Dallas Cowboys EVP Stephen Jones spoke about the challenge the team faces to get its three biggest stars signed to long-term contract extensions after handing out high-dollar contracts to other players on the roster in recent years.
During a recent appearance on The Athletic's Scoop City podcast with Dianna Russini and former NFL quarterback Chase Daniel, Jones said the team is trying to "play Houdini" to get deals done with quarterback Dak Prescott, wide receiver CeeDee Lamb and pass rusher Micah Parsons.
"Those things just take time when you're talking about the amount of money involved. And of course, we're trying to a little bit play Houdini in how to keep all of these guys around Dak and keep these players we were fortunate enough to draft," Jones said.
"When you start stacking them up like that it's a challenge. It's not that it's not doable, but you've certainly got to have some give and take if you want to do that. I know the Vikings there with [Justin] Jefferson when they made that inordinate deal at the receiver spot... they don't have one player on their team other than Jefferson making over $20 million. Of course, we've got a big one in Dak, we've got [Trevon] Diggs right there and then you've got Zack Martin, D-Law [DeMarcus Lawrence], so we've got a lot of guys making quite a bit of money. That's no excuse. We think we can get this done, we know we can get it done, but it just takes time."
Earlier this offseason, the Minnesota Vikings signed superstar receiver Justin Jefferson to the largest non-quarterback deal in NFL history, inking him to a four-year, $140 million contract extension that includes $110 million guaranteed.
Eagles wideout A.J. Brown is the second-highest-paid receiver in the league, earning $32 million a year, which appears to be the starting point for what Lamb wants in his next deal.
Lamb is expected to skip the start of training camp while he waits for a new deal to get hammered out with the Cowboys, according to Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News.
As for Prescott, the quarterback will not be a camp holdout despite playing in the final year of his contract this season. However, Jones said the team remains optimistic that a deal will get done with Prescott, as well as Lamb and Parsons.
“The answer to that question is that we are optimistic that we can get these guys done. He [Dak] knows that. We’re having conversations with his agent and Dak, personally. Both Jerry and I. He knows our goal is to keep him here.”
Prescott is in a position to be rewarded handsomely on his next contract after the Jacksonville Jaguars signed Trevor Lawrence to a five-year, $275 million contract extension this offseason, tying him with Joe Burrow for the highest-paid quarterback in the NFL on an annual basis at $55 million per year.