Jerry Jones offers bizarre response to Dak Prescott contract question

Jerry Jones has been nothing short of confusing this offseason regarding contracts involving a few of the Dallas Cowboys' most important players. 

The CeeDee Lamb holdout is its own unique situation, with Jones opting to make a few head-scratching statements, which he later walked back. And then there's Dak Prescott, who's set to head into the final year of his contract with the Cowboys.

Just days after Prescott sounded optimistic regarding his own contract talks, stating that "good conversations" were going on, Jones proceeded to muddy the waters with a seemingly non-answer about his quarterback.

“Well, again, we’re just continuing to talk," Jones said, via Nick Harris of the team's website. "The thing is there, since we’re really in-season, practicing, doing all those things, we’re operating under the existing contract really good. One of the things that the fans should really understand is that nine times out of ten, these are existing contracts that you have in place. You should be able to operate under those, but we’ve gotten it now in the NFL – other teams are dealing with it — with some time on the contract, you still might have a contract discussion. And that’s what we’re doing. None of us – player or team – want to hurt the preparation or likelihood of playing at your best.”

Unless Jones is keeping things incredibly close to the vest, it's hard to envision that contract talks with Prescott have gone as well as the signal-caller previously indicated. Regardless, it's up to Jones and company to weigh how much risk they want to take when it comes to potentially losing Prescott following the season.

If the Cowboys let things stand as they are, Prescott could choose to head into free agency and will almost certainly be one of the most sought-after players on the open market. Talented quarterbacks aren't a dime a dozen, especially ones with a 73-41 regular-season record who have thrown for nearly 30,000 yards and 202 touchdowns.

While Prescott's postseason record remains his most significant area of concern, it's hard to imagine quarterback-needy teams allowing a 2-5 playoff record to outweigh the upside and consistency he's shown throughout his career.