Stephen Jones on Ezekiel Elliott: We feel confident that these things are going to get done

Stephen Jones appeared on 105.3 The Fan on Friday afternoon and obviously the biggest thing that anybody wants to talk to him about is the state of contracts within the Dallas Cowboys.

Dallas locked down linebacker Jaylon Smith to a long-term deal earlier this week, but of course they still have the matters of Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott, and Amari Cooper to tend to. Until any, or all three, are securely tied to the franchise for the foreseeable future people are going to be holding their breath.

Considering that we’re so close to the regular season beginning (just about two weeks away) it’s starting to feel like the eleventh hour. While we might not be there quite yet, it would be understandable if Stephen was a bit worried that the NFL’s reigning rushing champion wasn’t in a Cowboys helmet on September 8th against the New York Giants. He was asked if he was experiencing any trepidation about Zeke’s status in the opener and lo and behold, he doesn’t appear to be too worried.

“No not at all. We feel confident that these things are going to get done. We’ve been optimistic, still are optimistic, it’s just eventually getting to a point where you’re doing some back and forth, and usually those things get done. They happen really quick. They happen in hours in terms of once you really get on the page. There’s no concern at this point, we feel really good about where we are and that we can get something done.

There is a growing sense among some that there is indeed action (or at the very least the beginnings of it) starting to brew on the contractual front between Ezekiel Elliott and the Cowboys.

A report from Friday morning noted that Elliott could be headed back to Dallas as early as Saturday morning and that he was in communication with the team as recently as Thursday night. What’s more is this report discussed how Elliott’s deal could ultimately be sandwiched between Todd Gurley and Le’Veon Bell which corroborates the reports from Thursday.

The fact that we’re starting to hear more and more from different places about this does seem to confirm the notion that talks are indeed ongoing; however, it’s worth noting that Stephen Jones also said on The Fan that there wasn’t a whole lot of action happening on this particular Friday. He also said that when these things do happen that they happen quickly, so maybe we’re an inch away from everything falling into place in rapid fashion.

What’s your sense on all of this? Do you truly believe that things are close, or do you refuse to acknowledge it all?