One Potential Future New York Jets QB Target Signs Massive New Deal

Dak Prescott’s new mega-deal with the Dallas Cowboys means he won’t be an option this offseason if the New York Jets need a replacement.

Jul 30, 2024; Oxnard, CA, USA; Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (4) throws during training camp at the River Ridge Playing Fields in Oxnard, California. / Jason Parkhurst-Imagn Images

If the New York Jets had desires of pursuing quarterback Dak Prescott as a potential successor to Aaron Rodgers, those designs went up in smoke on Sunday.

The Dallas Cowboys starter agreed to a new four-year, $240 million deal that includes $231 million in guaranteed money and an $80 million signing bonus, the largest ever.

Per NFL.com, he will receive $39 million more than any QB is scheduled to make over the next five years.

It’s a steep price to pay for the Cowboys, who just made wide receiver CeeDee Lamb one of the highest-paid players at his position. But it was one the Cowboys were willing to pay in order to lock down the position — and to keep potential suitors away.

Prescott could have tested free agency next offseason without a new deal.

Earlier this week, Bleacher Report analyzed Prescott as a free agent and listed the Jets as a potential suitor if he hit the market.

Why? Well, New York’s starting quarterback will be 41 next season and he’ll play his first game on Monday night after tearing his Achilles tendon last year.

The article reasoned that if Rodgers wasn’t his Pro Bowl self this season and the Jets missed the playoffs again, it could mean the end of the line for coach Robert Saleh and general manager Joe Douglas, the latter of which is in the final year of his contract.

In that scenario, the Jets might blow up the whole thing.

Rodgers’ contract factored into that analysis. He signed what is essentially a two-year, $75 million deal before the 2023 season, which carries him through the 2024 season. Technically, per NFL.com, it’s a five-year deal to help the Jets manage the salary cap impact of the deal.

In 2025, per Spotrac, Rodgers has a $35 million option bonus, along with $2.5 million in base salary, $7 million in a signing proration and $14 million in a bonus proration. His cap hit would be $23.5 million. The following season the deal automatically voids.

None of this takes into account what happens if Rodgers decides to retire after this season. The Jets have made it clear this is an “all-in” kind of season for the organization. The expectation is a playoff berth and potential trip to the Super Bowl.

What if Rodgers gets hurt again, hurt seriously enough to not want to rehab an entire year again? A lot of factors drove the idea that the Jets might be in the market for Prescott.

Now, those ideas are smoke, whether those ideas were genuinely realistic or not.