Dallas Cowboys on Dak Prescott deal: No talks? ... No schedule? ... No problem!
Despite not having had contract talks with Dak Prescott’s representatives in almost six months, the Dallas Cowboys remain optimistic that they’ll reach a long-term deal with their star quarterback within the next couple of weeks, team vice president Stephen Jones said Monday.
Jones reaffirmed the team’s commitment to Prescott as the No. 1 priority, but also acknowledged that steps would have to be taken to avoid losing both he and receiver Amari Cooper in free agency. The Cowboys, Jones said, would negotiate up until the final day, March 12, in order to avoid placing the franchise tag on Prescott. The first day a player can be tagged is Thursday.
“The way I look at these contracts — the two we are talking about — when things get momentum they can happen in 24 hours,” Jones said Monday from the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis. “It’s just a matter of can you get some traction ... in the right direction. So sometimes time is not a good thing. Having a short fuse is a good thing. No, I am not worried. A month is a long time in a negotiation.”
Jones pointed out that the Cowboys moved quickly in getting defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence and running back Ezekiel Elliott signed last year after months of sitting and waiting.
Jones plans to talk with agents for both players this week at the scouting combine
“Our goal is to get it done with Dak,” Jones said. “I know he wants to be here and we want him to be here long-term. He’s our guy. We’ve got nothing but the highest regards for him and we want to get the deal done.”
Jones acknowledged the Cowboys have had no contact with Prescott’s representatives since September, and no real contract talks with any agents since the end of the season as they are waiting to see if a new collective bargaining agreement is going to be adopted by the NFL and NFLPA.
The two sides are scheduled to talk at the combine Tuesday. If talks result in a player vote, and if that vote is successful, the deal would go into effect for the 2020 season. A new deal would mean more cap flexibility in terms of negotiating deals, but the Cowboys would only be able to tag one player.
Without a deal, the cap room would be tighter in terms of how they could structure contracts, but the Cowboys would be able to put the franchise tag on Prescott and put the transition tag on Cooper to restrict his movement.
“We’re going to have some challenges with our cap,” Jones said. “We are. Certainly, it’s Dak and Amari that are going to shrink it in a hurry. We’re going to have challenges, but they’re not challenges that we can’t overcome. It’s going to be something that we’ve really got to keep our fingers on — certainly if there’s a CBA, if there’s not a CBA. If there’s not a CBA, things get a lot tighter in terms of the rules. We’ll have to deal with that.”
According to overthecap.com, the Cowboys have roughly $78 million cap space for 2020 before the prospective deals for Prescott ($33-38 million) and Cooper ($18-20 million) take hold.
Of course, the Cowboys wouldn’t be in this situation if they had signed Prescott to a contract last September like they had hoped.
The two sides were close to a deal that would have paid Prescott $33 million annually, putting him among the top five highest-paid players at his position, but talks broke down when his agents asked for more money. There have been no negotiations since.
“Ummm, it just kind of stopped,” Jones said. “We kind of left it where it was. I wouldn’t say there was anything acrimonious. They felt they were done where they were. We felt like we were kind of where we were and we never really got going again.
“I just don’t think we’ve had our hands around what the next steps are,” he continued. “Obviously, we didn’t end up getting it done because they were pretty entrenched with their thoughts and we were pretty entrenched with our thoughts.”
Jones refused to second guess how they handled the situation, but he said management’s focus is clear and there have been no thoughts of going in another direction at quarterback.
“Absolutely not. I mean Dak’s our quarterback,” Jones said. “He’s our quarterback for the future and we have nothing but the greatest respect for him. He’s a competitor. He’s won a lot of football games for us ... We all want to take that next step ... and ultimately win a championship. So there’s no thoughts like that.”
