments. Regardless, an average value of $33 million would put him at the top of the all-time contractual stack.
Until Patrick Mahomes signs his new contract, of course.