Gumbo
Well-known member
- Mar 19, 2019
- 1,987
- 0
Todd Gurley‘s deal reset the running back market. One quarterback after another has reset the market at that position, with Russell Wilson the latest. Michael Thomas reset the receiver market Wednesday.
The Cowboys have star players at all three positions who want top money.
Executive vice president Stephen Jones said last week that Dak Prescott, Amari Cooper and Ezekiel Elliott all have “solid” offers on the table. But he and owner Jerry Jones also both have said the deals need to be “team friendly” for the Cowboys to have salary-cap room that will allow them to contend.
The more successful the Cowboys are, Stephen Jones has pointed out, the more money players can make off the field in endorsements.
Jones addressed Thomas’ five-year, $100 million extension on the radio Wednesday, answering why the Cowboys didn’t “get ahead” of Thomas’ deal after acquiring Cooper on Oct. 22. Cooper’s price has risen since.
“We can’t push the issue unless we want to be a market-setter,” Jones said on KTCK-AM 1310 and 96.7 FM, via David Moore of the Dallas Morning News, “and we’re damn sure not going to be a market-setter because of all the things that go with being a Dallas Cowboy.
“We want our players to feel good about their contracts. But at the same time, we don’t want to do things that are out of line because we can’t afford to be that way. When we save money, whether it’s with Dak, whether it’s with Zeke, whether it’s with Amari, it’s not saving Jerry and I a dollar. It’s just money that’s going to another player.”
The Cowboys might not have enough room left to pay cornerback Byron Jones and offensive guard La'el Collins after this season. They surely want to keep Jaylon Smith long term, with the starting middle linebacker a restricted free agent in the 2020 offseason.
First, though, the Cowboys have to get their offensive playmakers signed to long-term deals, and that is proving a challenge.