Jones would cough up the dough for Barnum and Bailey if they could add to that “wow’’ factor that so many Cowboys now possess. And that list includes Newman, who on Tuesday agreed to a six-year extension worth $50 million that features $22 mil guaranteed.

The deal – which pre-empts what was to be Newman’s final contract year of $1.4 million in base salary – gets in under the wire of a new salary-cap rule that will prevent teams from prorating contract money beyond five seasons. Newman’s deal had to be completed by 3 p.m. to beat that deadline.

Another member of the “Traveling Circus’’ -- running back Marion Barber – also got a new deal before that same deadline. MB3’s re-up is a seven-year deal worth a reported $45 million, with $16 million guaranteed.

Dallas has suddenly gone from thin and questionable at the position of cornerback to deep and talented, assuming a few dominoes fall the Cowboys’ way. That would include Anthony Henry staying healthy, that would include Pacman Jones getting NFL clearance to play, that would include South Florida rookie Michael Jenkins justifying his status as this year’s 25th overall pick, and that would include the continued budding stardom of Newman, who was selected for his first Pro Bowl after last season.

Newman, a five-year pro who was drafted fifth overall in 2003, hasn’t yet exploded into the public consciousness as a player, maybe due to the fact that he doesn’t pile up interception numbers. But as he approaches his 30th birthday, the Cowboys obviously see him as an elite player.

Credit to Jones and his management team here. The Cowboys have done a marvelous job in keeping together this young and contending team, with Newman and Barber representing coups of a sort.

They maybe even deserve some billing on the marquee of that “T.O./Romo/Pacman Traveling Circus.’’

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