FRISCO, Texas - Cowboys chief operating officer Stephen Jones has said it many times over the years when discussing contract negotiations.
"Deadlines make deals."
Whether or not that will be the case this time around, there certainly are deadlines approaching that would affect deals for both Dak Prescott and Amari Cooper.
The Cowboys now have until Monday to place the franchise or transition tags on either player, or any free agent for that matter after both the NFL and NFLPA agreed to push the deadline back from Thursday to correlate with the voting period for the new CBA deal. Plain and simple, both the teams and the players would prefer to see the terms of the new CBA before agreeing to a major contract.
According to multiple reports, the Cowboys and the representatives for Dak Prescott have engaged in more discussions here recently. Reportedly, new offers are on the table as both sides are trying to get a deal done this week.
Getting Prescott signed before Thursday would be a vital for the Cowboys, who then could put either the transition or franchise tag on Cooper, who is also seeking a new deal.
Last week, Stephen Jones said the Cowboys have met with Cooper's agents and sounded optimistic that a deal could be reached as well, even before Thursday's deadline.
But Dak and Cooper aren't the only players the Cowboys are likely negotiating with. Key starters such as Robert Quinn, Byron Jones and Maliek Collins are also set to be unrestricted free agents. And Sean Lee and Jason Witten also have expiring contracts and have both said they would like to return to the Cowboys for the 2020 season.
The Cowboys definitely have a lot of discussions to have this week. We'll see if the "deadlines" can actually make a few deals once again.
