Cowboys, Dak Prescott Far Apart In Talks
Plans for the 2016 quarterback class’ extensions became clearer this week, with the Eagles extending Carson Wentz and the Rams appearing set to approach a Jared Goff re-up next year. The Cowboys do not have as much time, as Dak Prescott is entering his first contract year.
The Cowboys and Prescott began negotiations weeks ago, and a report of progress emerged last month. The parties seem to have hit a standstill in talks. Prescott and the Cowboys are “really far apart” on terms at this point, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com notes (video link) — to the point they will likely press pause on these discussions. This process looks set to drag into training camp, Garafolo adds.
Wentz’s $32MM-per-year deal (with $66MM fully guaranteed) likely raises Prescott’s floor. While he may not ultimately receive what the Eagles passer did, the likelihood of the 2016 offensive rookie of the year accepting much less is not high. The Cowboys may not be fazed by a deal worth approximately $30MM AAV, but executive VP Stephen Jones bringing up the prospect of a team-friendlier deal (because of the marketing opportunities that come with Prescott’s role) may complicate matters — especially with the Cowboys having several high-profile extension candidates.
Like Russell Wilson four years ago, Prescott faces the prospect of earning a mid-rounder’s salary for a fourth straight year. Considering the Cowboys’ effusive praise for their fourth-round find, it’s likely they and Prescott will find a middle ground. But the team has some leverage in Prescott’s $2.025MM base salary this season. Conversely, the value of being a contract-year quarterback on a team that has other key priorities — like deals for Amari Cooper and Ezekiel Elliott — stands to work in the soon-to-be 26-year-old passer’s favor.
Cowboys Notes: Draft, Heath, Iloka
The Cowboys didn’t spend lavishly on the safety position this offseason, but they did consider taking a safety in the second round, according to Clarence Hill Jr. of the Star Telegram. Ultimately, they used their second round choice to grab defensive tackle Trysten Hill and did not address safety until the sixth round when they selected Texas A&M’s Donovan Wilson.
Here’s more on the Cowboys’ safety situation and more from the NFC East:
- Through the first three weeks of OTAs, incumbent Jeff Heath is still ahead of newcomer George Iloka on the Cowboys‘ depth chart, according to Hill. Iloka was brought in to unseat Heath but, so far, that hasn’t happened.
Cowboys Add Klein Kubiak To Staff
- Three Kubiaks have now left the Broncos. After Gary Kubiak and his son Klint joined the Vikings’ staff, Klein Kubiak will become a Cowboys scout, according to Neil Stratton of Inside The League (on Twitter). The youngest of the coaching Kubiaks confirmed he will be Dallas-bound (Twitter link). Klein Kubiak spent five years with the Broncos. He will join the Cowboys after the organization lost area scout Jim Abrams to the Raiders.
NFL To Investigate Cowboys’ Ezekiel Elliott
The NFL will likely review Ezekiel Elliott‘s Las Vegas incident to determine whether he violated the terms of previous suspension guidelines, Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports hears. Elliott, who was banned for six games for alleged acts of physical abuse against an ex-girlfriend, could theoretically be hit with another suspension from the league office. 
When asked about Elliott’s latest issue last week, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones told reporters, “I don’t see that having any consequences for us.” Jones may be outwardly confident, but Robinson hears the Cowboys believe that the running back has been unfairly put under a microscope by commissioner Roger Goodell.
Elliott was briefly handcuffed at a concert earlier this month after bumping a security guard and TMZ procured video of the incident. If the NFL finds that Elliott “threatened physical violence against another person,” that could spell trouble for the 23-year-old (24 in July).
Julio Jones Talks Impacting Amari Cooper's?
- Julio Jones and the Falcons are engaged in contract negotiations, and these talks may well be impacting another NFC team’s re-up discussions with a No. 1 wideout. The Cowboys look to be under the impression Amari Cooper is waiting on the Jones deal before moving forward in his negotiation, Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram tweets. The Cowboys and Cooper are at a stalemate presently, and although Cooper may not have much of a case to be paid more than Jones, the Alabama alums’ age difference (Jones is 30; Cooper will turn 25 next month) may bring their next prices closer together.
Adam Jones Retires From NFL
This is the end of the line for Pacman. On Friday, cornerback Adam Jones took to social media to announce his retirement from football. 
Jones, 35, hooked on with the Broncos late in the 2018 preseason. At the time, the Broncos saw him as a strong No. 4 cornerback and punt returner, but he didn’t quite live up to expectations. After seven games and ten punt returns for just 25 yards in total, the Broncos released him in November. Jones was not on the NFL radar after that, so his retirement does not come as a shock.
Jones legacy may be clouded by his string of off-the-field incidents, but he was a force while on the field in his prime. After being selected with the No. 6 overall pick in the 2005 draft by the Titans, Jones made some head-turning plays, including three punt return touchdowns in his sophomore year.
Years after being ID’d as a suspect in the now-infamous Atlanta shooting incident, Jones found his second wind with the Bengals. Jones spent eight years in the Bengals’ secondary and put together three straight seasons with three interceptions in each. In 2014, Jones earned his first ever First-Team All-Pro nod and received a Pro Bowl selection in 2015.
Jones leaves the game after 12 NFL seasons (he was out of football for the ’07 and ’09 campaigns), 146 games played, and nearly $40MM in career earnings.
Latest On Cowboys, Ezekiel Elliott
While extensions for Dak Prescott and Amari Cooper remain the priority in Dallas, the Cowboys and running back Ezekiel Elliott are “on the same page” regarding a new deal, per Tom Pelissero of NFL.com (Twitter link), who adds Elliott has opened discussions with the Cowboys on a contract that would — in all likelihood — make him the league’s highest-paid running back.
Elliot’s contract negotiations are on the back-burner in Dallas, and that’s not completely unexpected. In addition to Prescott and Cooper, cornerback Byron Jones and offensive lineman La’el Collins are also scheduled to reach unrestricted free agency next spring. The Cowboys only have one franchise tag to deploy, so signing their impressive crop of 2020 free agents could prove difficult, although the club is projected to have the third-most cap space ($75MM) in the NFL next spring.
After his fifth-year option was exercised last month, Elliott is under contract for the 2020 campaign at a price of $9.099MM. So far, no other member of the 2016 draft class has signed an extension. But again, that’s not out of the norm, as 2016 draftees only became eligible for new deals when the 2018 regular season concluded.
If the 23-year-old Elliott is to become the NFL’s highest-paid running back, he’ll have to surpass the four-year, $57.5MM contract the Rams’ Todd Gurley signed last summer. That deal contained nearly $22MM in fully guaranteed money, and is worth $1.25MM more per year than Le’Veon Bell‘s deal, which ranks second among backs.
The Cowboys haven’t been shy about running Elliott into the ground during his first three years with the team. He led the league in carries in both 2016 and 2018, and probably would have done so in 2017 had he not missed six games via suspension. Las season, Elliott posted 1,434 yards and six touchdowns on the ground while adding 77 receptions, 567 yards, and three scores in the passing game. Of course, Elliott ran behind one of the NFL’s better offensive lines, and only ranked 18th in Football Outsiders’ success rate.
Cowboys Notes: Elliott, Frederick, Prescott
Travis Frederick is tentatively on track to return to the Cowboys’ starting lineup after missing the 2018 season due to an illness discovered late last summer. The perennial Pro Bowl center has been present for Cowboys workouts thus far this offseason, but Guillain-Barré Syndrome and offseason shoulder surgery were not the only medical issues the seventh-year veteran has dealt with recently. He also had a procedure done to address a hernia issue, Calvin Watkins of The Athletic notes (subscription required). This was not as serious as a sports hernia, though, so it should not be too much of an impediment to a Frederick return. While Frederick has returned to partial work with his teammates this year, Watkins notes the Cowboys do not expect him to participate fully until training camp. In the event Frederick cannot recover in time, 2018 starter Joe Looney remains an insurance policy. Third-round rookie Connor McGovern has also received center time.
Here is the latest out of Dallas:
- Ezekiel Elliott was involved in an incident with a security guard in Las Vegas over the weekend. Las Vegas police officers observed the Cowboys running back push a security staffer to the ground at approximately 3 a.m. Sunday, Kate Hairopoulos of the Dallas Morning News tweets. Officers then placed Elliott in handcuffs, but the victim did not press charges, Hairopoulos adds (via Twitter). Elliott was released without being arrested. The incident will not play into the Cowboys’ extension discussions, whenever they begin, executive VP Stephen Jones said (via Todd Archer of ESPN.com, on Twitter). The team is gathering information.
- Despite Jaylon Smith being mentioned as a player the Cowboys would like to lock up long-term, no extension discussions between the Cowboys and the fourth-year linebacker have begun, Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram tweets. Unlike Dak Prescott, Amari Cooper and Byron Jones, Smith can be controlled via RFA tender in 2020. The Cowboys would be expected to place a second-round tender on the linebacker, Hill adds. Smith’s stay on the NFI list as a rookie created this path to restricted free agency, rather than unrestricted free agency, after four seasons.
- Stephen Jones brought up the prospect of some of his team’s extension candidates taking less money because of the endorsement opportunities that come with playing for the Cowboys. But Watkins adds Prescott is not expected to do a team-friendly deal. “It’s not their job to manage the cap; I understand that,” Jones said. “But it is my job and Jerry’s job, so they will understand why we’re negotiating hard to make the very best deal we can, because the money, if we can talk them into not maxing out – doing well, but not maxed – then that allows us to have other good football players around them.” Watkins estimates Prescott soon signing the richest contract in Cowboys history, projecting a deal worth between $120-$130MM — which would make it a likely four-year pact — containing north of $70MM in guarantees. This jibes with what we’ve heard about Prescott’s potential price.
Cowboys’ Amari Cooper Talks At Stalemate
The talks between Amari Cooper and the Cowboys are not progressing at this juncture, according to Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (on Twitter). Cooper and the Cowboys are at a stalemate, Hill notes. This news comes less than two weeks after progress in the sides’ negotiation.
While the team remains confident a deal will be finalized, Cooper’s camp continues to study the market, Hill adds (Twitter link). This market could also change fairly soon, if/when Julio Jones signs his third Falcons contract.
Cooper has obviously not proven to be on Jones’ level, his past two seasons rife with inconsistency. Even after arriving in Dallas, Cooper posted four games of 40 or fewer receiving yards. However, his two 180-plus-yard games (and 106-yard playoff showing against the Seahawks) have surely inflated his asking price. So does the cost of the Cowboys’ initial Cooper investment.
The Cowboys have placed a priority on extending Cooper since trading their most recent first-round pick for him, viewing this as a better investment than taking a receiver in a draft featuring plenty of uncertainty at this spot. Dallas began re-up talks with Cooper and Dak Prescott, putting an Ezekiel Elliott deal on the back-burner for now.
Cooper is attached to a $13.9MM fifth-year option price in 2019. Entering his age-25 season, the former top-five pick is in line for a big contract — one that did not look certain when he was struggling with the Raiders for a second straight season. With seven receivers earning at least $16MM per year, including Sammy Watkins (one 1,000-yard season compared to Cooper’s three), it seems likely the Cowboys will end up going north of that threshold. How far north represents one of the many components in the Cowboys’ complex offseason.
This Date In Transactions History: Cowboys Sign Randy Gregory
Four years ago today, the Cowboys inked Randy Gregory to his first NFL contract. After taking a gamble on the Nebraska edge rusher in the second round of the 2015 draft, the Cowboys were optimistic about his potential at the pro level. 
Gregory was viewed as a probable top-10 pick based on talent alone, but a failed drug test at the combine and potential mental health concerns caused him to drop into the second round. Had Gregory been a top-10 selection, he would’ve been assured of a four-year contract worth upwards of $14MM fully guaranteed, with a signing bonus of more than $8MM. After falling to No. 60, he landed a four-year pact worth $3.815MM, with a signing bonus of about $1.035MM.
Despite those off-field concerns, PFR readers were surprised not to see Gregory come off the board in round one — heading into the second round, he edged Landon Collins as the most surprising non-first-round pick in our poll. Unfortunately, Gregory’s demons derailed his career early on.
In February 2016, Gregory was hit with a four-game suspension for violating the league’s substance abuse policy. That same year, Gregory went on to fail a second drug test, resulting in an additional ten-game ban. Months later, we learned that Gregory had failed a third drug test, but the league did not immediately institute the ban. That gap allowed Gregory to play in the final two games of the regular season, though he was barred from appearing in the playoffs and sidelined for the entire 2017 campaign.
Last year, Gregory was given another chance by the league office and was reinstated on a conditional basis. Playing mostly in a reserve role, Gregory managed six sacks and 25 tackles in 14 games and showed serious promise. Sadly, the offseason would bring another familiar hurdle for Gregory as he violated the NFL’s substance abuse policy yet again and was banned indefinitely.
Despite it all, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has remained steadfast in his support of the 26-year-old.
“He’s a pure soul first and foremost, the proof of that is how he’s thought of everybody around him, teammates coaches everyone,” Jones said in March. “He’s genuinely afflicted, genuinely. It’s real. He has to work through, just as you would many things as human beings. He has to work through this, the way and the way he works through it, the way he deals with his circumstances. It’s impressive. It may not look that impressive when you say look at the penalties that he’s endured, but it is impressive.”
Weeks later, Jones backed up those words with an extension that will keep Gregory in a Cowboys uniform through 2020, provided that the NFL allows him to play. The Cowboys remain hopeful that Gregory will be cleared to play sometime in 2019, and, more importantly, get his personal life on track.