Cowboys and Franchise-Tagged Dalton Schultz: Why No Talks Toward New Contract?

Negotiations between the emerging young tight end and the Dallas front office are stalling.

Few positions are as underrated as a tight end. After all, a receiver that can consistently produce between the hashes is bound to be a quarterback's best friend.

Emerging young tight end Dalton Schultz has quickly made a name for himself among Dallas Cowboys fans. The 25-year-old was drafted by the Cowboys in the fourth round of the 2018 NFL Draft, and since then, has shot his way up to first place on the depth chart.

In 2021, Schultz had a career year in which he accumulated 78 receptions for 808 yards and eight touchdowns. This showing was enough for Schultz to earn a franchise tag in the 2022 offseason worth $10.8 million.

Current Dallas stars defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence and quarterback Dak Prescott were similarly franchise-tagged before receiving long-term deals from the club. However, with the July 15th deadline quickly approaching to secure an extension, a deal still seems a long way away.

Indeed, all indications are there isn't much negotiating movement at all.

On the heels of Cleveland Browns tight end David Njoku receiving a new four-year $56.7 million deal, there is potential that the Cowboys are apprehensive about Schultz's potential long-term price tag. 

Njoku's heft deal comes despite the fact that his production has never topped Schultz's 2021 season; Njoku's best receiving season was in 2018 when he had 56 receptions for 639 yards and 4 touchdowns. With Njoku now becoming the fourth-highest paid tight end in the NFL, Schultz is a shoo-in to become one of the league's highest-paid tight ends.

Despite the questions surrounding his long-term status with Dallas, Schultz remains focused on his craft:

“I don’t pay attention (to) that off the field (stuff). I let my agent handle all that (expletive) and I do my own thing. It’s been nice. I’ve been able to focus on my process and honestly we have a lot of young guys and obviously we got a couple of new faces in the room. Just having a couple of guys that I can kinda try and help come along, knowing that I was in their shoes four years ago, yeah its definitely positive.”

A good tight end can open up schemes and create mismatches; it's worth seeing whether the Cowboys will hang on to one of the best in the league at the position at the $10.8 million price tag with just one year in mind, or whether a long-term deal - which must be forged by July 15 or, for 2022, not at all - will be reached.

Proactivity would seem wise. But right now? There doesn't seem to be much activity at all.

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