Dallas Cowboys made solid offers to Prescott, Cooper and Elliott, Stephen Jones says
With running back Ezekiel Elliott in an official contract holdout, there is no question the Dallas Cowboys are in talks with his agents about a new deal in hopes of getting him in training camp.
But Elliott is only a third of the trio of contract situations the team hopes to work out before the start of the season, including quarterback Dak Prescott and receiver Amari Cooper.
Vice president Stephen Jones said the updated version of “the triplets” all have solid offers in front of them right now, though they all remain far apart in negotiations.
He does have scheduled talks with all three to continue the dialogue.
“We’re communicating,” Stephen Jones said. “I mean, it’s not like you’re just sitting there with no communications. We’ve had communication and a lot of it. You just keep working.”
If truth be told, the Cowboys had hoped to get Prescott and Cooper — who are both in the final year of their deals, compared to Elliott, who has two years left — done before training camp.
Jones acknowledges that you would prefer to get the quarterback done first because the number is usually the biggest, letting you know what you have to work with for the other deals.
But at this point, they plan to approach all three simultaneously with the goal of getting everything completed before the start of the season.
So what has been the holdup on getting things done?
“You have to have two people to make a deal,” Stephen Jones said. “You can’t push one side forward. Some people want to see some of these contracts play out. That is just part of it. They want to see what happens to the overall receiver market. They want to see what happens to the quarterback market. Some representatives want to move faster than others. Some want to wait to be sure before they pull the trigger how they are going to advise their client. And at some point you have players who are ready to move forward, and they have enough information. And they feel good about it, and we feel good about it. And you get it done.
“It just happens, most players and most people want all this to be done before the season starts,” he continued. “That is a natural deadline. That is why you are seeing some deals get done right now and why you will see more deals get done in the coming weeks. It is just natural inertia that goes on in terms of urgency to get these things done.”
Regarding Prescott, the Cowboys have seen the quarterback market rise since the end of the last season with new deals for Seattle’s Russell Wilson, Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers, Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger and Philadelphia’s Carson Wentz.
It’s the Wentz deal (four years, $128 million) that could have the most impact on Prescott’s asking price of likely between $30 million and $32 million annually in new money. Both were drafted in 2016 with Wentz going second overall and Prescott going in the fourth round.
“I think all these things impact each other,” Stephen Jones said about Wentz’ contract. “There’s no question. They were drafted in the same class, same age. They have had success, both of them. Certainly when deals get done at those levels, then they affect one another. So, it’s just part of our business.”
“You’d love to get a deal done that he’s happy with, that the team can work with to surround him with great players on offense, and to have a great defense and special teams. If we can get all of that done, then we have done well. Who’s to say exactly what that number is today or the length or what plays into that? But that would be the goal.”
Regarding Cooper, it appears his agents are waiting for new deals for Saints receiver Michael Thomas and Falcons receiver Julio Jones to increase the market.
Thomas is also holding out, hoping to become the highest-paid player at the position with $20 million annually.
How much would that impact Cooper, who stands to make at least $16 million annually on a new deal right now?
“You have to ask Amari and his representatives if that’s important to them,” Stephen Jones said. “I think obviously some guys do want to see the full market play out before they make a decision. Could that be one of the reasons that not necessarily a lot of urgency to get the deal done yet? It very well could be. For me, no. We could do the deal tomorrow, and we feel comfortable doing something. You have to ask Amari and his agents how much that’s playing into their timing.”
Jones added that he has doubts they will get something done with Cooper.
Like with the others, it’s just a matter of when.
This story was originally published July 26, 2019 at 8:10 PM.
