Tuesday, March 9, 2021

Dak Prescott finally gets his huge payday and Champions League knockout stage resumes with PSG vs. Barcelona

 

Good morning and happy Tuesday, friend! Hey, Dak Prescott...if you're reading this, may I have some money?

The big news of the day yesterday was Prescott finally getting his incredibly lucrative extension with the Cowboys, so you better believe we're going to be diving into the dollars here this morning. Before we do that, here's an amazing stat for you: 

In 1989, Jerry Jones bought the Cowboys for around $140 million. Yesterday, he inked an individual player to a $160 million deal. 

We've also got plenty more to get to here this morning, including Les Miles being cut loose by Kansas and Champions League knockout action getting back underway today. It's gonna be a busy morning so you might want to go a little harder on the coffee pour. 

Oh, and one more thing...apologies for forgetting about the mailbag last week. If you can find it in your heart to forgive me, my mailbox is once again open this week (pete.blackburn@cbsinteractive.com) and I'll take whatever questions you've got for tomorrow's mailbag. They can be sports related (of course) but don't be afraid to send me any Q's on pop culture, current events, video games or any other weird/random things you can think of. Let's have some fun.

Okay, let's get you up to speed. 

📰 What you need to know

1. Dak Prescott gets his extension 🏈

At long last, Dak Prescott has acquired his bag. After an exhaustive negotiation process that took around two years, the Cowboys quarterback finally got that long-term extension he'd been searching for yesterday. Here are some of the financial implications of that huge extension:

  • Prescott agreed to a four-year deal worth a maximum of $160 million ($126 million guaranteed), making it the second-richest QB deal in NFL history (behind Patrick Mahomes). It also includes a $66 million signing bonus (the largest in NFL history)
  • The deal is reportedly actually for six years but is voidable after four years (with the last two years being dummy years), so it allows the Cowboys to spread the money out and save money on the salary cap hit
  • The deal will pay Dak $75 million in year one (the most in NFL history)
  • His salary cap hit next season will be $22.2 million instead of the $37.7 million that would have come along with the franchise tag (savings of $15.5 million against this season's cap)  

It took a long time for the two sides to reach a compromise but we finally got there! If you're wondering about what might have pushed them across the finish line...Maybe it was the looming franchise tag hike? Maybe it was seeing how quickly things fell apart without Dak after he went down with that injury? Or maybe, as Adam Schefter suggested via a source yesterday, it was an impending "extraordinary TV deal" providing an influx of dough to Jerry Jones' pockets? (After all, he has to make sure that the Scrooge McDuck vault in his super yacht stays full at all times.)

In any case, good for Dak for standing his ground and waiting it out to secure his payday. It's also nice to see that the gruesome injury that took him off the field last year didn't end up taking money out of his pocket. However, now the pressure is REALLY on. If you thought Cowboys fans were tough on him before, I'd imagine that might get ramped up a bit with big dollars going his way.

2. Les Miles out at Kansas following misconduct investigation 🏈

Les Miles Kansas Jayhawks Football
Getty Images

Some big college football news came across the wire late last night when it was announced that Les Miles is out as head football coach at Kansas. The decision was labeled as a mutual agreement to part ways but it would seem as though Miles has been fired after it was revealed last week that he exhibited inappropriate conduct around women during his time as head coach at LSU. 

  • Miles was placed on administrative leave over the weekend after the report on the investigation (conducted by an independent law firm) was made public
  • The investigation found that Miles' inappropriate behavior included "texting female students, taking them to his condo alone, making them feel uncomfortable and, on at least one occasion, kissing a student and suggesting they go to a hotel after telling her he could help her career"  
  • Miles has denied any wrongdoing and his attorney issued a statement on Saturday calling the decision to place the coach on leave "disturbing and unfair"

Kansas athletic director Jeff Long released a statement on Monday night and, well, it's not exactly the strongest statement I've ever seen considering the circumstances.

  • Long: "I am extremely disappointed for our university, fans and everyone involved with our football program. There is a lot of young talent on this football team, and I have no doubt we will identify the right individual to lead this program. We will begin the search for a new head coach immediately with an outside firm to assist in this process. We need to win football games, and that is exactly what we're going to do."

Emphasizing a need to win football games while parting ways with your coach for allegedly being a creep towards women? Seems a bit unnecessary, but maybe that's just me. It's also probably safe to say that Long's job is on the line if the next hire doesn't work out.

That being said, the football program may not miss Miles all that much on the field. He took over the Jayhawks' program in 2019 and went 3-18 in his two seasons.

3. Champions League resumes today ⚽

neymar-lionel-messi.png
Getty Images

After a brief one-week break from UEFA Champions League play, the Round of 16 will resume on Tuesday as we get into second leg action. That means we'll start learning which UCL teams will be moving on to the quarterfinals, and there are plenty of intriguing storylines to keep an eye out for over the next couple of days.

  • Neymar faces Barca: Barcelona is staring down a seemingly impossible hill to climb after losing 4-1 to PSG in the first leg, but there's a notable story to watch regardless -- Neymar's return to the lineup against his former club. The PSG star missed the opening leg due to injury but it sounds like he's going to be ready to go against Barca tomorrow. He'll be lining up against old teammates like Lionel Messi, and there have been plenty of rumors that PSG will try to make a move for Messi this summer...
  • Dortmund hosts shaky Sevilla: The German side beat Sevilla 3-2 in the first leg, and the Spanish side has really been struggling of late. Things are trending heavily in favor of Dortmund heading into today's matchup but Sevilla remains in striking distance so anything could happen
  • Liverpool limp into Leipzig encounter: Liverpool took a 2-0 first leg lead over Leipzig but they've been falling apart lately. Jurgen Klopp's men have lost an incredible six straight home games (with a total of one goal scored in that span) to fall out of title contention in the EPL. This could be a "get right" match for them on Wednesday, or it could be disastrous...

Second leg action is where you truly separate the men from the boys, so this should be quite a fun few weeks coming up. As an important reminder, you can stream all UCL matches on CBS All Access the newly rebranded Paramount+. 

4. Stories to follow at TPC Sawgrass 🏌

Rory McIlroy 2019 The Players Championship
USATSI

As we discussed yesterday, this week's Players Championship will be played without Brooks Koepka thanks to an unfortunate knee injury. That news comes as a big disappointment but there are still plenty of reasons to get excited for TPC Sawgrass, especially since it basically opens the door to the heart of golf season. Get ready for a steady string of massive events. 

Our Kyle Porter has you covered with stories to keep on your radar as we head toward The Players later this week:

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