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Quarterback Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys have. finally agreed on a contract after at least two years of negotiations. Ron Jenkins/Associated Press, file

The Dallas Cowboys and Dak Prescott have finally agreed on the richest contract in club history, two years after negotiations first started with the star quarterback.

The team said the agreement was reached Monday. It’s a $160 million, four-year contract with $126 million guaranteed and an NFL-record $66 million signing bonus, according to a person with knowledge of the deal who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because details weren’t announced.

The deal comes a day before a deadline to put the franchise tag on Prescott for a second straight year at a salary cap charge of $37.7 million. The new contract will lower that cap hit.

Prescott played on a $31.4 million franchise tag in 2020 before his season ended with a compound fracture and dislocation of his right ankle in Week 5.

At $40 million per season, Prescott is second in the NFL in annual salary to Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes, who is at $45 million annually in a $450 million, 10-year deal that could eventually exceed $500 million in value. Houston’s Deshaun Watson is third at $39 million annually.

The 27-year-old Prescott is the fourth Dallas player to get a $100 million contract after Tony Romo, the injured quarterback he replaced and ultimately sent into retirement, and two teammates in defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence and receiver Amari Cooper.

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Lawrence was among plenty of teammates reacting to the news on social media, tweeting, “HE’S BAAAAAACCCKKKK,” while Prescott’s brother, Tad, posted a photo of the two hugging after Prescott got the call about the deal.

Before the gruesome injury against the New York Giants in October, Prescott had started every game since the beginning of his rookie year after Romo injured his back during the 2016 preseason.

Prescott won NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year honors while leading the Cowboys to the No. 1 seed in the NFC and two years later won his first playoff game while reaching his second Pro Bowl.

Negotiations on a new contract started the following offseason, when Prescott was going into the final year of a four-year contract that paid him a total of about $4 million as a fourth-round pick. That included $2 million in the final season.

Prescott got a 1,500% raise with his first franchise tag, which locked in another increase for a second tag despite the salary cap going down because of the NFL’s revenue dip in the pandemic.

With a new contract, the Cowboys will get salary cap relief they’re expected to need with the cap falling from $198 million to possibly as low as $180 million. The cap has risen about $10 million per season for most of the past decade.

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Even before Prescott’s injury, the Cowboys started slowly in Coach Mike McCarthy’s first season last year. But Prescott was still leading the NFL in yards passing for the league’s No. 1 offense. Those numbers plummeted as Dallas lost its first four games without Prescott, falling to 2-7 on the way to a 6-10 finish.

SEAHAWKS: The Seattle Seahawks are releasing veteran defensive end Carlos Dunlap after the sides could not agree on a contract extension that would soften the blow of a $14.1 million salary cap hit.

A person with knowledge of the move told The Associated Press of the pending release of Dunlap, who was acquired in a trade with Cincinnati midway through last season. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the move had not been announced by the team.

Dunlap, 32, was a major boost to Seattle’s pass rush following his arrival from the Bengals. Dunlap appeared in eight regular season games for the Seahawks with five sacks and 14 quarterback hits. He was the spark for a Seattle pass rush that was among the better units in the league over the second half of the season.

But his salary for 2021 was always going to be a point of contention, especially with Seattle tight against the salary cap. When the trade was made, Seattle agreed to let Dunlap test free agency if an extension could not be reached.

Dunlap posted a thank you to the Seahawks on social media Monday.

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If Seattle can’t find another option in free agency, it will be the third straight year the Seahawks will go into the season with questions about their pass rush. Before the 2019 season, the Seahawks acquired Jadeveon Clowney from Houston to bolster the unit. Last year, Dunlap became the answer after Seattle’s defensive front struggled for the first half of the season.

Before being traded last season, Dunlap spent his entire career with the Bengals and was a Pro Bowl selection in 2015 and 2016. He had 46 sacks between 2015-19 and had eight sacks last year for Cincinnati.

But Dunlap had grown unhappy with his situation in Cincinnati and how he was being used by the Bengals’ coaching staff. Just before the trade, Dunlap briefly put his house for sale on social media. In his social media post on Monday, Dunlap noted the house in Cincinnati is officially listed and he’s “about to lower the price.”

GIANTS: The New York Giants have appointed Kyle O’Brien to the newly created position of senior personnel executive and hired Drew Wilson as their new assistant strength and conditioning coach.

O’Brien has 19 years of NFL experience, spending the past five with the Detroit Lions helping to oversee player personnel. The former Harvard lacrosse player also has worked for Jacksonville, Kansas City and the New England Patriots and the Jets.

Wilson replaces Thomas Stallworth, who left the Giants after three seasons to become the Atlanta Falcons’ strength and conditioning coach. The 42-year-old Wilson spent the previous four years as the director of football strength and conditioning at the University of Colorado.

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LIONS: The Detroit Lions have released linebacker Christian Jones and center Russell Bodine.

Detroit also re-signed defensive back Mike Ford.

The Lions signed Jones in 2018 and he had one year left on his contract. He started 42 games over three seasons in Detroit and had three sacks and forced one fumble. Jones started 31 games with the Chicago Bears from 2014 through 2017.

Ford adds depth in the secondary, where the Lions desperately need it. He played in 31 games, starting seven, the past three years in Detroit.

VIKINGS: The Minnesota Vikings signed defensive end Stephen Weatherly to a one-year, $2.5 million contract, bringing back one of their past draft picks to try to strengthen a lagging pass rush.

Weatherly played last season with the Carolina Panthers, who released him on Feb. 19. The 6-foot-5, 265-pound Weatherly spent the first four years of his career as a rotational player with the Vikings, who took him in the seventh round out of Vanderbilt in 2016.

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As a free agent last offseason, Weatherly signed with the Panthers for $6.25 million guaranteed and started the first nine games, only to injure his finger, go on injured reserve and get cut for salary cap savings with one year remaining on his deal. Weatherly has six sacks in 58 regular-season games.

TRADE: A person familiar with the deal says the Tennessee Titans have traded offensive lineman Isaiah Wilson to the Miami Dolphins in a move unloading their first-round draft pick after his rookie season.

The trade sends the 29th overall pick in 2020 out of Georgia to Miami after Wilson played only four snaps as a rookie, according to the person who spoke on condition of anonymity because neither team had announced the swap.

NFL.com first reported the trade, saying a swap of picks also is involved.

This deal caps a tenure in Tennessee that was filled with turmoil on and off the field for Wilson.

The Titans suspended Wilson for a game, then placed him on injured reserve/non-football illness list on Dec. 9 to deal with what GM Jon Robinson called “personal issues.”

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The Titans needed Wilson with three-time Pro Bowl left tackle Taylor Lewan tearing his right ACL and his replacement also wound up on injured reserve. Robinson said Feb. 16 that he hadn’t spoken to Wilson since the tackle was placed on IR.

JETS: A person with direct knowledge of the move says the New York Jets placed the franchise tag on safety Marcus Maye, a steady playmaker and leader with whom the team hopes to work out a long-term deal.

The move was expected and prevents Maye from becoming an unrestricted free agent when the new league year starts on March 17. NFL teams have until 4 p.m. Tuesday to use the tag on a pending free agent.

The tag for a safety is expected to be worth around $10.5 million this year. By using the franchise tag, the sides have until July 15 to work out a new contract or Maye would have to sign the franchise tag tender to play in 2021.

Maye, who turns 28 on Tuesday, joins Denver safety Justin Simmons as players to be franchise tagged this offseason. He’s also the first Jets player to be tagged since Muhammad Wilkerson in 2016.

STEELERS: J.C. Hassenauer will get a shot at being the potential replacement for retired Pittsburgh Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey.

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The Steelers signed the 25-year-old Hassenauer to a one-year contract. Hassenauer, who appeared in 15 games for the Steelers in 2020 and made four starts, was an exclusive rights free agent.

Pittsburgh is in the market for a center after Pouncey, a nine-time Pro Bowler, retired on Feb. 12. The Steelers, however, have limited salary cap space to splurge on the open market. They could target a center in the upcoming draft, but the versatile Hassenauer gives them options at the position.

WASHINGTON: Washington placed the franchise tag on Brandon Scherff, tagging the standout guard for a second consecutive year in the aftermath of his first All-Pro season.

Scherff stands to make almost $18 million after his camp and the team were unable to negotiate a long-term contract. His franchise tag was worth just under $15 million last season.

The 29-year-old started 13 games at right guard for Washington when it reached the playoffs for the first time since 2015, Scherff’s rookie year after being drafted fifth overall.

Scherff has started 78 games in his NFL career while battling through injuries.

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