Dak Signing With Cowboys Will Take $40M Per Year - NFL Insider

Dallas, because of what the market bears, needs to wrap its collective head around the idea that Dak Prescott is now a "$40 million APY guy.'' That is, of course, unless ...

FRISCO - It's a nice, round, much-rumored number.

"I think that unless Jerry (Jones) and Stephen (Jones) are willing to get in that $40-million-a-year range,'' says former NFL general manager Michael Lombardi, "they really don’t have much more that they can do.”

Lombardi, speaking on 105.3 The Fan’s “Shan and RJ” show on Wednesday, if believes that "giving (Dak) what he wants is going to be a real challenge. And it's not just about the "range.'' It's about the "comps.''

"(Prescott’s agent) Todd France,'' Lombardi says, "isn’t going to admit Patrick Mahomes is better than Dak, even though he is. He’s not going to admit that Deshaun Watson is better than Dak, even though he is. … Because of the situation, the market is so that it’s no longer who’s better and who deserves more, it’s who can get more.'' 

Some can nitpick here, about which QB is which, and about whether $40 million APY is "outrageous.'' CowboysSI.com was first to report last year that Dallas offered Dak $35 mil APY. Mahomes is currently the highest-paid quarterback in football at $45 million per year. Watson's average annual salary is $39 million.

READ MORE: Cowboys, Says Stephen A. Smith, Should Trade Dak For Deshaun; How Would That Work?

How challenging is it, really, Prescott in there somewhere?

The dollars suggest it shouldn't be that tough, especially as the Cowboys have the option of using the franchise tag on Prescott again - but they would mean having to pay him $37.7 million in 2021. We've argued that once Dallas gets to one year at $37.7 million, is the leap to $40 million really that difficult?

In the past, the years have been the obstacle. Both sides need to plow through that issue here, and otherwise, Lombardi is surely right: Dallas, because of what the market bears, needs to wrap its collective head around the idea that Dak Prescott is now a "$40 million APY guy.''

That is, of course, unless Dak actually wants more than that.