Dak Prescott's football cards create opportunity

Dak Prescott’s football card values were trending upward before he quarterbacked the Dallas Cowboys to a resounding 37-22 road win over the New York Jets on Sunday in Week 5 of the 2025 NFL season.

As of Saturday, Prescott’s Card Ladder index is up more than 10 percent over the last month, which coincides with the start of the regular season. Prescott’s index is up more than 16 percent over the past three months, experiencing a couple of significant surges along the way.

With multiple PSA 10 rookie cards that sell for under $100, Dak Prescott is emerging as an attractive option for football card collectors. Relative to other active NFL quarterbacks, Prescott's cards aren't overpopulated. That could give his cards room to grow in the long run if he continues to light up opposing defenses.

The market for Prescott’s cards spiked on Aug. 28, the day the Cowboys traded All-Pro defensive end Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers. After his cards received a bump ahead of a 361-yard performance in a 40-37 win over the New York Giants on Sept. 14, Prescott’s values shot up again in the days following a 40-40 overtime tie with the Packers in Week 4.

Dak Prescott Micah Parsons Dallas Cowboys Green Bay Packers — Green Bay Packers defensive end Micah Parsons and Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott embrace after the tie game at AT&T Stadium on Sept. 28, 2025. | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Prescott threw for 319 yards and accounted for four total touchdowns (three passing and one rushing) against Parsons and the Green Bay defense. The NFL’s Walter Payton Man of the Year in 2022 and a three-time Pro Bowl selection, Prescott continued his hot streak against the Jets, firing four touchdown passes in an 18-for-29, 237-yard performance.

Prescott’s production has come at a time when Dallas has been without wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, who injured his ankle early in a Week 3 road loss to the Chicago Bears. Prescott operating at an MVP-caliber level might be the best means the Cowboys have of competing for a playoff spot in the NFC, which would likely keep the arrow pointing up for Prescott’s football card values.

Prescott is on the checklist for a slew of Panini releases in 2016, the year he was named NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. While concerns regarding mass production and overprinting of ultra-modern football card releases have raised concerns throughout the sports card hobby about the card values in the long run, the PSA 10 populations of Prescott’s more notable rookie cards aren’t out of control.

Dak Prescott Dallas Cowboys Pro Bowl — Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott signs autographs after practice before the 2017 Pro Bowl at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex on Jan. 26, 2017. | Kim Klement-Imagn Images

Prescott’s PSA 10 base rookie card from 2016 Panini Donruss Football (#362) Rated Rookie has a population of 1,886, according to Card Ladder. For an apples-to-apples comparison, the number of PSA 10 Donruss base rookie cards of notable quarterbacks skyrocketed in subsequent years.

The Donruss base rookie cards of Josh Allen in 2018 (10,271), Kyler Murray in 2019 (4,970), Justin Herbert in 2020 (7,595) and Trevor Lawrence in 2021 (4,772) have significantly higher PSA 10 populations than Prescott’s equivalent rookie card.

As a result, Prescott’s rookie cards aren't wildly overpopulated (relative to his contemporaries), which gives them potential long-term value. Still, they're affordable for football card collectors of all budgets wanting a rookie card of the man occupying one of the most high-profile positions in professional sports.

Based on the most recent online sales verified by Card Ladder, Prescott has multiple PSA 10 rookie cards that can be picked up for under $100.

Recent PSA 10 Dak Prescott rookie card sales

2016 Panini Donruss (#362)

Dak Prescott 2016 Panini Donruss Rated Rookie (#362) football card — Dak Prescott's 2016 Panini Donruss (#362) Rated Rookie has a PSA 10 population of 1,886. | Card Ladder/eBay

The last Card Ladder-verified PSA 10 sale of Prescott's base rookie card before he carved up the Jets was the winning bid of an eBay auction. Closing on Saturday, Oct. 4, the auction ended with a high bid of $46.32, claiming the card.

2016 Panini Donruss Optic (#162)

According to Card Ladder, the most recent verified PSA 10 sale was a Fanatics Collect auction, which closed on Sunday, Sept. 28. A bid of $43.20 won the auction for Prescott's Optic "Rated Rookie," which features the same primary image as the one on the front of his Donruss paper card.

2016 Panini Select (#70)

Dak Prescott 2016 Panini Select Football Concourse Level (#70) base rookie card as a PSA 10. — The PSA 10 Concourse Level (#70) base card is Dak Prescott's most populous and most frequently-transacted base card among the three levels of cards in the 2016 Panini Select Football set. | Card Ladder

With a PSA 10 population of 480, Prescott’s Concourse Level base card is a part of his Card Ladder index. One of those copies was up for auction on eBay, which closed on Sunday, Sept. 14, with a winning bid of $23.50. While the 2024 edition of Panini Select Football features five different designs for each level in the base set, the 2016 release was divided into only three levels (Concourse, Premier and Field).

Prescott’s Premier Level (#185) and Field Level (#215) base cards have significantly smaller PSA 10 populations (50 and 33, respectively) compared to the Concourse Level base card, which helps explain why those two cards transact less often than the Concourse Level; a Field Level PSA 10 last sold on eBay on May 24, while a Pristine Auction sale on Oct. 9, 2024. is the most recent Card Ladder-verified sale of a PSA 10 Premier Level base card.

2016 Panini Prizm (#231)

Dak Prescott 2016 Panini Prizm Football Silver rookie card (#231) — Dak Prescott doesn't have a base rookie card in the 2016 edition of Panini Prizm. Instead, Prescott and the other 2016 rookies made their debuts in Prizm with Prizm Silver rookie cards. | Card Ladder

Panini became the exclusive NFL trading card manufacturer in 2016, and the year’s Prizm release didn’t include standard base cards for rookies. Instead, Prescott and the 2016 rookie class made their debuts in the set Prizm Silver parallels (Panini didn't revert to including a standard base rookie in Prizm packs until 2018).

After Prescott's successful outing against the Jets, one of his PSA 10 Prizm rookie cards sold on eBay for $199. According to Card Ladder, the Sunday sale was the highest for a PSA 10 Prescott Prizm rookie card (population of 1,579) in 2025 and the highest since an eBay auction ended on Nov. 4, 2024, with a winning bid of $202.50.

2016 Donruss Optic Holo (#162)

Dak Prescott 2016 Panini Donruss Optic Holo Rated Rookie (#162) — According to Card Ladder, Prescott's 2016 Donrus Optic (#162) Holo "Rated Rookie" card has a PSA 10 population of 161. | Card Ladder

With a significantly lower PSA 10 population than either the Donruss or Optic base card, the value of Prescott’s Optic (#162) Holo is on par with his Prizm rookie card. One of the 161 PSA 10 copies of the card in existence, according to Card Ladder, sold on Monday, Sept. 22, for $160 in an eBay auction.