This afternoon, the Cowboys took a couple more steps to ensure their future, in signing RB Marion Barber and CB Terence Newman. And if you take a hard look at it, you see a team with a young core that should be in place for a long time.

So I thought we'd take a look at the contract status of all 13 of the club's Pro Bowlers. With Newman and Leonard Davis celebrating their 30th birthdays on back-to-back September days, the Thursday and Friday before the opener, six of Dallas' 13 Pro Bowl players will be 30-somethings to start the season. Here's the opening-day age (in parantheses) of each player, and the year each one of them is locked up through ...

OT Flozell Adams (33) -- 2013
RB Marion Barber (25) -- 2014
OG Leonard Davis (30) -- 2013
OLB Greg Ellis (33) -- 2009
K Nick Folk (23) -- 2010
C Andre Gurode (30) -- 2012
S Ken Hamlin (27) -- unsigned*
CB Terence Newman (30) -- 2014
WR Terrell Owens (34) -- 2008
QB Tony Romo (28) -- 2013
OLB DeMarcus Ware (26) -- 2009
S Roy Williams (28) -- 2010
TE Jason Witten (26) -- 2012
* -- Franchise player

Add it all up and nine of the 13 are signed through the next three years, and seven (Adams, Barber, Davis, Gurode, Newman, Romo, Witten) are inked for the next five seasons. I would expect that Ware will join both those groups well before his rookie deal expires.

And all of that is pretty impressive. It may have taken Jerry and Co. a while to build a championship core again. But give them this: They are serious about keeping one together when they have it.