Long-term contract extensions are rare during the season. If there is a window, however, the bye week can present it.

However, with the Cowboys and quarterback Dak Prescott, no progress was made on contract talks during the off week, sources say. In fact, negotiations in earnest have not gone on for some time.

This means Prescott is headed toward the franchise tag this offseason, the story said. At this point in the season, with a tag looming, it's hard to imagine a new deal getting done. That said, neither side has put a deadline on it and talks could kick into gear at any point the story added.

Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said on his radio show Friday he held out hope of getting a deal done with Dak Prescott before the season opener. That didn’t happen, but it appears it will soon.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said after Sunday’s 35-17 victory over the Giants that he expects to have a deal with the quarterback in a matter of “days.”

“Oh, yes, I do know that we’ll get it done,” Jones said. “It would probably be fair to say it’ll be done on a imminent basis. Imminent. Without being real clear, bright lined. It’s not done. What’s imminent? Well, days. Days. Or something like that.”

With Ezekiel Elliott out of the way, the team is focusing on Prescott and then likely WR Amari Cooper after that. Prescott is coming off a great game where he threw for 405 yards and four TD passes and the first perfect passer rating in team history.

Jerry Jones added that Tony Pollard still has a lot of work to do, specifically in pass protection, where he missed a blitz pickup that got quarterback Dak Prescott hit.

Still, Pollard, a fourth-round pick out of Memphis who also returns kickoffs, has impressed the Cowboys so far in camp. And he might just be the Week 1 starter, if the Cowboys and Ezekiel Elliott don’t come to terms on a new contract.

Related players: Darius Jackson, Jamize Olawale, Mike Weber, Alfred Morris

All along, Pollard has been the favorite to see passing-down action for the Cowboys and the thought was he could even hold his own in PPR leagues. Pollard's stock seems to be still on the rise, especially with Elliott still holding out.

During a recent interview with USA Today, Dak Prescott explained why he won't be offering the Cowboys a discount on his new contract, and basically, it comes down to the fact that NFL revenues keep going up, which means the salary cap keeps going up, which means the Cowboys can afford to pay him market price.

"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. "Because with gambling, with everything going into this league, everything is going to continue to keep going up."

Prescott is headed into the final year of his rookie deal. Through the first three years of his career, Prescott only made a total of $1.62 million, so you can see why he wants to be paid at market price, the story said. According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Prescott's camp "broached" a price point of $34 million per year, which is likely what their client will get.

Cowboys playing to win next Sunday against the New York Giants?

Jerry Jones: “Absolutely. We’re all-out. We’ve got work to do. We’ve got some work to do out here, I think we’ll all agree. We don’t want to, if we can, go into the playoff with dangling participles — loose ends.”

Related players: Ezekiel Elliot, Dak Prescott, Amari Cooper

With the division wrapped up, the Cowboys don't feel giving guys rest is the smart thing to do in Week 17. For those with Week 17 fantasy games, this will be something to monitor as it's still hard to believe the Cowboys stud players will get full workloads in a meaningless game.