Cowboys To Continue Dak Prescott Talks Into Season

The Cowboys are holding out hope for a weekend extension agreement with Dak Prescott. It would be perhaps the biggest step in this franchise’s complex offseason, which has now included deals with DeMarcus Lawrence, Jaylon Smith, La’el Collins and Ezekiel Elliott.

The team would like a Dak deal to be finalized by their Week 1 afternoon kickoff, but Cowboys executive VP Stephen Jones said during an interview with 105.3 The Fan the sides will continue negotiations into the season if no deal can be struck before Dallas’ Sunday opener.

“I’d say the dialogue has been good, and we’re still holding out hope we can figure out how to come up with a deal by the game on Sunday,” Jones said (via Pro Football Talk’s Charean Williams). “We’re open for business. I know sometimes the players don’t care to (negotiate in-season). But we can obviously juggle that and do that. We would be fine with doing that. It’s really up to the player and their representatives to determine what their deadlines are and their timelines.”

Smith, Collins and Elliott followed the Cowboys’ trend of summer extensions. Dallas bastions Tyron Smith, Travis Frederick and Sean Lee signed their deals in July or August. Zack Martin signed his last June. The organization is willing to make an exception for Prescott, who still wants a near-future extension.

Prescott and Amari Cooper represent the holdups in this productive Cowboys negotiation stretch, and the Cooper talks have not progressed. The fifth-year wideout said he would not mind playing out a contract year. Multiple reports pegged Prescott as turning down a $30MM-plus-AAV offer, illustrating the fourth-year passer’s refusal to rush into an agreement. Carson Wentz and Jared Goff‘s agreements will only stand to raise Prescott’s asking price. Not much has come out on a possible Byron Jones extension. But the Cowboys will clearly keep working on Prescott’s deal, even after their Week 1 game against the Giants — if need be.