With Lawrence at impasse, have Cowboys started talks with Dak Prescott, Amari Cooper?
The Dallas Cowboys are admittedly at an impasse in contract negotiations with free agent defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence.
The two sides remain far apart in what Lawrence is demanding and the Cowboys are offering on a long-term contract extension.
The Cowboys initially offered a deal for roughly $17 annually before coming up to $20 million. Lawrence, insulted by the initial low-ball offer, is looking for something close to the position-leading $23.5 million annually that defensive end Khalil Mack is getting from the Chicago Bears.
The Athletic reported Lawrence wants a deal worth $22.5 million. A source simply said Lawrence wants “Khalil Mack money.”
So the wait continues.
Considering that Lawrence is on the cap for the $20.5 million franchise tag tender, does the impasse prevent the Cowboys from moving forward on deals for quarterback Dak Prescott or receiver Amari Cooper?
Neither deal will come cheap. Prescott could get upwards of $30 million annually and the market for Cooper is at least $16 million.
The team has less than $10 million in cap room following recent deals for receiver Randall Cobb, safety George Iloka and defensive end Robert Quinn.
“No”, said vice president Stephen Jones when asked if the Cowboys needed to get Lawrence done first to lower his cap figure.
“Each negotiation is in its own place,” Jones said this week at the NFL owners meeting. “If we could get Dak done today, we would. If we could get Amari Cooper done today, we would. I wouldn’t necessarily say one has to come before the other. We’ll just see how each of those negotiations proceed.”
And therein lies the problem.
Per a source, the Cowboys haven’t even started negotiations with Prescott or Cooper. With both under contracts and with their respective agents dealing with other clients in free agency, there was no rush to get to the bargaining table.
The source said the deals for Prescott and Cooper may not come until after the upcoming 2019 NFL Draft and possibly as late at OTAs in May.
This story was originally published March 29, 2019 at 7:00 AM with the headline "With Lawrence at impasse, have Cowboys started talks with Dak Prescott, Amari Cooper?."
