Money on the field = money in the bank.

Well, Tony Romo’s got his money. His shiny, brand new contract extension was made official today, and it’s a six-year, $67 million deal, with at least $30 million in guarantees.

There wasn’t any real doubt that it would happen sooner or later, but it’s happened sooner, and the timing certainly couldn‘t be better.

Romo has gotten off to a great start in his first full season as a starter, and minus a hiccup against the Bills, has been excellent, throwing for 1,984 yards and 16 touchdowns (both third in the NFL), and posting a 95.6 passer rating (fifth).

He’s on pace to set team records in yards and touchdowns - if he keeps up his current pace, he’ll break Danny White’s team record of 3,980 yards and 29 touchdowns with a couple of games to spare, and finish with over 4,500 yards and 35+ touchdowns, which will net him two Pro Bowls in two seasons as a starter, which is an honor many of the game‘s best can‘t claim.

But, not only are his numbers great, but he’s becoming the team leader that he needs to be to guide the team to a championship. Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman weren’t known for eye-popping numbers, but more for their abilities to bring the best out of the guys around them and for simply being winning quarterbacks. Romo has both the physical abilities and the intangibles to make him an elite QB.

That was evident in the game against Buffalo, when he had the worst game that he’ll likely ever have in his career, but in the end, rallied the team and made the throws he needed to in crunch time to help the Cowboys win.

Many will question the deal, considering he’s made only 17 career starts and hasn’t done anything overly noteworthy, at least in their eyes.

But, he’s 12-5 as a starter, and has been a big part of Dallas’ transformation from a boring, little more than .500 (at best) team for most of the past several years, back into one of the top teams in the NFL. Dallas’ offense was ranked no better than 8th in points and 9th in yards in any season from 1996 to 2005, but finished 4th and 6th in those categories last season and are ranked second in both thus far this season.

Romo patiently waited while Bill Parcells developed him and stuck with Drew Bledsoe until the wheels fell off, and when he finally got his chance, he‘s fully taken advantage of it.

Many of the skeptics will point to his bad spell at the end of last season, and to his game against Buffalo, but even the best have down spells, may it be Peyton Manning (100 interceptions in his first five seasons, 42 in the last four-plus since), Brett Favre (everyone loves him again, but couldn’t wait to get rid of him just last year), John Elway (Tommy Maddox, come on!), Dan Marino, or even Tom Brady. But, those guys are all considered to be among the elite QBs in the history of the league. Even Dallas’ most well-known signal-callers, Staubach and Aikman, had plenty of bumps in their journeys to the Hall of Fame.

And, Marc Bulger got a comparable deal in the offseason, and it’s not as if he’s led the Rams to glory in his five-plus seasons as a starter (two playoff appearances, one win, barely over .500 as a starter). Romo is already surpassing Bulger (it helps to have a much better team around him), so if he had gotten any less, it would have been a travesty.

Hate him all you like, but if Romo continues to develop as he has, he’ll earn his money and then some, and in another decade, we’ll be talking about him as the standard for the next Cowboys QB to set.

He knows that the owner has faith in him, and that the team is in his hands for the long haul, and that means he can put the money talk behind him and get on with having an excellent season.

It’s a deal that not only helps Dallas in terms of what they can and will be able to do with signing and re-signing, because they avoid having to worry about waiting until after the season (when a) his value could be astronomical, or franchising him would have been the only, and most financially debilitating option), but it also sets the foundation for the future. Dallas has their franchise QB, after their Rolodex of starters after Aikman.

Now Jerry Jones can focus on taking care of the other important assets, and getting the rest of the necessary building blocks. Instead of having to worry about going after a QB in next year’s draft, Dallas can address their real needs.

And, they can now sew up one of their running backs as well, so, Mr. Barber, come on down!