OXNARD, Calif. — Dalton Schultz wants to be with the Dallas Cowboys for the long haul.
The former 2018 fourth-round tight end will have to wait until the end of the season to resume contract talks with the Cowboys. At 3:00 p.m. Central Time on July 15, the deadline passed for teams to finalize extensions with players that they had marked with the franchise tag.
"I mean, I would be lying to you if I said I wasn’t disappointed," Schultz told reporters on July 28. "Obviously I think we all came into it thinking that we would be able to get a long-term deal done, and that’s something that we pushed for, they were trying to push for as well."
Schultz, 26, is "at peace" knowing he gave it his all during the offseason to work out a new deal. During the process, Schultz leaned on quarterback Dak Prescott for support as the two-time Pro Bowler was the most recent Cowboys player to play under the franchise tag back in 2020.
"I had multiple conversations with him, multiple conversations with other veterans that have gone through similar processes because I think at the end of the day I felt very uncomfortable about trying to make it about me," Schultz said.
"I’m just not that guy. I don’t want to — I want the media coverage to be honest. But, yeah, I kind of sought their guidance and made sure they gave me a lot of confidence in what I was doing was really the right thing.”
The advice Prescott gave to his second-most targeted teammate in 2021 (104) was to move on.
"Just understand his position and where he is and more importantly just go control the things you can control," Prescott said.
"You signed the tag, you move forward, the negotiations are now past that. So, none of that really matters at this point. It’s about you going out there and doing the best that you can to help this team, help this offense, and when that time comes again to negotiate, if you’ve taken care of your business, things will get handled in the way you like them.”
Schultz made a decent case for the Cowboys last season with 78 catches for 808 yards and eight touchdowns through 17 games.
"At the end of the day, I get business is business sometimes," Schultz said. "I’ve had my emotions about the whole thing, but I’m focused on getting better in this training camp, helping my team win, try to get to the Super Bowl.”
If Schultz is able to add to his body of work from a season ago and it leads to the Cowboys playing in the Big Game, it should result in better leverage in negotiations for a long-term deal.
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