Former MVP would take Cowboys' Dak Prescott over star QBs

During a recent edition of his "4th and 1" podcast, former Carolina Panthers star quarterback and one-time NFL Most Valuable Player Cam Newton shared some high praise for current Dallas Cowboys starting signal-caller Dak Prescott.

"Looking at the top 10 (highest-paid NFL quarterbacks), only one of them has a Super Bowl and there’s a lot of guys on here that don’t have a lot of playoff success," Newton said, per Nikki Chavanelle of On3.

The one with a Super Bowl is Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs, who became a three-time champion and three-time Super Bowl MVP this past February. Meanwhile, Newton noted that he "would prefer Dak over" Kirk Cousins of the Atlanta Falcons, Kyler Murray of the Arizona Cardinals, Jalen Hurts of the Philadelphia Eagles, Justin Herbert of the Los Angeles Chargers and Trevor Lawrence of the Jacksonville Jaguars.

All of the players Newton mentioned signed lucrative deals at some point between the summer of 2022 and the ongoing offseason.

"It’s not what I think Dak is," Newton added, "it’s what the market dictates Dak to be, and he’s better than half the guys on this list."

According to Pro Football Reference, Prescott finished the 2023 regular season ranked first in the NFL with 36 touchdown passes and second among qualified players with a 72.7 adjusted QBR, a 105.9 passer rating and a 51.5% passing success rate en route to finishing second in MVP voting. 

Despite all of that, Prescott remains in the final year of a contract that prevents Dallas from franchise-tagging him for 2025. It's believed he could look to earn at least $60M per season via his next deal if he hits the open market in March.

Unless Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones comes to an agreement with Prescott before September, some will continue to wonder if Jones is turned off at the idea of paying the 30-year-old who has thus far accumulated a career playoff record of 2-5. Even if Jones ultimately decides he wants to commit to Prescott beyond February 2025, the veteran entering his ninth NFL season may choose to bet on himself and play in a contract year.