Cowboys brass Jerry Jones, Stephen Jones mum on extensions for Garrett, Dak
Dallas Cowboys brass refused to provide much substance when it comes to possible extensions for coach Jason Garrett and quarterback Dak Prescott this offseason.
Garrett is in the final year of his deal which pays him $6 million annually, and could enter next season in a lame-duck situation.
“I don’t want to get into discussing that right now,” Stephen Jones said from the Senior Bowl. “That’s a Jerry question.”
Well, Jerry?
“I wouldn’t discuss anything about any contracts that we had,” Jerry Jones said.
The Cowboys could take a wait-and-see approach with Garrett next season. The Cowboys have never had consecutive playoff berths since Garrett took over in the middle of the 2010 season, and have been knocked out in the divisional round each of their three playoff trips in his tenure.
Garrett earned coach of the year honors in 2016, and has been routinely praised by the Jones family. But Garrett now carries the dubious distinction of being the longest-tenured head coach in the NFL without a Super Bowl championship.
As stated, he has yet to lead a team to the NFC Championship game. The Cowboys may feel like there is little incentive to extend Garrett at this time. As the old sports cliche goes, contract years tend to bring out the best.
The Jones family refused to speculate on a possible extension for quarterback Dak Prescott this offseason, too. This is the first offseason in which the Cowboys can offer Prescott a long-term deal.
But they could also wait for Prescott to get another year under his belt considering the sizable contracts of QBs these days. Organizations have to get it right when it comes to QBs, or it could be crippling for years.
“I’m just not going to get into those types of conversations because they’re a part of our strategies, our negotiations,” Jerry Jones said. “They impact us with free agents. When the cap first started it was new ground and you could articulate a little more about your strategies. But nowadays everybody comes back and figures it out.”
Added Stephen Jones: “I don’t really want to get into the details. I think the market is what the market is [for quarterbacks]. We’ve all seen it. So you know there’s not really a lot to get a feel for in terms of knowing what it is. I think the contracts are out there for everybody to see. We just have to go to work on it. Like I said, I don’t think it does anybody any good to comment on the details.”
Stephen Jones joked, though, that it’s certainly good to be a quarterback in the league that is willing to pay the top guys $100-million plus. Seven quarterbacks (Atlanta’s Matt Ryan, San Francisco’s Jimmy Garoppolo, Detroit’s Matthew Stafford, Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers, Oakland’s Derek Carr, Indianapolis’ Andrew Luck and Carolina’s Cam Newton) have contracts worth $100-plus million with at least $40 million of it guaranteed.
“It’s always good to be a quarterback,” Stephen Jones said. “Especially one that wins, is a winner.”
Prescott has done that in his young career. Prescott has a 32-16 career record, leading the Cowboys to two playoff berths in three years. But the question is where he’ll ultimately fit among the top-paid QBs in the league.
That number may be easier to pin down once he has another season under his belt.
Plus, the Cowboys have other contracts to deal with this offseason.
Defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence is looking for a long-term deal instead of another franchise tag; wide receiver Amari Cooper could be a candidate to get his rookie deal re-worked; and cornerback Byron Jones and wide receiver Cole Beasley are among the notable players set to hit the free agent market.
But Garrett and Prescott rank as two of the most important parts of an organization. How it all fits together going forward is something that the Jones’ look at daily.
“It’s a part of the overall business of the Cowboys, and I look at that often. I do,” Jerry Jones said. “So, there’s no starting to look at anything. I’m keenly aware of where they are and where they can be, relative to how we’re going to allocate the dollars. I doodle on it every day, I do. I doodle on everything — noodle and doodle on it. I’d look like a madman if you ever got my noodling. But I think about it often.
“That’s where the substantive work comes in, just in how you’re going to go and it being madness if you didn’t take into consideration where you may end up relative to your allocation of where you’re going to spend your money — which is what it’s about. You’ve got to have a feel for where you’re going to be so you can plan. You don’t necessarily get them in sequence, and so you’re signing other people that are on down the line and you’re allocating money for them. Theoretically, you’ve got to have saved enough to do what you need to do with some of that.”
This story was originally published January 23, 2019 at 10:02 AM.