Cowboys’ Stephen Jones suggests Seahawks price may be too high for Earl Thomas

How strongly do the Dallas Cowboys still feel about acquiring safety Earl Thomas? It’s hard to tell.

But from the sound of vice president Stephen Jones, the arrow seems to be pointing down. Not down on Thomas’ talent, but what it would take to get him. .Jones discussed the idea on KRLD/105.3 FM “The Fan” Friday afternoon. The question was posed to how does the team weigh making a move, perhaps expending a future top draft pick for an impact player such as Thomas, who ended his holdout and reported to the Seattle Seahawks on Wednesday. Thomas, 29, has earned All-Pro honors in six of his eight seasons.

“I think you start with the parameter of can a player … make a big difference in making you really good versus great,” Jones said. “Certainly the answer to that is yes. Then you start to pencil what you would start to do to do that.”

Jones said to make a move a big move, it might require the club to give up more than it wants to.

“You have to feel really good about your football team, in general, that you’re a playoff contender/title contender. You’ve got to feel like that, too, because certainly you know how much we believe in building through the draft.”

Jones believes the Cowboys’ past 10 draft classes have helped build a strong nucleus of talent that has the team pointing in the right direction.

“So, you go in under the precedent that we draft well, you really are giving up a player that could be with you for five to 10 years at good numbers, especially the first five years,” he said. So, it’s a big hit to take to go after a player that you feel like should make a difference in terms of where you end up at. And I think you have to feel strongly that that player will do that.”

So do they believe that about Thomas?