It takes two to tango. A complex, technical dance, requiring two people working and moving together. each person plays a different role but come together in harmony to achieve a common goal. It’s not hard to see how the tango metaphor relates to contract negotiations. Each side makes their own unique moves but in order to achieve the common goal, both have to work together or they may find themselves on the opposite side of the room and in the arms of another.
The Dallas Cowboys are currently tangoing with a few of their current players looking for extensions. Dak Prescott, Trevon Diggs and CeeDee Lamb headline the list of players they’d like to re-sign this summer. By Dallas’ own admission, they want to re-sign at least two of them before training camp kicks off in Oxnard this July.
“We’d love to do more than one [before camp] if we could,” Stephen Jones said. “We’ve touched bases with everybody, knowing we’re open-minded to it.”
But it takes two to tango.
Logic says, of course the Cowboys want to get deals done sooner rather than later. They know Prescott is on the books for nearly $60 million in 2024 and Dallas needs to add years to his current deal so they can push money back.
They know there’s virtually nothing that can happen in 2023 that will prevent Diggs from getting paid like a top-5 cornerback. He has ball skills that can’t be taught and that’s not going to change.
They know Lamb has improved every season as a professional and with Brandin Cooks now on the outside taking some of the attention off him, he could set career highs again in 2023.
With these three players, there’s no time like the present to get new done because the cost is only going up. Which is also why the players may not be as eager to “dance” as Dallas is.
The players and their agents need to cooperate as well. If they don’t want a deal, it can’t get done. Luckily, all three players sound as if they want to remain in Dallas and as long as the money is right, they’ll stay.
“Guys want to wait and I understand why because prices go up from one year to the next,” Jones said. “If opportunity is there, we’d like to get one, two, three of these guys signed.”
Jones understands why he wants a deal done today and players (and their agents) want deals done as late as possible. The QB, WR, and CB market seems to be inflating by the day and each time the market gets reset, the price for the Cowboys goes up.
It will be up to Jones to motivate his star players to want to come to the table. He can’t walk in with a low-ball offer and expect it to provoke a response. That doesn’t mean he can afford to abandon all negation tactics either. It’s going to take good faith, respect and cooperation from both sides.
Jones is not in an enviable position.
The fact Jones and the Cowboys are upfront about their intentions is good news. If they can get Prescott and Diggs signed to extensions by camp (or even during camp) it would constitute a wild success.
Obviously, details matter and Dallas can’t make every single one the highest paid player in the league (although an argument could be made they actually could afford to do that). But as long as both sides are willing, fair market deals can get done.
The key takeaway for Jones is success doesn’t hinge on getting a bargain but rather just getting it done.
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