Stephen Jones On Ezekiel Elliott Contract Negotiations: 'We've Been Very Generous With Our Offer'

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OXNARD (105.3 The Fan) - Dallas Cowboys COO Stephen Jones joined the GBAG Nation on Tuesday at training camp in Oxnard. 

Jones talked about several things, including the team's current negotiations with running back Ezekiel Elliott. 

Earlier this morning, Josina Anderson of ESPN reported that Elliott won't show up until he gets a new contract, and 105.3 The Fan's Mike Fisher reported that the Cowboys have made offers to Elliott, Amari Cooper and Dak Prescott that would see them become one of the five highest-paid players at their position.  

Here's the exchange:

What do you make of ESPN's newest report?

"(That's) news to us and it certainly doesn't change anything," Jones said. 

And what about the report that they could leave Oxnard without getting any deals done with Elliott, Dak Prescott, or Amari Cooper?

 "Oh, I think you can easily get out of Oxnard (without getting deals done). Be back in Dallas before anything gets done. As a matter of fact, I don't see any momentum that would lead me to believe we're going to get anything done while we're out here (in Oxnard)."

Do you guys think Elliott will really miss games?

"I don't know. You'd have to ask Zeke and his representation. Our goal is to get deals done. Our problem is we have a distribution dilemma. It's our job to manage the cap and we're trying to divide the pie. The money's going out the door it just depends on who gets what."

Would you take back your comments when you said you'd like to start with Todd Gurley's contract and go from there on Elliott's deal?

"No, I still think that's within the realm. At the same time, I think the market re-set with Le'Veon (Bell's contract). I think you see what happens with Gurley and you get a great player like Le'Veon, who's every bit as well thought of as Gurley and he had unfettered free agency. He had 32 teams with no draft picks attached, and the market was $13.5 million ... less than Gurley's ($14.375 million average). At the end of the day, business changes, and we pay attention to that." 

At the end of the day, the difference between Gurley and Bell's contract isn't huge. Would you really go into next season without Elliott over a few million dollars? 

"I don't want to get into what we've offered but we've been very generous with our offer."

Watch the full interview in the video at the top of the post.