FRISCO, Texas _ The Dallas Cowboys remain interested in a trade for Seattle Seahawks cornerback Earl Thomas.
But there remain many moving parts before that could happen.
The Cowboys have already balked at the Seahawks original asking price of a first- and third-round pick. The Cowboys would likely give nothing higher than a second-round pick.
And then there is the matter of Thomas' contract demands.
The former Texas star, who has already expressed interest in finishing his career with the Cowboys, is in the final year of his deal with the Seahawks and wants an extension. He has told the Seahawks as much, and the demands would conceivably apply if he was dealt to another team.
Thomas is entering the final year of a four-year, $40 million extension he signed after the 2013 season that made him the highest-paid safety in the NFL. The deal included $25.7 million guaranteed, and he is due to make $8.5 million in 2018.
He remains one of the top safeties in the game, but the Cowboys are quietly hoping Thomas might take less money to return home to play for a team he grew up rooting for.
"The question was asked, could you do in a round do a trade for a player with his contract and all the pending issues on a contract," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said. "We can make that trade. We can get in behind it and I mean like that, get a handle on his contract. Now it takes you-know-whats to decide if you want to go ahead and make that deal. The pick is gone _ on whether or not you're going to extend him for two or three more years if he's on a one-year contract or something. That takes a little of those grandes to do that.
"But if you're willing to get in there. We know the information. We know it as though we were getting ready to take the plane off. We've got the information and that's a credit to this organization and the preparedness that we've got.'
