Although the Cowboys find themselves in the thick of a playoff race, the future of Dallas’ impending free agents has received a great deal of attention over the past several weeks. Here at PFR, we have examined Dez Bryant as an extension candidate, and we have looked at how the respective fates of Bryant and DeMarco Murray appear to be intertwined. Speaking about the club’s unrestricted free agent class as a whole–which includes Bryant, Murray, Doug Free, Rolando McClain, Justin Durant, Nick Hayden, George Selvie and Bruce Carter—Jon Machota of the Dallas Morning News writes that Cowboys chief operating officer Stephen Jones has expressed his hope that at least some of those players will accept less money to be part of a potentially bright future in Dallas. Jones said:

“If we’re digging in, what we’re really trying to do is maybe not give everybody what they should deserve, whether it’s Tony Romo, whether it’s Doug Free, whether it’s Dez Bryant, whether it’s DeMarco Murray, because if we want to have the type of team we want to have, everybody has to compromise. It’s our job to try to get people to understand that it can be better for them to maybe take a little bit less and win, and that can pay off for them in the long haul.”

Although the franchise tag for a wide receiver is higher than that of a running back, if the Cowboys are to slap the tag on either Bryant or Murray, it appears more likely that Bryant will be tagged and Murray will get the long-term deal (if Dallas ultimately retains both players, of course). NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reiterated as much via Twitter this morning, and former agent Joel Corry tweeted that the $11MM tag for Murray would be a windfall for him relative to the running back market.

In response to a reader who asked if the tag was more likely for Bryant than Murray because the team believes it has a better chance of reaching an extension with Murray, Rapoport tweeted that that is not the case. Instead, it simply comes down to the value of the tag for both positions and the fact that the franchise tag enures the Cowboys can hold on to Bryant for at least one more season. Corry, meanwhile, tweets that if Dallas does indeed hit Bryant with the tag, he would like to see Bryant stay away from the team until he gets a prohibition clause and the July 2015 deadline for giving a long-term deal to a franchised player passes (a prohibition clause would disallow the Cowboys from tagging Bryant again after the 2015 season and would therefore greatly increase his negotiating leverage).

Bryant had this to say on the matter:

“At the end of the day, I want to win. But at the same time, I have a family and that’s what is important. I feel like, hey, I put the work in, I got to get myself some kind of credit.”

Murray was not quoted in the Machota piece, but at this point it seems as though a tag for Bryant and a long-term deal for Murray is the most likely scenario. Whether or not either player, or any of the other Cowboys’ free agents, ultimately accepts less money to play for a winning ball club may well depend on if Dallas can avoid another winter swoon and capitalize on the promise of the 2014 season.

As negotiations on a long-term contract continue between the Cowboys and Dez Bryant‘s camp, the team’s two primary decision-makers spoke to reporters, including Jon Machota of the Dallas Morning News, about the situation. Both owner Jerry Jones and chief operating officer Stephen Jones expressed optimism that the Cowboys will eventually work out a long-term extension with their star wide receiver, downplaying recent reports about potential concerns about his maturity.

“What we want to do is have an agreement for the rest of Dez’s career,” Jerry Jones said. “To me, that says a lot about the concern about off-the-field [issues] if we want him on the Dallas Cowboys for the rest of his career. … I’m real impressed with how he’s evolved over the last several years, or we wouldn’t be in serious contract negotiations with him. So I think all of that is where it really is, and I do look for us to get something done with Dez.”

Meanwhile, Stephen Jones indicated that the team has offered Bryant “some really nice contracts.” Of course, it’s fair to assume that the team’s definition of a “really nice” offer may not match up with the wideout’s definition. Based on reports to date, it appears the Cowboys are attempting to lock up Bryant to a contract structured similarly to the extension signed by left tackle Tyron Smith earlier this year.

Smith’s deal is lucrative — if he plays it out, he’ll end up earning more than $100MM. However, it’s also extremely team-friendly, locking Smith up through the 2023 season with plenty of outs for the Cowboys, but none for the player himself. All of Smith’s guaranteed money will be paid by the time the 2015 season ends, meaning Dallas would essentially have club options on him for the next eight years. As Jason Cole of Bleacher Report tweets, Bryant would be better off being franchised for the next two years than accepting an offer like that.

Of course, Bryant has already suggested he’d be “highly disappointed” if the Cowboys used their franchise tag on him. Still, it’s something Dallas will have to strongly consider, especially if the team intends to sign running back DeMarco Murray to a multiyear extension of his own. As Machota outlines in a second Morning News article, Jerry Jones said he feels the team can “absolutely” bring both offensive weapons back, and if that’s the case, it seems unlikely that both players would get long-term deals. However, Stephen Jones pointed out that the club certainly isn’t preparing to use its franchise tag quite yet.

“The furthest thing from our mind is the franchise tag,” Stephen Jones said. “If you ask me about that, I know we have the use of it. It’s business. But our intentions are to sign Dez to a long-term contract.”