The likelihood Dalton Schultz finalizes a long-term deal with the Cowboys before July 15 continues to diminish. Despite Schultz showing for minicamp and extension talks picking up at that point, progress has proven elusive.

Schultz and the Cowboys are still far apart on terms, according to Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News. Although the July deadline spurs changes in negotiations with tagged players, nothing about the Schultz talks this offseason has indicated the sides are making substantial progress.

Dallas’ top tight end displayed his dissatisfaction with the pace of these talks during OTAs, when he stopped showing up after initially reporting to the team’s facility for the voluntary workouts. The 25-year-old pass catcher returned for minicamp, indicating some potential improvement on this front. But three weeks away from the deadline, an impasse persists.

Cuffing Schultz with the tag prevented him from factoring his age-26 season into a lucrative free agency deal, and while a $10.9MM 2022 salary represents a significant raise, Schultz is starting at the annual franchise-player plight: the lack of long-term security. A second Schultz tag would cost $13.1MM — a figure still below David Njoku‘s new AAV ($14.2MM), which has likely affected the Cowboys’ talks with their tight end. That may point to the team waiting, though the team almost certainly could have extended Schultz at a lower cost during his 2021 contract year. The Cowboys opted to wait on extensions with 2021 contract-year players, tabling those talks to 2022.

Blake Jarwin suffered multiple major injuries after signing his extension — a lower-cost accord ahead of his fourth season — but collected some guaranteed money prior to those setbacks. Schultz has proven far more as a weapon, totaling 808 receiving yards — the most by a Cowboy tight end since Jason Witten‘s 851 in 2013 — last season. Dak Prescott has stumped for Schultz this offseason, and the veteran passer’s lengthy talks show what can change after a tagged season. Dallas’ three-offseason negotiations with its quarterback led to a monster extension in 2021 (four years, $160MM), a year after Dak was ready to accept a deal at a lower AAV in the summer of 2020. Negotiations for a tight end obviously do not carry the same stakes, but the Cowboys are approaching the Prescott point on the Schultz timeline.

Prescott received a four-year deal, but Gehlken adds length might be an issue in the Schultz talks as well. The Cowboys prefer longer-term extensions, as they have done with Tyron Smith (an extreme example), Zack Martin, Ezekiel Elliott and others. Schultz agreeing to a five-plus-year extension would tie him to the Cowboys into his 30s, potentially limiting his chances of cashing in again.

A month remains until the deadline for franchise-tagged players to sign extensions. A few players — Chris Godwin, Cam Robinson, Davante Adams, David Njoku — have already inked long-term deals after being tagged. Njoku’s Browns extension pertains to two other members of the 2022 tag group.

While not much has developed on the Mike Gesicki-Dolphins front, the Cowboys’ tagged tight end has voiced his displeasure with his current situation this offseason. Dalton Schultz attended some Cowboys OTA sessions but skipped others, making it known his contract was at the root of the absences. The Cowboys may have gotten the message.

Talks between the Cowboys and their fifth-year tight end have picked up recently, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets, noting Schultz reported to Dallas’ minicamp Tuesday. It is not known how close the Cowboys and Schultz are on a long-term deal, as they were far apart recently. But the parties have time. Nearly every year, negotiations seemingly headed nowhere produce a deal ahead of the July 15 deadline.

Njoku’s $14.2MM-per-year pact has undoubtedly generated attention from tight ends around the league, though it directly affects Schultz and Gesicki. Both are attached to the $10.91MM tight end tag price. Each has outproduced Njoku’s best Browns season, yardage-wise. A fourth-round pick in 2018, the soon-to-be 26-year-old Schultz was not groomed to be Dallas’ long-term tight end starter the way Njoku was in Cleveland. But Blake Jarwin‘s injury trouble opened the door for the Stanford product, who has responded with 1,423 yards and 12 touchdown catches over the past two seasons.

The Cowboys picked up $10MM in cap space on June 2, receiving the belated funding from their March La’el Collins cut. As a result, Dallas’ $22.5MM in cap room sits fourth in the NFL. Schultz collecting an eight-figure paycheck represents a nice bonus for a former Day 3 pick who made $2.2MM last season. It would be understandable if the Cowboys are skittish about giving Schultz an extension that tops Njoku’s, while it also makes sense for the 6-foot-5 pass catcher — after Amari Cooper‘s exit and ahead of a season in which Michael Gallup will not be 100% at the outset — to lobby for a top-five deal at the position. Schultz could also enhance his value for 2023 with a big season, as he again will be a key Dak Prescott target, if he ends up playing on the tag. Albeit in a much higher-profile situation, this strategy worked for Prescott two years ago.

After showing up for the previous round of Cowboys OTAs, Dalton Schultz intends to skip this week’s conclusion of the team’s voluntary offseason program. The extension talks are not proceeding to the franchise-tagged tight end’s liking, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets.

The tight end position has shifted into focus this offseason, this coming as wide receivers’ salaries are skyrocketing. David Njoku‘s $14.2MM-per-year Browns extension will affect the other two tagged tight ends — Schultz and Miami’s Mike Gesicki — and Dallas’ talks with Schultz had not exactly oozed progress entering the summer.

[RELATED: Schultz Seeking Long-Term Stay With Cowboys]

The Cowboys gave Blake Jarwin a four-year, $22MM deal in 2020 — when the team let the unretired Jason Witten walk in free agency — but Jarwin’s injury trouble changed the team’s plans again at the position. Schultz ended up becoming the team’s true Witten heir apparent. He stepped in to start 14 games in place of Jarwin in 2020, hauling in 63 passes for 615 yards and four touchdowns. Schultz’s 2021 encore — 78 receptions, 808 yards, eight TDs — led to the Cowboys slapping the $10.9MM tag on him.

Schultz, 25, has already signed his franchise tender. That locks him into the $10.9MM salary while also allowing the Cowboys to fine him for missing minicamp later this month. Given the sizable salary raise Schultz booked in March, it would seem a minicamp absence would be a legitimate course of action. Waging a training camp holdout is a costlier call, but there will be a resolution by that time.

No Schultz extension by July 15 ensures he plays a season on the tag. The Cowboys have seen this scenario play out recently, on a much higher-profile level, when Dak Prescott failed to come to terms on a deal before the 2020 tag deadline. Schultz’s $10.9MM cap figure would not rival Prescott’s 2020 price, and the team may be keen to rent Schultz for a season before determining if a big-ticket tight end deal is worthwhile.

Dallas has committed to Michael Gallup as its No. 2 wide receiver this year, via an $11.5MM-AAV deal in March, and has CeeDee Lamb on his rookie contract. The team can put off a Lamb extension until 2024, if necessary, due to the fifth-year option. The Cowboys have $22MM-plus in cap space, with their La’el Collins cut generating post-June 1 funding, but may be skittish on paying Schultz top-five tight end money. Njoku became the NFL’s fourth-highest-paid tight end, but Schultz’s 2021 showing is statistically superior to any of Njoku’s five seasons. This will almost certainly be an issue for the Cowboys and Dolphins, who have seen Gesicki top Njoku’s best work twice, and create intrigue in other tight end negotiations — likely Darren Waller‘s as well — in the near future.

The notable extension given from the Browns to David Njoku is likely to have an impact on the tight end market going forward. That makes Dalton Schultz of the Cowboys a name to watch over the coming weeks. 

[RELATED: Browns, Njoku Finalize Four-Year Extension]

Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News details the circumstances surrounding the 25-year-old with respect to a lucrative contract. After two seasons of minimal production, Schultz has become a trusted target for quarterback Dak Prescott, and one of the top young players at the position. In 2021, he continued his career ascension with 78 receptions, 808 yards and eight touchdowns.

Those numbers made him an easy choice to receive the franchise tag in March. If he plays on the one-year deal, he will earn $10.9MM; while that would rank him in the top-10 in the league in terms of yearly compensation, the Cowboys have stated their intention of committing to him long-term. Schultz himself has reciprocated that sentiment, leaving many to believe that the tag will serve as simply a placeholder for a lengthy extension.

However, Watkins notes that there doesn’t seem to be the same level of urgency present on the team’s side regarding a new deal, compared to other notable ones signed by the likes of DeMarcus Lawrence and Prescott in years past. While he adds that “it’s assumed talks will intensify” as the July 15 deadline draws nearer, that news signals that a contract placing Schultz closer to the top of the TE market isn’t around the corner at this point.

“I let my agent handle all that business and right now I’m just focused on OTAs” the former fourth-rounder said last week. There doesn’t appear to be any tension between the two parties on the subject of a second contract, but there is apparently much to be done if they are to finalize one before the deadline.

The third and final tight end thought to be receiving the franchise tag this offseason has indeed been franchised. Dalton Schultz will be staying in Dallas for at least one more campaign (Twitter link via NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport).

Not long before today’s deadline, the 25-year-old was seen as one of the team’s top tag candidates – the other being defensive end Randy Gregory. Not surprisingly, it is the former being franchised at a cost of $10.93MM. In the last two seasons, Schultz has emerged as one of quarterback Dak Prescott‘s favorite and most dependable targets. He had a career year in 2021, posting 78 catches for 808 yards and eight touchdowns.

Rapoport’s colleague Mike Garafolo adds that the Cowboys have been eyeing a long-term deal with the former fourth rounder, and were hopeful it could have gotten done before today’s tag deadline (Twitter link). Instead, the team will at least tempoariliy work with a figure just under $11MM for one of the few known commodities in their pass-catching corps, given the expected release of Amari Cooper and the ongoing talks with Michael Gallup. Michael Gehlken of The Dallas Morning News tweets that there is still “strong interest” from both team and player to get an extension done, which would likely lower is 2021 cap hit.

As for Gregory, free agency has now become all-but guaranteed. However, the Cowboys have made it clear they wish to retain the edge rusher, given the highly productive trio he formed in 2021 alongside DeMarcus Lawrence and Micah Parsons. In any event, the team’s passing attack will be retaining one of its most important pieces.