The saga is now finally over. After months of “will they or won’t they” the Cowboys inked their franchise quarterback to a new $240 million deal that will keep last season’s MVP runner up in Dallas for four more years. The move also keeps the Cowboys firmly entrenched as a playoff team for the foreseeable future.

The Cowboys have been at a crossroads this offseason. Blessed with incredible talent at multiple key positions, their star power is the envy of all but a handful of teams. Unfortunately for them, the majority of that star power has also been on the hunt for new top-of-the-market contracts.

Like a lot of successful businesses, the Cowboys, the most valuable professional sports franchise in the world, loves to make money but doesn’t love to spend money. The ideal of delivering market setting deal after market setting deal doesn’t particularly appeal to them and usually prompts a press conference lecture involving pie. It’s part of the reason why CeeDee Lamb’s negotiations dragged on until after the preseason and it also contributed as to why Prescott’s went all the way to the back half of the 11th hour.

Lamb’s deal always felt like a forgone conclusion, but Prescott’s deal wasn’t ever so forgone. In Prescott’s previous deal, agent Todd France included a no trade and no franchise tag stipulation. It meant Prescott could walk free and clear this coming March if the Cowboys didn’t pony up acceptable terms.

Critics of Prescott within the fanbase seemed to welcome a departure. Even though starting over at quarterback would potentially waste the best years of Dallas’ best players’ careers, there was bad blood in the fanbase and some people just wanted to move on. It’s somewhat understandable they didn’t want to pay a guy the most money if he wasn’t the best player. By their logic everyone should fall into place behind Patrick Mahomes. This type of thinking might follow basic logic, but it doesn’t fit the reality of the NFL.

In today’s NFL, middle ground is hard to come by, especially in matters of contracts. With the salary cap growing year-over-year, the price of doing business escalates correspondingly.

The highest paid QB is typically the most recently signed QB, not the highest performing QB.

Prescott, coming off his best season as a pro, easily makes the case his best football is still ahead of him. Wins are a team stat, but QB play determines winners and losers more than any other position in the NFL. Not just any QB will do. Without strong play under center, the Cowboys have little chance of succeeding in the regular season, let alone the postseason. It doesn’t matter how talented the roster is, bus drivers very rarely lead their teams to the ultimate goal.

Obviously, Prescott will have to play better than he played against Green Bay last postseason but Dallas’ playoff drudging of the Tom Brady-led Buccaneers shows he can. Besides, the entire Cowboys roster has had issues performing in the postseason. It spans throughout Mike McCarthy’s four-year term as head coach and back through the Jason Garrett era as well. The issue is bigger than just one QB or just one coach. It’s a team issue.

What Prescott’s retainment means is the Cowboys will have a seat at the table for the foreseeable future. Since 2016, the Cowboys have either finished first or second in the division when Prescott’s at the helm. They are perennial contenders despite constant coaching and personnel churn. He makes the retainment of Lamb worth it. He makes the Cowboys investment in their offensive line worth it. He allows the Cowboys to go cheap at running back and the coaching staff to open up the extended version of the playbook where the only limit is their imagination.

Even Prescott critics must see starting over at QB could be a disaster for the Cowboys. Keeping Prescott in Dallas ensures the Cowboys remain in the playoff mix and for the foreseeable future, Super Bowl contenders.

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