'Broadway Joe' Namath on Dak Prescott: 'They will pay him'

Dak Prescott perfectly summed up the difficulty in assessing his contract future, the Dallas Cowboys quarterback at times stunning and then moments later frustrating in his team’s 34-28 loss to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday.

A career-high 463 passing yards, highest in the NFL in Week 5, did not overshadow three interceptions thrown by Prescott. The fourth-year quarterback is certainly a very good quarterback and is certainly one of the best young players under center in the league.

Whether he is elite or deserves to be paid as such is a clouded and murky discussion.

In the last year of his rookie contract, Prescott is currently making $2.1 million. That is a far cry from the likes of Matt Ryan (five years, $150 million contract) or Russell Wilson (four years, $140 million contract), the top paid quarterbacks in the NFL.

Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Namath thinks that Prescott has earned that big pay day from Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.

“The way the game is structured today financially is a bit over my head. Having been a bonus baby myself, we didn’t have the financial they have today,” Namath told FoxBusiness.com last week. “I don’t see them letting Dak get away. They will pay him, yes. He shows every bit how to be a great player. From Day 1 he’s just improved. I cannot believe that Mr. Jones would let him get away.”

Namath was believed to have signed the largest rookie contract in the professional football in 1965 and then broke the then contract record in 1975 with a two-year, $900,000 contract extension. Earlier this year his autobiography “All the Way: My Life in Four Quarters” was released. In addition the audio book which he narrated was recently nominated for a Grammy.

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At times, Prescott can be sublime. In other moments, wildly inconsistent. It explains why he is top five in the NFL in passing yards and touchdowns as well as interceptions. However, the NFL has shown repeatedly that there is a premium at the quarterback position.