Stephen Jones On Cowboys’ Extension Efforts

With training camps beginning to open around the NFL, numerous extension agreements are likely to be finalized in the near future. For the Cowboys, negotiations on several fronts are ongoing.

COO Stephen Jones made an appearance on The Athletic’s Scoop City podcast to discuss where things currently stand with respect to contract talks for quarterback Dak Prescott, wideout CeeDee Lamb and edge rusher Micah Parsons. Prescott and Lamb are entering the final year of their respective deals, and keeping both in the fold while leaving enough cap resources to extend Parsons will prove to be a challenge. It is one the Cowboys are optimistic can be met, though.

“Well those things take time,” Jones said. “And we’re talking about deals here. You know when you’re talking about CeeDee and Dak and you know somebody like a Micah coming up. I mean you’re talking about two players that aren’t quarterbacks that feel like they ought to be a little bit like [Justin] Jefferson, the top-paid non-quarterbacks in the league.

“And, of course, we’ve got a big one in Dak. And we got [Trevon] Diggs right there. And then you got Zack Martin and [DeMarcus Lawrence]. And so we got a lot of guys making you know quite a bit of money. And you know that’s no excuses. We think we can get this done, know we can get it done. But it just takes time.”

Prescott’s deal is positioned to check in at the highest AAV figure, but both Lamb and Parsons have been connected to an asking price which would allow them to top their respective markets. Dallas is not looking to go to those lengths, though in any event much will depend on the particulars of Prescott’s extension. When addressing the latter point, Jones confirmed he and owner Jerry Jones have been in communication with Prescott himself as well as agent Todd France.

A Prescott accord will likely be finalized before one for Lamb – something which could lead to a training camp holdout if the franchise record-setting wideout does not have a deal in hand in the near future. Week 1 represents a more firm deadline, of course, but the start of camp will be an interesting checkpoint to watch for as Dallas continues to negotiate multiple big-ticket extensions. If the Prescott talks gain traction during the coming days, at least one item off the team’s checklist could be taken care of.