The Dallas Cowboys are making headway in their contract negotiations with quarterback Dak Prescott and wide receiver Amari Cooper.
According to ESPN's Todd Archer, Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said the contract talks with the two players are “off and running.” Both Prescott and Cooper are in the final year of their respective contracts with Dallas.
The Cowboys’ goal is to get players like Dak, Amari and Zeke re-signed with deals that don’t max out the team’s salary cap.
Stephen Jones: “If we can talk them into not maxing out, doing well, but not maxed, that allows us to have other good football players around them.”
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) May 8, 2019
Prescott will make roughly $2 million this season. On the other hand, Cooper will earn $13.9 million on his fifth-year option, per Archer.
Jones told Archer he's also mulling over an extension for Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott. The team picked up the 2020 option on his contract (valued at $9.09 million) two weeks ago.
Jones could convince all three players not to max out their contracts so Dallas can improve its supporting cast, per ESPN.
That's not their job. It's not their job to manage the cap; I understand that.
But it is my job and [owner Jerry Jones'] job, so they will understand why we're negotiating hard to make the very best deal we can.
Because the money, if we can talk them into not maxing out — doing well, not maxed — then that allows us to have other good football players around them.
Cowboys closer to deal with Dak Prescott than Amari Cooper; could make the QB highest-paid in Dallas history with contract that would “approach $30 million annually,” per @clarencehilljr pic.twitter.com/CBkq9NSurt
— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) May 7, 2019
Jones hopes the Cowboys can follow the examples of past players who made the transition to television careers. Troy Aikman, Tony Romo, Michael Irvin, Deion Sanders, Daryl Johnston, and Darren Woodson were on winning teams with the Cowboys. Now, they're making an impact off the field.
The Dallas executive vice president envisions Prescott and Cooper being in the same position.
“When they give up a little in their contract, they should be able to invest in being a Cowboy and making our teams better,” he told Archer on Wednesday.
It should be interesting to see how the contract talks involving Prescott and Cooper unfold in the next few weeks.
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