After an untimely hamstring injury against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 9 brought an early end to Dak Prescott’s season, many seemed to forget that the Dallas Cowboys’ quarterback had just finished second overall in MVP voting for the 2023 season. Now that he’s fully healthy for this season’s opener against the Philadelphia Eagles, he has the opportunity to remind the masses as to why he’s deserving of the highest average salary in the league.
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Heading into the 10th season of his career, Prescott has already managed to produce 213 passing touchdowns, the second most of any quarterback in the 65-year history of the Cowboys. For a bit of context, it took Troy Aikman 165 games to produce 165 touchdowns. Prescott has only played 122 games for Dallas.
However, his predecessor, Tony Romo, still holds the all-time franchise record. The four-time Pro Bowler managed to record 248 passing touchdowns throughout the 156 games in which he represented the Cowboys.
Prescott will need just 36 touchdowns to take the crown from Romo, and given his career average of 30 passing touchdowns per 17-game season, that’s more than feasible. In fact, that’s the exact amount he threw for in 2023, the last season in which he was fully healthy.
In two of the past four seasons, Prescott has produced 36+ passing touchdowns while attempting 410 pass attempts. The Cowboys’ defense figures to be worse for wear after trading away Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers as well, something that could result in additional pass attempts throughout the coming season.
It’s also worth keeping in mind that, when accounting for opponent’s 2024 win percentages, the Cowboys have the fifth most difficult regular season schedule of any team in the league. In terms of throwing the ball, this could be a very demanding season for Prescott, as he’ll certainly need to score if he wants to keep Dallas afloat throughout this campaign.
Factor in that Jerry Jones also traded for the former Pittsburgh Steeler, George Pickens, to help bolster the receiving corps, and all signs seem to be pointing towards this being a yet another productive year for the 32-year-old veteran. Suffice to say, so long as Prescott and his key pieces can remain healthy, it’s only a matter of time until he’s officially the highest scoring signal caller in franchise history.
His contract may seem inflated at times, and his playoff record leaves a lot to be desired, but in the end, Prescott is giving the Cowboys a level of production that they have never seen before. Considering their rich history at the position throughout the 1970s, 80s, and 90s, perhaps that’s why Jones is more than content with paying him those league-leading salaries.
