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Prescott hopes Zeke, Cooper become highest-paid players

Ronald Martinez / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Dak Prescott, Amari Cooper, Ezekiel Elliott, Byron Jones, and Jaylon Smith are all in contention to secure long-term extensions from the Dallas Cowboys this offseason.

While the prevailing thinking holds that the salary cap makes it impossible for teams to retain all of their young stars unless some of those players agree to team-friendly deals, the Cowboys' starting quarterback believes his teammates shouldn't take less than they're worth.

"For somebody to say you can only take so much because of the salary cap or you can only do this or that, I don't know how fair that is to say," Prescott said, according to USA Today's Jori Epstein. "Because with gambling, with everything going into this league, everything is going to continue to keep going up.

"It's important for all these guys to get every bit of their worth. I want to see Zeke the highest paid. I want to see Amari the highest paid. I want to see myself up there. And I don't think any of that is too far-fetched. Because ... a year or two later, you're not going to be the highest paid. That's just the way the game goes."

In each of the past six seasons, the salary cap has increased by at least $10 million. This year, it's set at $188.2 million, $11 million more than the season prior. Considering other potential revenue sources and the collective bargaining agreement currently being negotiated, that salary figure could continue to inflate.

"I don't think it's fair to sit there and say, 'This guy can't get that because he needs the rest of the team,'" Prescott said. "The rest of the team can all get theirs with the way the league is trending."

Prescott is due $2 million in 2019 as he enters the final year of his rookie contract. He earned $1.62 million in his first three seasons combined. The 25-year-old's potential extension could rival that of the Philadelphia Eagles' Carson Wentz, who became the NFL's fourth-highest-paid player with an average annual salary of $32 million.

It was reported in June that negotiations between Prescott and the Cowboys on a new deal haven't made much progress, although it doesn't seem to bother the quarterback.

"For the most part, obviously you want to get closure and obviously you want to get it done," he said. "But the Cowboys probably feel the same way that I do: Nobody wants to take anything that’s not fair to the other."

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