Stephen Jones claims the Cowboys are ‘playing Houdini’ to keep stars around Dak Prescott

Dallas has refrained from making any major contract extensions or signings this off-season.

Stephen Jones claims the Cowboys are ‘playing Houdini’ to keep stars around Dak Prescott

(L) Dak Prescott and (R) Stephen Jones (Image via IMAGO)

The coming season is crucial for the Dallas Cowboys for more than one reason. It will be the last season with Mike McCarthy as the head coach. The team’s key players Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, and Micah Parsons are all entering the final year of their contracts, which means the team will need to make a lot of tough calls.

Stephen Jones, the COO of the Dallas Cowboys, spoke about the team’s player negotiations on the Scoop City Podcast. He described the situation the team faces itself in as one in which they are compelled to ‘play Houdini.’ Jones acknowledged the phenomenal year that Dak Prescott had and how the team intends to pay him his worth but at the same time ensure they keep his co-stars around him.

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Obviously, his resume speaks for itself. You know, he was second in MVP voting last year. You know, he's just had an extraordinary career here in Dallas. And, you know, those things just take time when you're talking about the amount of money involved. And of course, we're trying to a little bit play Houdini in how to keep all these guys around Dak and keep these players we were fortunate enough to draft.
Stephen Jones said

Prescott, who finished second in the MVP voting last season, hopes to be paid in the $50-$55 million range. Jones believes that despite the eagerness of the Cowboys to bring back Prescott, the best strategy at this point is to be patient.

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CeeDee Lamb and Micah Parsons will remain reluctant to take a pay cut to stay on the Cowboys

The Cowboys are escaping, having to answer the inevitable question of how they will handle their complicated contractual situation. In an ideal situation, the team would manage to retain all their stars, but the odds of that happening are slim. Dak Prescott is unlikely to take a big pay cut, considering the current quarterback market, he will feel comfortable settling in the $50-55 million range.

CeeDee Lamb and Micah Parsons will become incredibly expensive to retain if the Dallas Cowboys wait too long
The Cowboys continue to play it slow with Dak Prescott’s contract as they will have to pay CeeDee Lamb and Micah Parsons after the end of this season. (Image via Imago)

With respect to CeeDee Lamb, he is coming off of a career-best season and has put up numbers better than Justin Jefferson last season. He had 1,749 yards, scored 12 touchdowns, and had 135 receptions. This year, he proved that he is the best option on the Cowboys offense. Now that Jefferson signed a historic deal with the Vikings, Lamb’s market value has gone up, which means he will count on the team offering him a deal paying him $27-34 million per year at least.

The final challenge will be to keep Micah Parsons happy. The linebacker is arguably the best in the entire league, and to offer him anything less than a contract equal to or greater than Roquan Smith’s $20 million per year would be insulting. Parsons has established that he is a dominant force on defense. To part ways with him would deal a severe blow to the team’s defense.

It will be interesting to see how the Cowboys figure out the tricky situation they find themselves in, to retain this roster would be a bigger challenge to Jerry Jones than ensuring his team gets past the first round of the playoffs.

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