Dak Prescott continued his dominance of the Dallas Cowboys at the negotiating table this weekend by signing another (relatively) short-term extension with a very high percentage of guarantees, which will likely allow him — at 31 years old — to pull off at least one more major deal before his playing days are over. He’s proven time and time again that the key to dealing with the Joneses is to simply compartmentalize: Never respond to their carnival-style side games, which loaded comments and the timidly suggested idea of ​​a developing quarterback as a possible successor, realizing that the longer they delay it, the more likely they are to blink.

I hope this has implications for Micah Parsons, who now stands in the batter’s box as the next player preparing to strike at this financial piñata. I hope he puts on a pair of noise canceling headphones for the next 365 days and becomes without a doubt the highest paid non-quarterback in NFL history at this point next year. But as far as Prescott specifically is concerned, the global implications of this signing outside of Dallas are pretty significant as well.

While Prescott agreeing to an extension wasn’t a surprise, it did take 30 minutes before inactive players had to be turned in during Week 1 to let the ink dry on the contract. Prescott was as close to free agency as we’ve seen a true, in-prime, mostly healthy, off-field-issue-free franchise quarterback in recent memory.

Every team is focused on opening weekend, but I wonder how many general managers and owners grimaced when they saw that Prescott would be unavailable this offseason. A quick look at the NFL and a quick prediction of next season’s quarterback market shows a dire need for capable veteran quarterback players and a relative absence of them hitting the open market anytime soon. Around this time last year, one agent was betting that Prescott could bring in up to $70 million per season if he actually hit free agency (multiple reports say that extension for four years and $240 million(which is still a market reset and sets the stage for a QB to soon surpass the $60 million per season mark).

The way this season is shaping up could prove me wrong, but the New York Giants, New York Jets, Las Vegas Raiders, Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers, Tennessee Titans, Los Angeles Rams, Seattle Seahawks, Carolina Panthers, New Orleans Saints and perhaps others all seem to have a vested interest in Prescott’s future. That underscores not only the dire quarterback situation we find ourselves in, but the ridiculousness of the theatrics that has accompanied so much of this negotiation.

If Dallas hadn’t re-signed Prescott, it would have stood above and beyond the most foolish moves by a semi-competitive franchise in modern NFL history. The Cowboys have still been fortunate to have generational talent at quarterback (they found them without spending a ton of draft capital), and while they’ve failed to build entire teams around those players and create environments conducive to success, they still haven’t let a good thing go without a guarantee.

For this I have to thank Jerry Jones at least.

Now we look ahead with a little sigh to the upcoming QB market next year. Mac Jones, Drew Lock, Jameis Winston, Zach Wilson, Jacoby Brissett, Sam Darnold, Joe Flacco, Taylor Heinicke, the list goes on. A cliff of sorts that will once again force the truly desperate to surround Kirk Cousins’ camp and wonder how many gold bars should be added to another fully guaranteed deal for two years of his mercenary services.

It forces the league deeper into this do-or-die scenario, where teams must either find brilliant coaches who can translate college offenses to developing, unready quarterbacks and make those offenses effective against much better, more advanced defenses. That, or luck into a generational player who is drafted at the top of the draft but still has enough roster strength that that player isn’t ruined by developing bad habits.

Ultimately, this is why Dallas blinked and signed the deal before the season even started. The front office was always going to blink and sign the deal. We can wonder how much their lack of proactivity cost them in the long run, but all that matters now is that the franchise isn’t lining up to put bread on the table for quarterback leftovers in the spring.

Overall, Dallas is excited. A lot of other NFL teams probably see this as a missed opportunity.