Jones says Cowboys close on Romo extension

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is leaving the impression that the club is close to agreeing to a contract extension with quarterback Tony Romo and says the coaching staff will be charged with "deploy(ing) Romo according to his pay scale."

"I expect our offensive staff to deploy Romo according to his pay scale," Jones says, speaking to reporters at the NFL owners meetings in Arizona. "Stay tuned, but he's going to have high expectations, I promise you that. He is not going to be paid to be a bus driver."

That "pay scale'' is not fully known, though Jerry and Stephen Jones have both recently intimated to FOXSportsSouthwest.com that they plan a "four- or five-year'' extension for the QB, whose present deal will otherwise expire after this season. Among the parameter-setters might be the six-year, $120.6 million contract Joe Flacco recently signed with the Baltimore Ravens.

Romo has a $16.8 million cap figure for 2013. Among the reasons for an extension: The possible creation of what sources say can be as much as $8 million of cap room, depending on the new deal's structure. And the sooner Dallas can do that, the more shopping Jones can do.

"We are involved in negotiations,'' Jones says. "I'm not concerned that we are looking at a drawn-out thing here. I'm not concerned that is going to in any way hamper any decision we want to make personnel-wise over the next few weeks."

Jones also says the Jason Garrett-led coaching staff must better maximize Romo's skills, using Washington's utilization of Robert Griffin III as an example.

"(Romo) has had some success with (Garrett's offense)," Jones said. "But it hasn't got us where we want to go. So the change up is, how do we use him better? Have we maximized everything that he is about to get it done? Those are the challenges we've got in the offseason."