The Dallas Cowboys made quarterback Dak Prescott the eighth-highest-paid player in the NFL with a four-year, $240 million contract ahead of last season.
His $60 million average annual value of the deal is the most for a player in league history. However, former QB Chris Simms argues Prescott doesn’t deserve such a high amount, saying “he’s not near the top-5 quarterback in football.”
Chris Simms Suggests Prescott Deal Is Holding Cowboys Back
Prescott was awarded a new deal after an impressive 2023 season, in which he finished second in MVP voting after throwing career highs in touchdown passes (36) and completion percentage (69.5%). However, the following year, he only started eight games, losing five of them before suffering a season-ending injury.
The Cowboys restructured Prescott’s deal in March and converted $45.75 million of his base salary to a signing bonus, subsequently dropping his cap figure from $89.89 million to $53.29 million. However, despite that, Dallas failed to get any big names in free agency, barring George Pickens. This made former NFL QB Simms question Prescott’s massive deal and its consequences.
“Dak Prescott is one thing that you would say, ‘What is holding them back?'” Simms said Monday on “Up & Adams.”
"Is he even a top 10 QB? I don't know about that" 🤔
Chris Simms questions whether Dak Prescott is still amongst the NFL's elite heading into 2025.@heykayadams | @CSimmsQB pic.twitter.com/gF3q2fXAet
— Up & Adams (@UpAndAdamsShow)
“I don’t wanna say he’s holding them back, but he is the highest-paid player in football, and I would say he’s not near the top-5 quarterback in football, so that’s gotta match up a little bit better, right? Is he even a top-10 quarterback? I don’t know about that, either.”
Although one cannot deny Prescott’s regular-season production, the playoffs have been a contrasting situation.
During the three years before the extension, the Cowboys had won the second-most regular-season games, only behind the Kansas City Chiefs. However, the Chiefs won two Super Bowls during the same time frame while the Cowboys won just one playoff game.
According to TruMedia, only Brock Purdy, Patrick Mahomes, and Josh Allen had higher expected points added (EPA) per dropback than Prescott at 0.14 over those three regular seasons.
During this same time in the postseason, Prescott’s EPA per dropback surprisingly falls to 0.06 (13th best of 28 quarterbacks) over four postseason starts.
These statistics are slightly inflated by one outlier strong postseason performance — when he threw for 305 yards, four touchdowns, and zero interceptions in the Cowboys’ lone playoff win in the last three seasons against a below .500 Tampa Bay Buccaneers team.
Barring Dallas’ lone playoff win during that period, Prescott’s playoff statistics are considerably worse, with his QB rating falling from 89.5 to 76.6.
The Cowboys arguably have enough talent to compete with the best in the NFL, but should Prescott fail to deliver again, it won’t be a surprise if the Cowboys run out of patience with him.