Stephen Jones is optimistic.
The Dallas Cowboys’ COO has a lot of high-priced mouths to feed as the offseason progresses into training camp opening in the coming weeks and the preseason kicking off next month.
After watching Kirk Cousins and Trevor Lawrence obliterate the quarterback market and Justin Jefferson elevate the price of wide receivers into the realm of franchise quarterback-caliber money, the market hasn’t gotten any more favorable for the Cowboys’ stable of superstars who are up for new deals.
Whether it’s changing course and avoiding Dak Prescott entering the 2024 season as a lame-duck quarterback, placating star receiver CeeDee Lamb or locking All-Pro Micah Parsons into a long-term contract, the Cowboys have a high-priced to-do list.
During a recent appearance on The Athletic’s Scoop City Podcast, Stephen Jones struck an optimistic tone that the Cowboys could get new deals done for some of the team’s biggest stars and most important players.
“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.”
Can the Cowboys get Dak Prescott, Micah Parsons, CeeDee Lamb Deals Done?
It is rather fascinating that the Cowboys largely sat out the top of the free agent market and appear to have made little progress this offseason on new deals for Prescott, Lamb, Parsons, or Diggs.
However, that doesn’t mean that progress can’t be made and deals can’t get done in the coming months. It just is a high-risk game the Cowboys are playing, especially if the franchise allows Prescott to play out the final year of his deal and he winds up leading Dallas on a deep postseason run or to a Super Bowl appearance, which would exponentially drive up his asking price as the most sought after free agent quarterback next spring.
The Cowboys are currently $20 million over the cap for this upcoming season but with upwards of $67 million in cap space in 2025, Jones and Dallas have reason to be optimistic they can keep much of the young core intact. Jones and the Cowboys just need to be prepared to pay an even higher premium for each, the more time passes without accords being struck.
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