Wide receiver Michael Thomas’s record-setting contract extension with the New Orleans Saints has made him the highest-paid non-quarterback offensive player in NFL history. For now. The five-year, $100 million dollar deal includes $35.6 million in fully guaranteed money and is sure to raise the ceiling for other pass-catchers around the league who are at this same moment seeking new terms with their teams.

Guys like, say, Amari Cooper.

But Cooper’s not the only Cowboys player waiting to cash in. Ezekiel Elliott is staging a Cabo holdout over his new deal, and Dak Prescott is due an exponential raise after shattering the expectations for a bargain-basement fourth-round passer.

Speaking with Dallas radio station 1310 The Ticket, team executive vice president Stephen Jones provided some insight as to the club’s mindset concerning the big-money contracts all needing to get done in the very near future.

“We’ve got three really good football players that we’re dealing with here and that have very good representation. 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, because of all the things that go with being a Dallas Cowboy. We want to be fair. 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 do it that way. Whether it’s Dak, whether it’s Amari, whether it’s Zeke, they all understand we’ve got a whole group of young players coming up behind them that want to be Dallas Cowboys and want to stay here. When we save money, whether it’s with Dak, whether it’s with Zeke, whether it’s with Amari, it’s not saving Jerry and I a dollar. It’s just money that’s going to go to another player… We’re very convicted that we’re going to get these deals done.”

So far, Cooper has taken a hands-off approach to his imminent contract extension. The three-time Pro Bowler has chosen instead to focus on his first training camp with the Cowboys, quarterback Dak Prescott, and new offensive coordinator Kellen Moore. Cooper saved the 2018 season in Dallas after coming over in a mid-season trade, and it doesn’t take a genius to realize that the team wouldn’t have given up a first-round draft pick for Cooper if they didn’t see him as a long-term part of their air attack and worthy of an extension.

Cooper has the leverage and therefore, every reason to keep calm while other high-profile receivers like Antonio Brown, Odell Beckham Jr., and now Thomas set the financial benchmarks for everyone else.

I would make a joke about how Amari Cooper is celebrating somewhere, but that’s probably not even true. If he’s celebrating, it’s because he just put the finishing touch on a jigsaw puzzle and his French press is ready. — David Helman (@HelmanDC) July 31, 2019

According to Over the Cap, Cooper’s per-year salary average puts him in the same neighborhood as Cordarrelle Patterson, Marquise Goodwin, Corey Davis, and Mohamed Sanu. The 25-year-old Alabama product may not crack the list of top-3 earners with the deal coming his way, but he’s certainly moving way up.

Does Michael Thomas’ contract raise the target in the Amari Cooper negotiations? Stephen Jones on @dfwticket: “No. I think it’s probably in line with what we were thinking. I’ve got a little better numbers than that. … We’ve drilled down on it and got some good numbers.” — Jon Machota (@jonmachota) July 31, 2019

As Kevin Patra of NFL.com points out, “Whether those numbers are ‘good’ for the Cowboys or ‘good’ for Cooper remains to be seen.” But rest assured, they’re probably a little higher now than they were on Tuesday.

And there are still the team’s other impending contracts to consider. Jones himself specifically named a few players who will also be needing new deals of their own soon. Are all of them worth better-than-average money? Yes. But every bucket of cash the front office throws out now to keep Elliott, Prescott, and Cooper is one less they can use to retain Byron Jones, Jaylon Smith, and La’el Collins, for example. “All these are guys that are so important to our football team,” Jones explained. “I promise you: Zeke, Dak, Amari all understand that.”

The organization tried to use that think-of-the-team strategy during their contract talks with DeMarcus Lawrence this past spring, but the superstar defensive end still came away from the table less than four months ago with the most guaranteed money ever for a non-quarterback.

So much for “damn sure not” being a market-setter.