Jerry Jones stood firm on his "all-in" motto this offseason during the Dallas Cowboys' pre-draft press conference on Tuesday. Part of the frustration from Cowboys fans surrounding the lack of action isn't just the absence of free-agent signings, it's that the three big extensions the club has planned still haven't happened.
Quarterback Dak Prescott, receiver CeeDee Lamb and pass rusher Micah Parsons are all up from massive extensions. Prescott's deal, in particular, would have lowered a $55 million salary cap hit, freeing up space for the other extensions or additions. At this point, however, sides appear destined to play things out.
Jones said on Tuesday that the club remains in patient mode.
"We'd like to see more leaves fall," Jones said, via the team's official website. "We'd like to see more action. It's called option quarterback. I've spent my life [playing] option quarterback. I want to see some more cards played."
In general, waiting to ink players to new contracts makes things more expensive. For example, if Ja'Marr Chase or Justin Jefferson sign deals first, Lamb's price will likely increase.
However, the message Tuesday was patience.
"When you're talking about big contracts like Dak, CeeDee and Micah, those things don't happen overnight," Cowboys' EVP Stephen Jones said. "Those things take time. There's timing based on what other teams are doing at their position.
"There's a lot of moving parts. Certainly, you wanna get it right. … When you're paying the type of money we ultimately will have to, to keep them, you wanna make sure you get it right."
Stephen Jones added that other players bargaining for new deals has contributed to the delay in Dallas inking their stars.
"You don't think the representatives for Jefferson and CeeDee and Chase are not all talking?" he said. "You don't think they don't have their eye on something really big? Please. They're not ready to come in here. Same thing with Micah. Same thing with Dak. It's just a little cat-and-mouse. Total respect for them."
NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported in March that Prescott is expected to play out the 2024 season without adjustment to his contract. That's led to speculation that the Cowboys are comfortable moving on from their starter.
"We want Dak Prescott, and that's that," Jerry Jones said matter-of-factly.
However, Jones noted that paying Prescott another big extension leaves less pie to cut for the rest of the club.
"We want Dak," the owner reiterated. "We think that there's room for growth. … If you are a team that has a lot of cap room, and then you have a quarterback for a little while that is well underneath in his rookie contract -- San Francisco last year, us with Dak early after we had [Tony] Romo -- boy, we had a lot of credit card use there on Romo. Dak came along, so we didn't have to have it so we were able to absorb that money and still keep Tyron [Smith] around him. So Dak has enjoyed, in his career that we're proud of, some of the best supporting casts that you could put around him.
"To move forward, we will have to diminish that. That's a fact. That's the rules. That's our challenge and to make it work out. Dak as the quarterback Cowboys, I don't even have a blink on that one."
