The Dallas Cowboys have been busy making significant moves in the leadup to the regular season, securing key players with contract extensions and reworking existing deals to ensure the long-term success of the team.
The latest developments include extensions for cornerback Trevon Diggs, safety Malik Hooker, and right tackle Terence Steele, as well as a restructured contract for right guard Zack Martin.
However, the Cowboys front office is not done yet, as they express a keen interest in working on deals with quarterback Dak Prescott and star wide receiver CeeDee Lamb.
Prescott and Lamb are currently under contract through the 2024 season, with Prescott set to count a substantial $59.4 million against the salary cap next year. Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones recently spoke about the challenges of managing such hefty contracts.
“Those types of numbers, especially the big ones, you live with constantly. That’s always on your mind. There’s never a time where it goes away because you’ve got to make the entire thing fit. And so, it’s on the mind on a player decision in the middle of the year. It’s just a fundamental.”
In regard to Prescott, Jones made his intentions clear…
“We expect Dak to be with us a long time. And, yeah, we’ll always [be] working around it with several machinations of numbers that would work.”
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones foresees QB Dak Prescott "to be with us a long time," open to extension during season
https://t.co/GHQOuHUJaq pic.twitter.com/5Gyhos716d— Around The NFL (@AroundTheNFL) September 6, 2023
Jones has consistently expressed his desire to secure Prescott’s future with the team, although the process of negotiating an extension could have an impact on the salary cap for the current year.
In 2024, Prescott is slated to earn $29 million in salary and has a $5 million roster bonus.
Additionally, the Cowboys have exercised the fifth-year option on Lamb for the 2024 season, which comes with a price tag of $17.99 million. Nonetheless, negotiations with Lamb’s agent have been ongoing this offseason to potentially make him one of the highest-paid receivers in the NFL.
Traditionally, some players have used Week 1 of the season as a self-imposed deadline to finalize contract extensions. It remains uncertain if either Prescott or Lamb has set such a deadline, but Jones affirmed that the team is open to continuing talks into the season.
Jones also responded to the critisim he received for not letting Head Coach Mike McCarthy or Prescott know that he was trading for quarterback Trey Lance.
“The way we’re structured gets a lot of criticism. Unquestionably, it does,” Jones said on 105.3 The Fan. “But it lets us do a trade like we did the other day on Lance, because I didn’t have to fool around. I can make that trade in five minutes. And the reason I can is I have all the information, had it from when we drafted him, I had information right at my fingertips of what we thought of his play in the last couple of years.”
“I knew what we thought of him. I didn’t have to visit with anybody about what type of player he is. So I was able to make the call.. I don’t have to talk to anybody about that.”
Getting back to Dak – what do you think Jones should do with him?
Is he the long-term answer at quarterback for the Cowboys?
Does he deserve to be one of the highest paid players in the NFL?
More importantly, will the Cowboys ever win a Super Bowl with him at the helm?