Dak Prescott Stats: Comparing Dallas Cowboys' QB To NFL's Highest-Paid Players As He Seeks Contract

NFL free agency is less than a month away and Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys still haven’t agreed on a new contract. The quarterback is looking to become one of the league’s highest-paid players—if not the highest—for the 2020 season.

Five quarterbacks are signed to deals that pay them more than an average of $30 million per year, per Spotrac. Carson Wentz ranks fifth at $32 million per season. Russell Wilson leads the way with an average $35 million salary. Aaron Rodgers and Jared Goff both earn $33.5 million a year. Ben Roethlisberger’s contract has an average annual value of $34 million.

Should the Cowboys put Prescott in that group? Would he be overpaid, properly paid, or underpaid by approaching Wilson’s salary?

Let’s take a look at how those quarterbacks performed last season.

Statistically, Prescott had a better 2019 season than most signal callers in the NFL. He was second in the NFL with 4,902 passing yards and fifth with 8.2 yards per attempt, putting him ahead of all the highest-paid quarterbacks.

Wilson led the group with 31 touchdown passes. Prescott was right behind him with 30 scores. Wilson’s 106.3 passer rating was also first among the highest-paid quarterbacks. Prescott’s 99.7 passer rating was better than the other four players.

Ben Roethlisberger missed 14 games with an injury. The 37-year-old threw for 5,129 yards, 34 touchdowns, 16 interceptions and a 96.5 passer rating in his last full season.

Prescott led the league’s No.1 ranked offense last year. The Cowboys were first with 431.5 yards per game. Goff and the Los Angeles Rams were seventh with 374.9 yards per game. Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks were eighth overall.

Those numbers didn’t translate into a winning season for Prescott and the Cowboys. Dallas finished 8-8 without a playoff appearance. The Cowboys went 1-6 against playoff teams. Prescott had eight touchdowns and eight interceptions in those games.

Wentz and the Philadelphia Eagles beat out Dallas in the NFC East with a 9-7 record. Wentz finished behind Prescott in most statistical categories, throwing for 4,309 yards, 27 touchdowns, seven interceptions and a 93.1 passer rating.

When Philadelphia hosted Dallas in a de facto NFC East title game in Week 16, the Eagles had the better quarterback. With a depleted receiving corps, Wentz went 31-40 for 319 yards, a touchdown and a 108.2 passer rating. Prescott went 25-44 for 265 yards and a 74.5 passer rating in a 17-9 loss.

Wentz signed a four-year, $128 million contract prior to last season.

Seattle went 11-5, reaching the playoffs for the seventh time in eight seasons with Wilson under center. Rodgers led the Green Bay Packers to a 13-3 record and an appearance in the NFC Championship Game.

Rodgers had a down year by his standards, throwing for 4,002 yards, 26 touchdowns, four interceptions and a 95.4 passer rating. Green Bay defeated Dallas on the road as Prescott threw three interceptions. Prescott had 11 picks last season.

The Cowboys ranked higher in total defense than both the Seahawks, Packers and the Eagles.

Goff was one of the NFL’s most disappointing quarterbacks in the 2019 season. He ranked 22nd overall with an 86.5 passer rating, throwing for 4,638 yards, 22 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. Los Angeles missed the playoffs with a 9-7 record. The Rams lost a key Week 15 matchup against the Cowboys.

Goff led Los Angeles to Super Bowl LIII a little over a year ago. Prescott has never reached the NFC Championship Game.

Roethlisberger is a two-time Super Bowl champion. Wilson and Rodgers have both won a title. The Eagles went on to win Super Bowl LII after Wentz suffered a season-ending injury in December of that season.

No quarterback has proven to be more durable than Prescott since he entered the league in 2016. The fourth-round pick has made 16 starts in all four of his NFL seasons. He’s never finished below .500, going 40-24 with a victory in both the 2017 and 2019 wild-card rounds.

Prescott has made $2.7 million in his career.