Jordan Love’s contract almost guarantees $60 million+ per year contracts for Dak Prescott and Brock Purdy
Jordan Love's recent contract has increased the ceiling in the QB market and will positively impact Brock Purdy and Dak Prescott in their negotiations.
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Dak Prescott, Jordan Love, and Brock Purdy (via IMAGO)
The new norm in the NFL seems to be to pay a quarterback generational money right after his first breakout season. There has never been a better time to be a floor general in this league as the ceiling for quarterbacks in terms of annual contracts seems to be increasing by the day.
The Green Bay Packers recently signed Jordan Love to a four-year contract worth $220 million. This made him the highest-paid quarterback in league history. On the looks of it, the deal sounded premature because Love was being rewarded for performing well in the second half of the season and leading the Packers till the Divisional Round where they lost to the 49ers.
There’s no denying that Jordan Love was impressive towards the end of last season and in the eyes of Matt LaFleur and the Green Bay Packers, this was enough to convince them to sign him to a deal that promises $55 million annually with $155 million of it guaranteed and a $75 million signing bonus. The question of him being truly worthy of such a deal is secondary at this stage, but the one thing that cannot be denied after this deal was inked is the impact it will have on the contract negotiations of other QBs in the NFL.
Presently, two quarterbacks in the NFC are eagerly awaiting an extension as they enter into the final year of their contracts. Dak Prescott and Brock Purdy, the QBs for the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers have been team players, shying away from calling their respective teams out over their failure to sign them to a long-term deal. However, after the Jordan Love deal, both of them are likely to be grateful that they were patient.
Dak Prescott and Brock Purdy would not be comfortable in settling for under $55 million per year
Consider Dak Prescott first: he is coming off a career-best year, a season in which he nearly won the MVP award. Unfortunately, he fell short in the first round of the playoffs against the Packers and could not lead the Cowboys over the Wildcard hump. But in his mind, the fact that he managed to lead Dallas to the No. 1 seed over the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC East and put up MVP-like numbers is enough to qualify him for a contract worth at least $55 million.
The negotiations between him and the organization were expected to commence from the range of $50-$55 million but after the Jordan Love deal, Dak and his agent will not hesitate to bump that figure up to $60 million annually.
Is that wrong on his part? Absolutely not. Jordan Love led the Packers to the postseason once, he was impressive last season, there is no doubt about that but if you are Dak Prescott and you’re looking at this, the immediate thought that is bound to come to your mind is, “I’ve been doing this consistently for a longer period than him, besides, I just had an MVP-caliber season, I deserve to be paid my share…”
But at the same time, Prescott is at a disadvantage because his extension has come up right around the time that Dallas has to pay CeeDee Lamb and Micah Parsons.
Let’s move with the assumption that Prescott would increase his value and refuse to return unless he is paid $55-$60 million a year. Realistically, the Dallas Cowboys will end up moving on from him because they just cannot afford to keep him and retain their young stars.
CeeDee Lamb is already holding out from training camp as he is awaiting a contract similar to Justin Jefferson, who became the highest-paid wideout in the history of the NFL. If Prescott fails to budge, Jerry Jones, as much as he claims to love his quarterback and how much he intends to retain him, will be compelled to explore alternatives because there is no way he will be willing to lose Micah Parsons or CeeDee Lamb over Dak Prescott.
The Cowboys QB heads into the final year of his contract. He is in a tricky situation no doubt but he has to play it cautiously because Dallas appears to be hell-bent on making him compromise on his big payday. From a franchise’s perspective, they are not wrong, think about it. If there was a situation wherein you had to choose to retain two young stars with more upside potential than a quarterback who has likely reached his ceiling in terms of talent, who would you pick? The younger players of course.
But Jerry Jones will not let Dak Prescott depart without a fight, as much as the quarterback will be hopeful of being paid $55-$60 million a year, it is plausible that he could settle for a value in the $50-$55 million range. But if the number begins to go under 50, then Dak Prescott will not entertain it.
In December of 2023, Stephen Jones had iterated that the Cowboys’ biggest priority in the off-season was to sign Dak Prescott to a long-term deal. His stance appears to have changed since then as America’s team is now focusing more on retaining CeeDee Lamb than the quarterback who nearly won the MVP.
One thing is clear, Prescott will not make it easy on Jerry Jones while negotiating. It is simple, he would just bring up the fact that when Jordan Love, a QB who managed to play well in the second half of the season is being paid $55 million, why should he have to settle? The quarterback and wide receiver market have significantly shot up this off-season and that is bad news for the Dallas Cowboys because they have players at both positions they ought to bring back.
Brock Purdy has been anticipating a payday and the San Francisco 49ers will need to match, if not beat Jordan Love’s contract
The 49ers on the other hand are faced with a conundrum of their own. The team featured an elite offense in the 2023-24 season, with Pro Bowlers at almost every other position. However, the off-season has proven to be a headache for the team.
Despite quarterback Brock Purdy‘s consistent performance in his first two seasons as the team’s starting QB, Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch have decided to deal with his contract after the end of this season. Presently, the team is struggling to retain wideout Brandon Aiyuk, who is looking for a contract that pays him in the ballpark of $28 million per year.
The 49ers are reluctant to pay Aiyuk because they are attempting to clear up as much cap space as possible by the end of the 2024-25 season. Purdy has more leverage than Dak Prescott because his credentials are significantly more. He led the team to a Super Bowl in his first season as the de facto starting QB. He had a league-best QBR last season and was close to winning the MVP award.
Despite the criticism from the masses that dub Purdy as being a ‘system quarterback’ he has managed to prove them wrong by showing up every time he was called upon. Purdy is irreplaceable and the mere fact that he continues to play on a rookie minimum contract justifies his humility.
Brock Purdy is well deserving of a contract that pays him $60 million a year, the simple reason being apart from the obvious tangibles, he possesses intangibles such as being a leader in the locker room, being a person who motivates the offense, and a player that has the respect and support of his teammates.
He may receive his fair share of criticism, with comments claiming any other competent QB would be able to excel if put in his position and surrounded with the talent that he is. But the 49ers starter has continued to hold himself with the highest degree of professionalism and continues to justify why he deserves to be paid.
Purdy has managed to rescue the 49ers’ season in two consecutive seasons, which is more than Jordan Love. When heading to the negotiating table, he has all the leverage needed and he has all the more reason to demand a deal that pays him $60 million or more per year.
The 49ers are anticipating a situation like this, which is why they are attempting to hold off from offering big contracts to their existing players. The 49ers are expected to be a serious contender for the Super Bowl heading into the 2024-25 season as well and without Brock Purdy, that would not be the case.
Undoubtedly, the Jordan Love contract has turned the tide in the favor of Purdy and Prescott as they enter the final year of their respective contracts. But with that being said, they are at a disadvantage because their respective franchises will be cash-strapped as they hope to retain the other pieces around them.
Purdy has a better chance of signing a deal similar to Love than Prescott because the 49ers have been making moves in the off-season to free up cap space and accommodate his deal after the conclusion of this season. If Prescott does decide to move on from the Cowboys, it is unlikely that he will receive a deal in the $60 million range, at the most, he is likely to be paid $50-$52 million on a good day.
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Sumedh Joshi
(2235 Articles Published)