Stephen Jones: Cowboys 'rarely' talking with Elliott's reps

Ezekiel Elliott's holdout has no end in sight, and he doesn't appear to be engaging in consistent discussions with the Dallas Cowboys.

Cowboys executive vice president and COO Stephen Jones revealed the team hasn't frequently discussed a new contract with the disgruntled running back's representatives.

"Very rarely (are we speaking to Elliott's camp)," Jones said on "The Rich Eisen Show" on Wednesday. "There's this perception out there about negotiations that there's these ongoing talks and they go on hours at a time; that's just not the case. You kind of set the boundaries of where you think (the contract) should be, and certainly, they're all represented by very sharp people, and they're trying to do the best for their client.

"But at the end of the day this is a distribution dilemma for us," he continued. "The money is gonna go out the door. It's going to be spent across the board with our team. It's just (owner) Jerry (Jones) and I's job to decide how to divide the pie. Everybody wants their share."

Elliott reportedly wants to top Todd Gurley's position-leading annual salary of $14.38 million. The tailback reportedly told Dallas he doesn't intend to play in 2019 without a new deal.

Despite Elliott's holdout looming over the Cowboys, Jones claims it hasn't been a distraction for the club during training camp.

"Not at all. It's just not a factor with our coaches and our players," he said. "I know it's certainly something the media likes to have something that they can write about. I know our fans are interested, in terms of when this thing might come to a conclusion, but it's certainly zero focus as far as our players, our coaches, and our organization."

Owner Jerry Jones previously expressed confidence that a deal with his star back will be completed, but also stated he doesn't believe there's a deadline for reaching an agreement. Stephen, however, reiterated that the Cowboys still expected Elliott to report to camp.

"We expect all players that have a contract to show up," Jones said. "Obviously he didn't. There's rules that pertain to these type of things and we certainly have to respect that. Zeke's been a great football player for us. He's a warrior on the field and we've got great respect for him. We just want to get a resolution at some point."