Dak Prescott could be the next quarterback to cash in on a booming market. An ESPN analyst argued that the Dallas Cowboys have little choice but to pay a lofty price to retain him.
On Wednesday’s Get Up, Louis Riddick said he’s “fine with” Dallas making Prescott the NFL’s highest-paid player with an extension worth $65 million per year.
“It’s a never-ending argument when you’re talking about trying to ascertain — what is a player, what’s his worth,” Riddick said. “And I know fans will get all up in arms about, ‘He’s not worth $60 million plus. He’s not worth more than Patrick Mahomes.’ … But look, this is the market right now.”
The former safety and NFL scout pointed to a “scarcity issue” at quarterback. He doesn’t think the Cowboys will like their reality if they balk at giving Prescott a huge payday commensurate with the position’s market.
“What is your next best alternative if you’re the Dallas Cowboys?” Riddick rhetorically asked. “What are you gonna do? Who are you gonna turn to?”
Furthermore, Riddick argued that Prescott’s current contract gives him all the leverage in negotiations entering the final season of his deal.
“Dak has you right by the you-know-what,” Riddick claimed. “He has you. Because you can’t franchise tag him, and he has a no-trade clause. He can do what he wants to do. He can literally just walk out the door.”
Although Riddick still believes Cowboys backup Trey Lance has an NFL future, he can’t see them turning to an “unknown commodity” under center as they’re about to invest big money in CeeDee Lamb and Micah Parsons. He added that drafting a new starting quarterback on a cheaper rookie scale isn’t easy.
“Look, Dak is gonna get his. He’s gonna get his,” Riddick declared. It’ll be north of 60 [million]; I won’t bat an eye at it. Because that’s the market. That’s the price of doing business, and that’s the price of doing business with a guy who played this very well in terms of how his contract was written and structured.”
Related: Ian Rapoport: It’s ‘Not Crazy’ Dak Prescott Could Get $60 Million A Year