OXNARD, Calif. – Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones didn’t mince words Wednesday.

Yes, the Cowboys have a slew of extensions they need to work through. Running back Ezekiel Elliott, quarterback Dak Prescott and wide receiver Amari Cooper top the list of young talent waiting for their next contracts.

But in the aftermath of receiver Michael Thomas agreeing to a record-breaking $100 million deal with the Saints Wednesday, Jones wants to be clear: The Cowboys aren’t looking to be the next team setting a financial record.

“We’ve got three really good football players that we’re dealing with here and that have very good representation,” Jones told Dallas radio station 96.7 KTCK The Ticket. “And they want to see the market. We can’t push the issue unless we want to be a market-setter. And we’re damn sure not going to be a market-setter.”

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The Jones family has pushed the narrative that the value of playing for the Cowboys—particularly should these players win Super Bowls with the franchise—should offset the lucrative contracts players seek. The Joneses don’t get to keep the money should players take a hometown discount, Stephen Jones reiterated Wednesday: That cash will merely be allocated toward keeping another young Dallas star that could better a Super Bowl-hopeful roster.

“We want to be fair,” Jones said. “We want our players to feel good about their contract. But at the same time, we don’t want to do things that are out of line because we can’t afford to be that way.”

Quarterback Dak Prescott thinks otherwise. League revenue continues to skyrocket, the salary cap consistently increases and a new collective bargaining agreement looms.

“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 told USA TODAY Sports earlier this month. “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 at the end of the day, when it’s all said and done, a year or two later, you’re not going to be the highest paid. That’s just the way the game goes.”

Prescott is set to make $2.1 million this year on the last year of his deal while Cooper’s last year will cash in for $13.9. Elliott has two years remaining on his deal after the Cowboys picked up his 2020 option worth more than $9 million. Still, he has held out of training camp as he seeks an extension.

And negotiations factor in more than just what the Cowboys and players want typically, longtime Cowboys personnel man Gil Brandt told USA TODAY Sports on Monday.

“It’s really tough because the hidden part in this whole thing is the agent,” said Brandt, who will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday. “The agent wants to be sure in this thing that he can say, ‘I got the top dollar. I got the top dollar.’ And he’s worried about future business rather than getting a team ready.”

Like the Joneses, Brandt noted the marketing value that comes with playing for the most valuable sports franchise in the world. He also mentioned Texas’ lack of a state income tax as a factor in players’ contract values. Negotiations were different in Brandt’s stint as Cowboys vice president of player personnel from 1960-88. Before the NFL instituted a salary cap in 1994, Brandt’s solution to holdouts was simple.

“I just gave them more money,” he said.

Prescott thinks that’s still possible. The league salary cap increased roughly 6% ahead of 2019. It’s jumped roughly $10 million per season since 2013.

“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.”

Follow Jori Epstein on Twitter @JoriEpstein.