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NFL Week 1: Dallas chooses mediocrity; Cops remain too aggressive; Deshaun Watson is toast. Karma.

More of Dak Prescott and Jerry Jones could not be better for the Eagles. Is the Browns’ deal for Watson the worst trade in NFL history? And Tom Brady, the analyst, is overpaid.

Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott finally got his extension, agreeing to a $240 million deal right before the season opener on Sunday.
Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott finally got his extension, agreeing to a $240 million deal right before the season opener on Sunday.Read moreDavid Richard / AP

Dak Prescott on Sunday agreed to a $240 million contract extension through 2028. This means the same type of dynamic duo that has kept Dallas out of the Super Bowl for nearly three decades — a second-tier quarterback and an inept general manager — will remain together for the next few years.

The news could not be better for the Eagles, who have gone to the Super Bowl three times and won it once since owner/GM Jerry Jones’ arrogance cost him Jimmy Johnson, the only competent coach he has employed in his 36 years in Big D (and yes, that includes Bill Parcells). The Cowboys won the year after Johnson left, thanks largely to his system and culture, but, despite lots of regular-season success, they have just five postseason wins since the 1996 playoffs.

“There’s a lot of me that thinks that Dak is our quarterback for the rest of my time,” said the 81-year-old Jones, who wasn’t specific as to whether he meant his time as the Cowboys’ boss or something more, er, permanent.

Here we go again

At one point, the craziest story of a crazy sports year involved Scottie Scheffler, the planet’s best golfer, being handcuffed and jailed by overly aggressive members of the Louisville Metro Police Department in May after a traffic incident just outside the gates of the PGA Championship in the predawn hours before the second round. He shot 5-under on his way to finishing eighth.

Yeah, that was the craziest ... until Sunday.

On Sunday in Miami, Dolphins receiver Tyreek Hill, the team’s most identifiable player, was pulled over just outside the gates of Hard Rock Stadium, his home field, dragged from his car, handcuffed, forced to lie on the street, then forced to sit on the curb. Three of Hill’s teammates, including Calais Campbell, stopped to help defuse the situation, but Campbell, too, was handcuffed. Both eventually were released on the scene. Hill caught seven passes for 130 yards, including a career-best 80-yard catch, on which he scored a touchdown. The Dolphins beat the Jaguars, 20-17.

Scheffler was charged with assaulting an officer, a felony, and three misdemeanors. The charges were dropped. He declined to pursue litigation against Louisville Police.

Hill received citations for speeding and for not wearing a seatbelt. The Miami-Dade Police Department said in a statement Sunday that it immediately put one of three officers involved on administrative duty and was investigating the incident. Hill’s representatives have already threatened litigation. After the game, Hill was still shaken.

“I don’t want to bring race into it, but sometimes it gets kind of iffy when you do,” said Hill, who, like Campbell, is Black. “What if I wasn’t Tyreek Hill? Lord knows what those guys would have done.”

Who knows, indeed? For what it’s worth, Scheffler is white.

After damning bodycam footage surfaced Monday, the Dolphins on Monday night issued a statement suitably salted with corporate outrage — a statement rendered moot, frankly, by the staunch support of owner Stephen Ross of felonious presidential candidate Donald Trump, who in May vowed to give cops like this “immunity from prosecution.”

One thing is for certain: Whether race plays into these ongoing aggressive traffic stops (many studies, like one published last year by the University of Michigan, suggest it does), if you still don’t think police need better training and general reform, then you’re just not paying attention.

Not elementary, Watson

In 2021, the Browns traded to the Texans first-round picks in 2022, 2023, and 2024, as well as three later-round picks, for quarterback Deshaun Watson, whom they then signed to a five-year, $230 million contract extension, all guaranteed, which runs through the 2026 season. The move was met with outrage from most decent folks, because Watson immediately served an 11-game suspension in 2022 for alleged sexual misconduct with at least 24 women while with the Texans. He then got hurt in 2023. He finally played his 13th game as a Brown on Sunday.

In it, he went 0-for-10 on passes longer than 15 yards, averaged a career-worst 3.8 yards per attempt, perhaps the best metric for QB efficiency, threw a 6-yard TD pass and two interceptions, and lost, 33-17, to the Cowboys, at home. Watson’s passer rating with Cleveland is 78.1, third-worst worst of any quarterback since 2022 with as many as his 13 starts. And he’s getting worse.

Money included, is this the worst trade in league history? Worse than what the Vikings gave Dallas for Herschel Walker in 1989 (mainly, three firsts and three seconds)? Worse than what the Broncos gave the Seahawks for Russell Wilson in 2022 (two firsts, two seconds, plus players)? Worse than what the Packers gave the Rams in 1974 for John Hadl (Who? Exactly. He cost two firsts, two seconds, and a third).

Is this worse? Let’s hope so.

The Browns might be able to void the contract since a new lawsuit has been filed, but they’d rather Watson just play well.

Consider it karma. Those 24 women (plus one) probably do.

» READ MORE: Hayes: Kellen Moore’s main job: Keep Jalen Hurts from further devolving into Carson Wentz

MVP

Bills quarterback Josh Allen on Sunday began a campaign to win the MVP award that he probably should have won last season, throwing two touchdown passes and scoring twice on the ground in the a 34-28 win over the Cardinals.

Sean McGenius without Superman?

For the past three seasons, the NFL’s biggest storyline concerned how genius coach Bill Belichick and the Patriots would fare after they let the greatest Patriot, Tom Brady, walk. Poorly, as it turned out: Belichick was fired after last season and has spent 2024 as a sidekick for Pat McAfee and Peyton Manning.

This season, one of the biggest storylines should concern how genius coach Sean McVay fares now that defensive tackle Aaron Donald has retired. He’s 0-1.

G.O.A.T.? N.O.T.

Brady made his debut Sunday as a $375 million analyst. He appears to have been overpaid by $374 million.

He was not good. At all.

However, NBC college football analyst Todd Blackledge remains incisive, nonintrusive, and generally sublime. He and Noah Eagle did the Eagles’ opener from Brazil on Peacock.

Extra points

Maybe Progressive Insurance should dust off some of those corny “At Home” commercials they produced with Baker Mayfield when Mayfield was becoming a bust in Cleveland. Now with the Bucs, he finally looks like he’s for real. Not great news for Browns fans, as they endure Watson, or the Eagles, who travel to Tampa in three weeks — the week after they face Derek Carr on the road. His Saints hung 47 on the Panthers in their opener. ... Howie Roseman’s offseason gets better and better. Edge rusher Bryce Huff didn’t have an auspicious debut, but it was more auspicious than Haason Reddick’s debut with the Jets, which hasn’t happened yet, because Reddick is still out (and facing more than $5.8 million in fines). Roseman knew he was avoiding disaster when he traded Reddick to the Jets for two old pairs of cleats and a jockstrap. ... The new, convoluted kickoff format, now that we’ve seen it in live action, is bonkers. ... The Aaron Rodgers Era with the Jets took an extra year, and wasn’t worth the wait: 13-for-21, 167 yards, a TD and a pick in a Monday Night Football loss at the 49ers. … NFL overtime rules remain stupid. The Lions scored the winning touchdown against the Rams on the only offensive possession either team had. Both teams have to touch the ball in OT, no matter what. This isn’t hard.