The Cowboys are preparing to head to Oxnard, California today for the start of training camp. Whether or not CeeDee Lamb attends will no doubt depend on the state of negotiations regarding an extension. 
The All-Pro wideout is set to play on his fifth-year option in 2024, valued at $17.99MM. A long-term deal will cost much more, but Dallas has yet to work out an agreement with Lamb, quarterback (and fellow pending free agent) Dak Prescott or extension-eligible edge rusher Micah Parsons. The most recent update on the matter noted that Lamb is now team’s top financial priority, but nothing appears to be imminent.
Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News reports the Cowboys have yet to have “substantial” extension talks with Lamb to date. That comes as a notable surprise considering the importance of the 25-year-old in the Cowboys’ short- and long-term financial planning. If working out a deal with Lamb is indeed viewed as more pressing (or at least more feasible) that doing the same with Prescott, Dallas will have plenty of work to do on the negotiating front over the coming weeks.
Owner and general manager Jerry Jones expressed a desire to wait for the quarterback and receiver markets to take shape before moving forward with new deals for Prescott and/or Lamb. The latter has seen three WR deals surpass $30MM per season recently, including Justin Jefferson‘s historic $35-per-year accord. His asking price will no doubt affected by the continued upward trajectory of the position’s market, though the Cowboys are not believed to be interested in moving the bar higher on a Lamb extension.
The Oklahoma product did not take part in voluntary OTAs or mandatory minicamp. A training camp holdout is a distinct possibility, and the chances of Lamb skipping out on the start of camp would likely increase if team and player are not close to hammering out an agreement. Players who hold out from camp are subject to daily fines, but those attached to rookie contracts (like in Lamb’s case) can have those fines waived by their respective teams.
Lamb’s decision on skipping the start of camp (or attending but not taking part in drills) will be worth watching in the immediate future. With Prescott and Parsons in need of extensions as well, Dallas’ efforts in pursuing a Lamb resolution will be a central storyline for the team over the coming days and weeks.
Are there really any negotiations or is it just give me a million a year more in AAV than the current highest paid receiver?
50 years ago a player contract was a one or two page document. Today it involves a team of a dozen lawyers constructing a document that may run 500 pages. There’s a reason negotiations seem to drag on much longer now.
Current NFL contract is 6 pages.
Never thought I would read any offseason where Jerry was quiet and cheap. I think Jerry knows this current roster isn’t giving him his 4th ring, so simply letting all of those expiring contracts walk.
“Owner and general manager Jerry Jones expressed a desire to wait for the quarterback and receiver markets to take shape before moving forward with new deals for Prescott and/or Lamb.”
The top four receiver contracts in guaranteed money and the top three in AAV have been signed this offseason. How much more shape can the receiver market take?
This should be getting just as much as attention as Aiyuk.
Pay Lamb and Parsons and say good bye to Dak. If not trade Parsons for a Herchel Walker type trade
I don’t particularly like to offer my opinions on hypothetical trades, but in my eyes, I consider Lamb to the most tradeable. Teams are going to be reluctant to face the same issue that Dallas currently is-three huge WR deals in the same offseason that will skyrocket Lamb’s price-but whatever deal Lamb gets is still going to be cheaper in comparison to what Parsons or Prescott get. Prescott is a QB, and Parsons is a generational defender who has a good chance to be the highest paid non-QB in the league. So, contract-wise, Lamb is probably the most tradeable.
Value-wise, Parsons is probably the best pound-for-pound of the three. Not that the other two aren’t good, but Parsons is, as I said, generational. He’s also more versatile relative to his position than the other two. Parsons can stand up or have his hand in the dirt, and can play off ball (where he was drafted) as well as edge rush. If you pay Parsons, of course, you’re doing it as an edge rusher, and that’s where you keep him. However, it is a testament to his ability what he can do there. Even though a team may give up multiple firsts for him, teams really should ideally retain their generational players at great cost. The reason is that one of those picks will likely be used for a replacement, who is likely not as good, and the return becomes diminished as a result. Those two firsts become a lesser fill-in player who hopefully works out and a first. Dallas drafts really well, so they may be able to sustain more than others, but I’d still consider Parsons’ retention to be more high priority than Lamb’s.
As for Prescott, there really isn’t much point in signing Lamb to a new deal if the team falls out of win now mode. Trading Dak or otherwise losing him will necessitate finding a new franchise starter. I know that people hate Prescott and think that as soon as he goes whomever shows up will automatically be better, but the reality is that he is a starting quarterback who has put up great numbers (meaning, he has performed well) in the past for a sustained period of time. Any new quarterback will have to at least match that, all while trying to contend. Any player who can do that is going to demand as much or more money than Prescott, and I don’t know where one of those can be found. People may be tired of Prescott, but the Cowboys don’t draft highly enough to acquire the best QB in a good draft, and even if they did, there’s no guarantee that he’ll develop. Even if he does, it won’t be instantaneous, and all the while (in the scenario that Lamb is retained), the Cowboys will be paying Lamb’s huge contract. An argument can be made that Lamb would help the new quarterback develop, but again, there’s a huge assumption to make there that the new quarterback will be adequate. As much as people may dislike Prescott, finding that level of production is extremely hit or miss in the league, and right now, the Cowboys have it.
Wide receivers are valuable, and the best (Lamb is somewhere in the top tier) can drastically improve their quarterback’s quality. However, they impact fewer plays than a full time defender and especially less than a quarterback. That doesn’t mean that that’s an absolute-every quarterback or defender is not worth more than every wideout-but when you have three potentially franchise players to sign, you have to weigh how important each is relatively. There are usually three to four receivers that get significant touches in a modern NFL offense. There are two to three edge rushers that do the same. There is one quarterback. If Lamb walks, the Cowboys have three spots to audition a replacement. There are more opportunities for a starting wideout than almost any position in the league, so even teams with decent receiving corps can be potential trade partners in some scenarios. Lamb will cost the least, and it’s typically easier to draft a great WR in a later round than it is a defensive end or quarterback. I think that Lamb is the mist tradeable here.