Troy Aikman came to the Dallas in 1989, saying he hoped within five years to be compared with Cowboys Hall of Fame quarterback Roger Staubach.
With a year to spare, few can be compared to Aikman.Aikman signed the biggest contract in NFL history Thursday, agreeing to a $50 million, eight-year deal that includes an $11 million signing bonus.
In four seasons, Aikman has become one of the NFL's marquee names on and off the field.
The quarterback's stock has risen dramatically each season, from losing all 11 games he started as a rookie to leading Dallas to a Super Bowl victory last January. He was the MVP of the 52-17 victory over Buffalo.
"Troy Aikman has been the one constant we've had with the Cowboys as a player since we were 1-15 all the way up to winning the Super Bowl," said team owner Jerry Jones, who made Aikman his first draft pick after buying the team in 1989.
"Arguably, Troy Aikman is considered . . . maybe THE star of the NFL. Certainly, the Dallas Cowboys have had our success and have our future based upon the way Troy Aikman is as a player and as an individual."
To put Jones' commitment to Aikman into perspective, consider that he paid $65 million to buy the team, $75 million for Texas Stadium and now he's spending $50 million for a single player.
"If those dollars are worth it for anyone, they're worth it for Troy Aikman," Jones said.
Under the $11.2 million, six-year deal Aikman signed as a rookie, he was the 31st highest-paid quarterback in the league before Thursday.
But he wasn't complaining.
"I was happy with the contract I signed as a rookie, and I'm happy with the contract I have now," said Aikman, whose new deal wiped out the old one.
Aikman said the honor of being the game's highest-paid player is nice, but it won't last."I'm sure there will come a point where someone is making more money than I am now," he said. "But that's the way the league goes."
The 27-year-old Aikman will receive salaries ranging from $1.75 million in 1994 to $7.5 million in 2000.
Aikman's 1993 salary jumps from the $1.12 million of his old contract to $2.5 million. He'll make $1.75 million next year, as opposed to the $1.37 million he was due under the previous deal.
In subsequent years, Aikman collects $4.15 million, $4.9 million, $5.25 million, $6.2 million, $6.75 million and $7.5 million. The average salary is $6.25 million per year, easily beating Steve Young's $5.35 million average, the highest in the league prior to Thursday.
No one was saying whether any of the contract was guaranteed, but Aikman's agent Leigh Steinberg said he considered the $11 million bonus "a whole lot of guarantees."
Even if Aikman's contract is topped, there's a clause that will keep him among the best-paid quarterbacks over the final two years of the deal. By meeting certain performance goals such as making the Pro Bowl, he'll get the average salary of the five highest-paid quarterbacks, Steinberg said.
The deal was struck on the last day NFL teams could rewrite contracts without the entire package being subject to the salary cap, which begins for the first time with the 1994 season.