The 24-year-old on Wednesday signed the longest contract in the game’s history in a massive show of faith for both he and the club.

But with mega-bucks comes expectation.

Manly’s Daly Cherry-Evans signed a $10 million eight-year deal in 2015 and has been a shadow of the player he was throughout the early stages of his career which included delivering the Sea Eagles a premiership in his rookie year as well as caps for Queensland and Australia.

Many have speculated the Sea Eagles captain's dip in form could be due to the huge amounts of pressure heaped on him as Manly's marquee man.

Lockyer said how Taumalolo handled such pressure would dictate his long-term success.  

“History shows these long-term deals can backfire,” the former Queensland and Test captain told Newscorp.

“Ten years is a long time in this game. It’s great stability for Jason, but the fans and the club will expect him to perform every week and there will be challenges.

“It will be interesting to see two years into this deal how it’s going for him.

“When DCE (Manly halfback Daly Cherry-Evans) did his eight-year deal, we thought ‘good on him’, but as we have seen with Daly, the moment his side has few losses, the spotlight is on him.

“People won’t be referring to Jason as the $1 million man, he’ll be the $10 million man and that perception will apply the pressure on him.

“I’m sure Jason would have thought about the ramifications of a 10-year deal and he will have to deal with it.

“It depends on the type of competitor you are. If you gave a deal like this to Thurston, he would compete every week regardless of the money.

“Jason is supremely talented and if he can hold his form and stay injury free, the Cowboys could build their club around him.’’