Dak Prescott has not complained as other young NFL quarterbacks (and a certain Cowboys offensive teammate) have received lucrative contract extensions while he waits for his. He instead let his stellar play in Sunday's 2019 season-opener do all the talking for him.
If there was any reason for Dallas not to match the level of guarantees and total value fellow 2016 draft picks Carson Wentz and Jared Goff got in their recent contracts, it should have gone away when Prescott picked apart the Giants with an elite passing performance (25-of-32, 405 yards, 4 TDs, perfect 158.3 rating).
After the game, Cowboys owner/general manger Jerry Jones told reporters a new Prescott deal is "imminent." Let's hope so given Prescott's continued eminence.
MORE: How Cowboys can manage salary cap with Prescott's extension
All the pre-game talk about the Cowboys' game plan centered around how much work running back Ezekiel Elliott would get fresh off his holdout. The answer was 14 touches, one more than rookie backup Tony Pollard.
That wasn't all because Zeke was rusty. It was a result of the Cowboys knowing the Giants would be geared up to stop Elliott and trusting Prescott to let it rip in the Cowboys' new, more explosive offense under coordinator Kellen Moore.
For Prescott, it was the perfect storm of being prepared and pumped to have a monster game. It's almost as if the Cowboys obliged with his on-field negotiations by calling on him to throw downfield early and often. Prescott continued to be locked into go-to wide receiver Amari Cooper, and he also delivered on deep-ball opportunities to Michael Gallup. He wasted no time welcoming back tight end Jason Witten in the offense, and he made Randall Cobb feel immediately comfortable as his new slot target.
In all, the Cowboys had complete control over everything they wanted to do on every level of their passing game, giving Prescott the luxury of not needing to do anything on the ground himself.
WATCH: Full game highlights from Cowboys vs. Giants in Week 1
Prescott has been in (and played well in) a lot of bigger games in his career, and he has made it work with whoever he has had around him. He has battled through a significant stretch without Elliott and an even longer one without legitimate, reliable wide receivers.
Now that the weapons have solidified around Prescott, he is the one charged with pushing Dallas' offense to completely new level.
Wentz has already helped an NFC team win a Super Bowl, and Goff just led his to one, too. But the play-calling and personnel structures of the Eagles and Rams were superior to those of the Cowboys over the previous two seasons. We are finally seeing what Prescott can do with his team having similarly filled all the holes.
With his production, durability and leadership skills over three winning seasons, Prescott proved his worth to the Cowboys long before he stepped onto the field to dismantle the defense of a bad team in Week 1. With a league MVP-caliber start to the season, he added further confirmation that he deserves every bit of the long-term investment.
