Dak Prescott is the highest paid NFL player after signing $360 million deal with Dallas Cowboys

Just hours before he threw his first pass of the season in what would be a win over the Cleveland Browns, Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott signed a contract extension that made him the highest paid player in NFL history.

The four-year extension worth US$240 million ($A359 m), will pay him a record US$60m ($A90m) a year and see him reach career earnings of more than US$400m ($A600m) if he can play out the deal.

It brought an emphatic answer to the question that has hung over the NFL offseason – is Dak going to leave Dallas?

The franchise drafted Prescott in the fourth round of the 2016 NFL Draft, and the new deal is a drastic improvement over his lowly rookie deal that saw him get paid a mere US$4m ($A6m) over his first four years in the league.

That was despite being named Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2016 and twice being selected to the Pro-Bowl.

With little incentive to cut Dallas a deal, Prescott has always used every bit of the considerable leverage a top QB has to eke every cent he could out of owner Jerry Jones.

And, thanks to some questionable contract management by the team, the passer’s leverage in the latest negotiation put the franchise squarely over a barrel.

That’s why many pundits suspected this season would be the last we’d see Prescott sporting the Cowboy’s iconic star on his helmet – he was going to be just to expensive to keep.

But here we are, and now the question has changes – is Dak worth the top-of-the-market deal?

On the cons side of the equation, his career record against winning teams is sub-0.500, and is 2-5 in the playoffs, with at least one interception throw in every post-season contest he’s been in.

The best QBs play best in the biggest moments – see: Patrick Mahomes – but that has not been Prescott thus far in his career.

You might think that would give you reason to pause before offering him market-setting money, but what you’re also paying for is certainty at the most important position in professional sports.

The reality Dallas faced was a grim one. Not giving Dak the bag would almost guarantee he walks in free agency at the end of the season, considering he had a clause in his contract that prevented the team from locking him up with the franchise tag.

And if that happened, what would be the Plan B? Third-string QB Trey Lance has intriguing traits but seems destined to wash out of the league.

Let’s look at the record of teams that have gone down the veteran route in free agency. The Falcons got the pick of the free agent crop last offseason, signing Vikings QB Kirk Cousins.

Cousins is 36 years old and coming off an Achilles injury, and has arguably never been the passer Prescott has been.

The Jets brought in an even older Aaron Rodgers, who ruptured his Achilles last season in his first four snaps on the field.

New Orleans is trying to get decent play out of Raiders cast-off Derek Carr. Tampa Bay hopes Baker Mayfield will be better than he has been with multiple previous teams. Seattle is living in perpetual fear that journeyman Geno Smith will turn back into a pumpkin.

The Browns, who the Cowboys beat on Monday, are facing in years in QB purgatory after signing former Texans signal caller Deshaun Watson, a controversial chump, to a disastrous fully guaranteed deal.

The Rams won a Super Bowl with former Detroit QB Matthew Stafford, and Detroit might do the same this season with Jared Goff, the passer they acquired in the Stafford trade. But such success stories with recycled QBs are exceedingly rare.

Meanwhile, last season, Prescott was a second-team All-Pro, finished second in MVP voting and led the NFL in touchdown passes.

Is he perfect? Far from it. But what’s waiting behind Door No.2 is a terrifying unknown.

And in the NFL you have to pay through the nose to avoid having to open that door.