Just hours ahead of the Dallas Cowboys’ 2024 season, quarterback Dak Prescott agreed to a four-year extension worth $240 million, with $231 million guaranteed.
The $60 million annual average value is the highest in NFL history, and the guarantee is also the largest ever in the league, outpacing DeShaun Watson’s $230 million deal with the Cleveland Browns.
After he signed his 4-year, $220 million contract extension in July, Green Bay’s Jordan Love was briefly tied with Jacksonville’s Trevor Lawrence and Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow for the title of the highest-paid NFL quarterback with a $55 million AAV.
Prescott’s new deal vaulted the Cowboys quarterback to the top of the list.
Joe Burrow followed a similar pattern last season, signing his $275 million extension with the Bengals in the 11th hour before the 2023 season kickoff. That extension made him the fourth quarterback of the 2023 offseason to temporarily earn the title of the NFL’s highest-paid player.
Burrow’s deal followed five-year extensions signed in 2023 by the Philadelphia Eagles’ Jalen Hurts ($51 million AAV), Baltimore Ravens’ Lamar Jackson ($52 million AAV), and Los Angeles Chargers’ Justin Herbert ($52.5 million).
All held the short-lived titles of being the NFL’s highest-paid player.
All of these deals in the past two years follow a trend of NFL stars signing extensions before they hit the open market.
While this can be particularly lucrative for franchise quarterbacks more than other positions, NFL player agent Blake Baratz told Front Office Sports last June that the league’s controversial franchise tag prevented players from reaching free agency.
“Getting to free agency in the NFL is the hardest thing to do. None of the good players get to free agency,” Baratz said. “Patrick Mahomes isn’t getting there. Josh Allen isn’t getting there. Justin Herbert’s not gonna get there, Joe Burrow’s not gonna get there. It’s hard to get to free agency when you have a mechanism to keep a player at a fraction of their value. Lamar Jackson was the unanimous MVP and couldn’t get there.”
Ranking The Highest-Paid NFL QBs for 2024
Here are the highest-paid quarterbacks by average annual value, according to data compiled by Spotrac.
- Updated: December 2nd, 2024
| Rank | Player | Team | Compensation |
| 1 | Dak Prescott | Dallas Cowboys | $60 million |
| T-2 | Joe Burrow | Cincinnati Bengals | $55 million |
| T-2 | Trevor Lawrence | Jacksonville Jaguars | $55 million |
| T-2 | Jordan Love | Green Bay Packers | $55 million |
| 5 | Tua Tagovailoa | Miami Dolphins | $53.1 million |
| 5 | Jared Goff | Detroit Lions | $53 million |
| 7 | Justin Herbert | Los Angeles Chargers | $52.5 million |
| 8 | Lamar Jackson | Baltimore Ravens | $52 million |
| 9 | Jalen Hurts | Philadelphia Eagles | $51 million |
| 10 | Kyler Murray | Arizona Cardinals | $46.1 million |
| 11 | Deshaun Watson | Cleveland Browns | $46 million |
| T-12 | Patrick Mahomes | Kansas City Chiefs | $45 million |
| T-12 | Kirk Cousins | Atlanta Falcons | $45 million |
| 14 | Josh Allen | Buffalo Bills | $43 million |
| 15 | Matthew Stafford | Los Angeles Rams | $40 million |
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