Cowboys prioritizing Brandon Carr's contract entering 2015 season

Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones is working on a salary-cap friendly way to retain cornerback Brandon Carr.

Carr carries a $12.7-million cap hit entering the 2015 season and is coming off a campaign where he failed to record an interception.

The 28-year-old reportedly will not take a pay cut and may be slated to become a post-June 1 cut. In the event that Carr is released after June 1, the Cowboys will not have to pay his base salary but will incur $7.4 million of dead cap space going into the 2015 campaign.

Carr is under contract through the 2017 season.

"Without getting vague here, all contracts that we don't have closure on are a priority," Jones said to David Moore of The Dallas Morning News. "He certainly is a player who is in our top consideration. So yeah, I'd say that's a priority. We want him on the football field."

Dallas selected cornerback Byron Jones with its first-round selection in the 2015 NFL Draft, and it's certainly possible that Carr lost his starting role alongside Orlando Scandrick.

"We're evaluating, looking to the extent that we can make contractual adjustments that would fit and help us under the cap," Jones said. "We want to try to do that with him. We value Carr and what he can mean for us this year."

The Cowboys possess $13 million in cap space for the 2015 season.

Carr didn't appear to be bitter about the lack of progress on his contract.

"I'm here right now having a great time golfing," Carr said. "I'm a Cowboy. I love being a Cowboy. As long as I'm in this building I'm going to give it my all. I love playing the game of football."

Jones is now tasked with finding a way to entice Carr to take a pay cut, even though the cornerback is reluctant to do so. With the Cowboys poised to make a run at the Super Bowl, Jones may be able to entice Carr to return for less money with the Lombardi Trophy looming large at a distance.