It is officially NFL combine week. Get ready for some headlines.

That is one of the biggest and most important parts of this week if we are being honest. While the goal of it is obviously to garner information about the upcoming NFL draft prospects, that so many coaches and front office figures speak and linger with one another provides plenty of pieces of valuable information.

Before the week officially begins, that process has already begun for the Dallas Cowboys. Late Sunday night The Dallas Morning News published a story about a conversation they had with Stephen Jones and in it Jones noted that the Cowboys have begun contract negotiations with defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa.

INDIANAPOLIS — The Cowboys have begun negotiations with free agent defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa.

Talks of an extension for Micah Parsons will follow.

Club officials hope to retain free agents Jourdan Lewis and Rico Dowdle while getting a feel for whether or not veteran defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence wants to continue his career.

And outside free agents? The Cowboys intend to be more aggressive on that front than last off-season.

Before the weekend began it was reported that Dallas had yet to begin contract negotiations with Micah Parsons. The report here regarding the Stephen conversation tracks with that as it appears that Dallas is focusing on Odighizuwa first.

In terms of the variable of time, this thought process makes sense. Odighizuwa is set to become a free agent when the new league year begins where Parsons is under team control through the 2025 season as a result of the year being his fifth-year option campaign. Obviously Parsons was a first-round pick in 2021 and Odighizuwa went in the third which is where that difference ultimately comes from.

It is encouraging to see that Dallas wants to keep Odighizuwa (consider that reports have him slated to make $21M per year on a new deal).

The DMN put the subject in interesting terms in noting that he is the type of player who the Cowboys have let walk before in that he is good, but not great.

Odighizuwa fits the template of a player the Cowboys have reluctantly let walk in free agency in recent years — one who is consistent, reliable and very good at his job but falls short of Pro Bowl status. But this is a team coming off a disappointing 7-10 season with only one other defensive tackle under contract (Mazi Smith) who has any meaningful minutes.

“We have had negotiations with Osa,‘’ Jones said. “I just think Osa is a really good football player.

“He’s an important piece.‘’

There is no question that Odighizuwa offers a lot to the Cowboys and keeping him would be a good thing for the group overall.

Getting a deal done with Parsons (as well as Jourdan Lewis and Rico Dowdle to different degrees) should absolutely be the top priority for the offseason at large, and the most important aspect of it is to get it taken care of with enough time to be aggressive in free agency as Stephen seemed to be open to the idea of.

The ultimate truth here is that the Cowboys have burned up the benefit of the doubt with their fans as far as decisions like these are concerned.

They have a lot of trust to earn back and so these words all sound nice, but we are at a place where only actions can start to mend the fences. We will see how serious Stephen (and Co.) is about it all soon enough.