Jerry Jones not concerned about extending Ezekiel Elliott, Dak Prescott, Amari Cooper: 'It'll happen'
The NFL preseason is now fully underway, and we’re just a few days away from seeing preseason games being played right in front our eyes. The NFL regular season is almost here!
But for the Dallas Cowboys and their fans, there are still a few things to be worked out. Running back Ezekiel Elliott’s contract holdout has entered double-digit days, and neither quarterback Dak Prescott or wide receiver Amari Cooper have received extensions. This core of players could help bring the Cowboys back to the glory days of 1990s dominance, so fans are naturally concerned about keeping them. But owner Jerry Jones isn’t worried at all.
"Just know that like so many things, it'll happen. It'll happen," Jones told Adam Maya of NFL.com. "There literally is no concern on my part at all about any time frame. That'll happen. The results are too good for them and too good for the Cowboys. Think about it now. The results are too good for them and too good for the Cowboys. That always happens when it's that good for both of us."
Jones isn’t a fool — he knows how important those players are to the future of the team. So while the extensions may not happen on the timeline fans want, it doesn’t look like Jones is going to let Cooper, Prescott, or Elliott slip through his fingers.
Of course, Elliott’s holdout is what most fans are thinking about. It’s possible that it could end on August 6 — according to Jess Haynie of Inside the Star, if he doesn’t report to camp by August 6, he loses an accrued season of free agency. You need four seasons to become an unrestricted free agent, and since Elliott only has 3, August 6 is an important date.
But August 6 isn’t the end-all, be-all date in the Elliott holdout saga. Elliott is on year 4 of a 5-year rookie contract, so even if he doesn’t report by August 6, he still has a year left on his contract to pick up that final year toward unrestricted free agency.
So it’s possible we could see Elliott end his holdout on August 6, but it’s almost equally possible that his holdout continues. Regardless, Prescott isn’t worried about Elliott being in shape when his holdout inevitably ends. He told NFL.com that Elliott is doing what he needs to do, and he’s not trying to convince him to do anything else.
"I've talked to him. We've communicated ... Obviously we miss the player that he is, but I know that he's getting better. I know that he's working on his game, he's in shape. He's going to make sure that he comes back, and when he's back on this team he's a better player than before camp, or before the spring. And then, yeah, he's a good friend. Obviously you want him out here, but that's business. ... Friendship is friendship and business is business. You don't cross those."
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