In February this year, Pro Football Network released an eye-opening stat. Except for Cincinnati Bengals owner Mike Brown, worth $925 million, all other 31 team owners can call themselves billionaires. While Denver Broncos’ Rob Walton tops that list with a staggering $77.4 billion in wealth, today we’re here to talk about Dallas Cowboys’ Jerry Jones. Seventh on the list with $13.8 billion, it’s only natural some of that effect would reflect on his team. Well, cue Dak Prescott, who just made history with some cold, hard cash. But looks like reaching there wasn’t easy…

On March 26, NFL agent, and founder/CEO of sports agency Athletes First, Brian Murphy, his VP of Client Strategy AJ Stevens, and Prescott’s agent Todd France sat down on the Athletes First Family podcast to discuss what everyone has been wondering: How exactly did the Cowboys quarterback become the highest-paid player in NFL history? Heads up: It included some forehead-creasing rejections over the years.

To tell you the story, we’ll have to go back to the player’s contract history first. After signing the 4-year, $2.7 million rookie deal with the franchise, the QB picked up his performance at the right time. In 2019, the final year of his contract back then, he finally breached a 30 TD mark after three consecutive 20+ seasons, while recording a career-high 4,902 passing yards—forcing the owners to sit down at the negotiation table. While he played under the franchise tag in the 2020 season, it was a new dawn the next year. We’re talking about a four-year, $160 million deal to stay in Dallas. So far, so good, right? Well, looks like the front office and its QB had entirely different numbers stuck in their heads at the time.

Stevens first pointed out, “So on an earlier episode, we talked about how Tua’s contract negotiation took us a 100 days. I can tell you that Dak Prescott’s contract took much longer than that,” and asked, “So, he becomes eligible for a new contract in 2019. So, Todd, what was that like…going into training camp, having that first interaction about the contract conversation?” 

To this, the agent—who boasts a high-profile portfolio comprising DaQuan Jones, athlete Quincy Wilson, Derrick Henry, Jahmyr Gibbs among others and was worth a staggering $42 million as per Forbes in 2022—dived deep and said, “I remember, we engaged in negotiations with the Cowboys and ultimately couldn’t get a deal done. They wanted a five-year deal. We wanted a four-year deal. We thought the number of years was ridiculously important. They thought the same thing and they ultimately made a significant offer of guaranteed money. But you just can’t look at the guaranteed money in a vacuum. You have to look at all of the pieces.

“And, obviously, the media is getting bits and pieces and making it out like, ‘Dak’s crazy!’ and, ‘He’s being offered 100 million guaranteed!’ and, ‘He’s this and he’s that,’…Ultimately, I had to sit down with Dak and educate him on why it doesn’t make sense to do that deal…If you’re telling a guy to turn down $100 million, a lot can happen. Either bad play, injuries…So we went through a brainstorm of every scenario that could possibly happen and if it happened what was our plan. And so he knew [how] a significant injury…would impact another negotiation and…he was comfortable with all that from the insurance plan and understanding that that’s not the end all. [In case of a] permanent injury, if you can ever play football…what would your future look like?” Furthermore, France also pointed out a clever tactic teams often resort to..

“And obviously, as a late-round draft-pick, teams have a tendency to dangle money in front of a player and [players will] just grab it. Because it’s more than they’ve ever seen, and that’s a strategy by a team. I get that, and some kids might go for that. Luckily for me, Dak put all his 100% trust and faith in what I was guiding him and telling him. We went through every scenario. It was very detailed and we ultimately turned down that money,” he said.

France summed it up, “Obviously you want to get a deal done, but you want to get THE right deal done, not any deal done. While you are walking away from $100 [million], you could also look at it by that the extra year. You’re…walking away from $100 [million] or giving up $200 [million].” So, looks like, it wasn’t about the 8-figure mark. The agent wanted a 4-year deal.

The 4-year deal is better than 5-year deals because of the way the market and salary cap grow. France thought long-term and convinced Dak Prescott to reject the offer. In 2020, he played on the franchise tag, getting $31.4 million. But he suffered a compound fracture in his right ankle in Week 5 vs the New York Giants that forced him to sit out the 2020 season after 5 games. In his absence, the franchise crumbled with a 6-10 record, ultimately helping his stock move up. France took advantage of the situation. He got the Cowboys to use the exclusive franchise tag for the second time in 2021. In fact, the very next day, a new extension was done and dusted.

With a no-trade and no-tag clause, Jerry Jones had to sign the 4-year, $160 million deal, with $126 million guaranteed, and a $66 million signing bonus (the biggest in the NFL at the time). And come 2025, the player-agent duo has done it again! But before we get to that, notably the top NFL agent found himself in hot water back in 2022. He was sued by fellow agent Jason Bernstein for reportedly violating the NFLPA’s regulations by initiating talks with former New York Giants wide receiver Kenny Golladay (then represented by Bernstein) and asking him to switch agents. France, eventually had to pay $810,846.67 in damages to the complainant.

But now that the issue seems to be done and dusted, the France-Prescott partnership seems to be working great as the latter landed a four-year, $240 million extension this year, with $231 million guaranteed—the highest average annual value contract in NFL history, and topping the Cleveland Browns’ Deshaun Watson by $1 million. But this achievement wouldn’t have been possible without his agent’s relentless dedication.

How did Dak Prescott’s agent save him from losing guaranteed money back after 2022 incident?

Being a veteran agent, Todd France helped Dak Prescott save guaranteed money by telling him not to talk about it anywhere or avoid the media. France contacted Prescott to tell him the figures had been settled. He advised his client to hang tight, as they were still negotiating language in the deal that could have voided his guaranteed money if the NFL imposed a fine.

They went through each line carefully and got the best deal. It helped him later when he was fined $25k for praising fans who threw trash at the referees in the wild card game against the 49ers in 2022. That moment could have jeopardized his guaranteed money if France and his team hadn’t meticulously reviewed the deal and adjusted its language a year before.

On the surface, Prescott’s 2021 extension averaged $40 million annually. However, as France points out, it was actually a $42 million per year deal over the first three seasons. Since the Cowboys would no longer be able to tag him after the fourth year, it would be prudent for Dallas to engage in discussions with Prescott and his camp following the 2023 season, possibly allowing him to earn more money a year earlier.

However, Jerry Jones didn’t give up on stretching the negotiations to the last moment.

When he delayed the contract deals in 2024 till week 1, Dak Prescott was ready to leave the franchise. France revealed, “He’s like, ‘That’s fine. If they don’t want to do a contract, I’ll be a free agent. Of course, the Cowboys were banking on the Star on the helmet and that no matter what, he’s gonna come back. It wasn’t gonna work out that way had a deal not worked out, I really believe that.” That’s how you finalize a contract.

Now we know why Todd France is one of the most seasoned and creative negotiators in the sports business. It’s easy to see why he’s secured top-of-the-market deals for nearly every position in football.