PRO FOOTBALL / DAILY REPORT : NFC : Cowboys’ Jones Plans to Fight NFL

Jerry Jones plans to fight the NFL’s questioning of cornerback Deion Sanders’ $35-million contract, the Dallas Cowboys’ owner said, adding that he considers the league’s position an attack on his team.

“This is suspicious to me. It’s so transparent that the NFL is being selective,” Jones said.

“They’re trying to intimidate the Cowboys, they’re trying to be a bully. We will not let them intimidate or bully us.”

The league told the team to renegotiate its seven-year deal with Sanders to fit under the salary cap. The league has conditionally approved the deal but held that it violates the spirit of the $37.1-million-per-team cap, said Harold Henderson, the NFL’s director of labor relations.

Jones said the contract follows the salary cap rules completely.

“This is not about Deion, what this is about is sticking it to the Dallas Cowboys. This is very disturbing,” Jones said, adding that he expects to win the fight.

Technically, Sanders will make the NFL base salary of $178,000 for the first three years, but his pay will average $5.5 million per year including his nearly $13-million signing bonus.

“Sanders’ contract is structured to avoid counting under the salary cap a very large portion of the compensation which Deion is to receive for his services during the early years of his contract,” the NFL’s Henderson said.

“In this respect, Deion’s contract stands apart from every other in the league. In our view, the contract as currently structured involves salary cap circumvention.”

Sanders is recovering from surgery to remove bone chips in his ankle. He is tentatively scheduled to make his first appearance as a Cowboy Oct. 29 at Atlanta, where he used to play before signing with San Francisco before last season.