The Dallas Cowboys haven't reached the NFC Championship Game since their last Super Bowl victory in 1995. It's been a grueling 28-year wait for fans. Perhaps the lowest point of the ongoing drought was realized in January when the Cowboys were trounced at home by the 9-8 Packers who were among the youngest teams in the NFL.
A playoff win against Green Bay is the only way to remove the taste of that loss. At the very least, though, Dallas could have beat their NFC rival to the punch by extending Dak Prescott before they paid rising star Jordan Love. If nothing else, it would signal that the Cowboys mean business.
Who are we kidding? Of these two teams, only one should be taken serious. While that was learned in January, it was proven yet again after Jordan Love agreed to a mammoth four-year extension worth $220 million.
The deal makes Love the highest-paid quarterback in NFL history. Love's $75 million signing bonus is also a league record.
Packers' Jordan Love extension is more humiliating for Cowboys after playoff loss
This is how a serous franchise operates. Love informed the Packers of his intention to skip training camp practices until he signed a new deal. The gesture lit a fire under general manager Brian Gutekunst, who moved quickly to end his quarterback's hold-in.
The Cowboys are lucky that Prescott hasn't threatened a holdout in his career. He certainly would have been justified given that Dallas repeatedly low-balled him in his previous contract negotiation. It took nearly two summers for Prescott and the Cowboys to agree to terms.
Nevertheless, this is a humiliating look for Jerry Jones. In the span of six months, the Packers have given Dallas a tutorial on how to perform when the lights are brightest both on and off the field.
While Love enjoyed an excellent regular season in his first year as the Packers' starting QB, it was likely his playoff performance against the Cowboys that convinced Gutekunst to give him a mega contract.
Love was an efficient 16-of-21 for 272 yards and three touchdowns to zero interceptions. Those numbers would look a lot worse from a Cowboys perspective if the game wasn't a blowout by halftime.
Another embarrassing look for Dallas is the fact the Packers extended Love before the final year of his rookie contract despite him having just one season as a starter. Meanwhile, Prescott was 40-24 with 97 touchdowns to just 36 INTs in four seasons and didn't get a second deal until after his fifth season in 2021 after he received the exclusive franchise tag in 2020.
It's almost poetic that Loves contract will further raise Prescott's price tag, which was already expected to hover around $60 million per year. No matter how many layers are peeled, each one reveals another layer of humiliation.
