The Dallas Cowboys are turning their attention to locking down Dak Prescott and Amari Cooper.
Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said on 105.3 The Fan on Tuesday that there have been positive talks on contract extensions with the quarterback and receiver.
"Yeah, we're always open to looking at things," Jones said, via Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk. "Certainly if there are opportunities there that make sense, then we'll progress. I think pretty much everybody's on it pretty good that there's some pretty active discussions now with Dak and Amari, but it doesn't mean that some can't pick up in short order with other players that we have on our roster that we certainly want to keep here in Dallas and have them remain Cowboys in the future."
As the Cowboys learned from the DeMarcus Lawrence deal, waiting might only make things more expensive for Dallas. Both Cooper and Prescott enter the final year of their rookie contracts, with the first-round receiver slated to make $13.924 million and the fourth-round quarterback due $2.025 million.
Prescott likely won't leapfrog Russell Wilson's new record-setting contract, but it will inform discussions between the QB's agent and the Cowboys. Wilson brought his team a Super Bowl within his first three seasons. Prescott has helped generate just one playoff win thus far. Other than that large outlier, the QBs' production is fairly similar through the first three years of their respective careers.
Jones reiterated his stance that the Cowboys want Dak to take a team-friendly deal.
"You're talking about two guys there who, between Aaron] Rodgers and [Russell Wilson, have won Super Bowls that have had success year in and year out taking their teams to the playoffs," Jones said. "Russell, both of them have been to a couple of Super Bowls, or at least I know Russell has been. So, yeah, those are guys who are going to make those type of jumps. But I'm not concerned.
"I think at the end of the day if there's any position that has to keep an eye out, not only for themselves, but they have to keep an eye out on their team in terms of how much cap space they take up, these quarterbacks are those guys because, at the end of the day, they're going to make a lot of money. The bigger for them in terms of their career and what they're all about is how much did they win, how many Super Bowl rings do they have on their fingers, those are all huge deals. And they know if at some point they take up too much cap space at the end of the day, then it can hurt their chances in terms of winning."
The question is how much do the Cowboys believe is too much for Prescott. Could the QB earn a $25-million-plus salary increase in a new deal?
Like all signal-callers, Prescott is worth a bundle more than he's making. If the Cowboys feel he's a franchise quarterback, they'll pay him accordingly. If they continue to posture like Jones, these negotiations portend a lengthy battle.
