There's little question that the dynamic Archer pointed out earlier here -- with clubs needing to strike deals today to prorate bonus money over six years -- had a lot to do with the timing of a very, very big afternoon for the Cowboys.

Talks between Barber's people and the club heated up over the last 48 hours, with a real urgency coming with news that owners planned to opt out of the CBA breaking.

There were four running backs' contracts that served as harbingers for this one, those of LaDainian Tomlinson, Larry Johnson, Michael Turner and Edgerrin James. In the end, Barber was looking to get a deal A) exceding what Turner got and B) that would put him among the Top 5 backs in the NFL. He got both of his wishes.

The total bonus money he got actually exceded what Johnson reaped, and Barber avoided a lot of phony money on the back end of the contract, which can be a killer for a running. Also, the $21 million he received over the first three years of the deal was about $2 million more than what Turner got in the first three years of his deal in Atlanta.

In the end, Barber's deal is closer to Johnson's, though it falls behind LJ's in average annual value (AAV), than it is to Turner's. The deal signed by Turner, at its height, will have an AAV of $5.75 million. Barber's contract has an AAV of $6.5 million. Johnson's deal has an AAV of $7.2 million.