OXNARD, Calif. – A lot of questions from Thursday's first training camp press conference reference the way last year ended.
For Jerry Jones and Stephen Jones, they often referenced the way it started, especially at the start of last year's camp, when the topic of contracts came up.
"This time last year, was it Martin that wasn't here last year?" Jerry Jones playfully said when he was asked about CeeDee Lamb's absence. "Does that happen? Of course it does. Look all over the league. So I don't flare when it's happening to us. I'm aware of that. I'm aware that we want to get these guys to camp. Business as usual, as far as I'm concerned. I'm used to this. I can live with this."
Like he did earlier in the press conference, Jones kept stressing the importance of having the team in better shape at the end of the season, more than the first.
"I feel confident, if you look at the fundamentals here, we can get back to the shot we were, I hope we'll be in better shape. That's January. This is July," Jones said. "No I don't get bent out of shape over the fact that somebody is not here or here – at all."
Stephen Jones went into detail on the difficulty the Cowboys have this year with having three players wanting a new deal, something that creates a problem that most teams aren't dealing with at once.
"We have a very unique situation. We have a quarterback who played at the top of his game last year, second in MVP voting, who can leave (at the end of the season)," Stephen said of Dak. "Then we have two players (Lamb, Micah Parsons) who can't leave here for three years, theoretically. Both of them, rightfully so, believe they should be the highest-paid non-quarterback I the league. I totally respect that. Very difficult situations that we're trying to work through with them. They want to win. They want to put a ring on their finger. They understand the difficult situation we have with a high-priced quarterback going into his second high-priced contract. We have two other guys we're trying to work though. It just takes time."
Jones added that the negotiations are ongoing and he's hoping they can have some success signing players in camp like they did last year when Trevon Diggs, Terence Steele and Malik Hooker all signed extensions in Oxnard, as did Zack Martin, who ended his holdout after three weeks and eventually signed a new deal.
"We're having great conversations with the representatives, in terms of CeeDee and Dak," Jones said. "Obviously, Micah is a year removed from where CeeDee is today. I think he wants to go out and show that he is the best non-QB in the league and I hope he does it. These things take time. It's certainly not easy."
