Could the Cowboys' contract talks with quarterback Dak Prescott be nearing a deal?
Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said Friday on Dallas radio station 105.3 The Fan he's hoping the two sides can reach a deal by Sunday's opener against the Giants.
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“I’d say the dialogue has been good, and we’re still holding out hope we can figure out how to come up with a deal by the game on Sunday," Jones said (via Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk).
This has been a summer of big-money contract negotiations between the Cowboys and some of their young stars. Running back Ezekiel Elliott ended his preseason holdout earlier this week after signing a six-year, $90 million extension. Dallas also signed right tackle La’el Collins to a five-year extension this week, and inked linebacker Jaylon Smith to a five-year, $64.5 million deal a couple of weeks ago.
But negotiations with Prescott appeared to hit a snag in August, after reports the quarterback had turned down a $30 million per year offer from the team, and was seeking a record $40 million per season. A subsequent report shot down that $40 million figure as false.
Jones also said the team is having "very limited" negotiations with wide receiver Amari Cooper, "for a range of reasons that will eventually get worked out."
Unlike some other teams that do not conduct negotiations once the NFL season begins, Jones said talks will continue with Prescott if no deal is reached by Sunday.
“We’re open for business,” Jones said. “I know sometimes the players don’t care to do that. But we can obviously juggle that and do that. We would be fine with doing that. It’s really up to the player and their representatives to determine what their deadlines are and their timelines. It doesn’t seem to bother us, and I don’t know that we’ve given those type of deadlines or timelines.”