In recent days, the Cowboys have made renewed efforts to hammer out a CeeDee Lamb extension. The latest update on one of the team’s three key extension situations indicates plenty of work is still required. 
[RELATED: Dak Prescott Open To In-Season Extension Talks]
Dallas has reportedly offered a deal worth more than A.J. Brown‘s Eagles pact ($32MM per season) but short of $33MM annually. The top of the receiver market reached $35MM when Justin Jefferson inked a record-breaking Vikings extension this offseason. Jefferson now resides as the league’s top earner for non-quarterbacks, although a Lamb deal may not need to surpass that mark.
Nevertheless, Mike Garafolo of NFL Network notes the AAV of the Cowboys’ best offer to date is one of several issues which need to be worked out (video link). Matters such as cashflow and guarantee structure – in addition to an elevated AAV – remain points of contention where further negotiation will be required for a deal to be in place. An agreement for Lamb may be closer than one for quarterback Dak Prescott, but Garafolo’s report confirms there is still a gap to be bridged between team and player.
One of several wideouts seeking a new or upgraded deal this offseason, Lamb skipped out on OTAs and mandatory minicamp. His decision to remain away from the team during training camp has resulted in mandatory fines accruing, but the 25-year-old is attached to his rookie contract by way of the fifth-year option. As a result, those penalties can be waived by the Cowboys if/when a deal is struck and Lamb reports to the team.
Jefferson’s monster accord features nearly $89MM guaranteed, far more than the second-highest in that regard (Tyreek Hill, $54MM). Lamb will likely fall in between those two figures on his pact, but the Cowboys’ best offer in terms of locked in compensation apparently needs to be upped for an agreement to be possible. Money in the first few years of the pact (especially the signing bonus) is also a critical component for team and player; the size of the signing bonus and the length of the contract are central in determining cap hits.
Managing to keep Lamb, Prescott and edge rusher Micah Parsons in the fold beyond 2024 will be a key challenge for the Cowboys. The terms of a pact for each member of that trio – which, in the latter’s case will likely not be known for another year, in spite of team’s public stance on that front – will dictate Dallas’ cap outlook for the foreseeable future. Getting Lamb in the fold in time for Week 1 remains the expectation, but an agreement may not be as imminent as it previously seemed.
Just ask to be traded to the Steelers. Working for Aiyuk
With Cooper Rush and Cee Dee, they’ll win as many regular season games and lose as many playoffs than they would with Dak. Why aren’t we hearing anything about Trey Lance?
If you live in the DFW area you hear about Trey Lance all the time, and the overwhelming consensus is he’s not good at football, which is obvious when you watch him in these preseason games. What exactly do you want to hear about him?
Play. Your. Deal.
I find it interesting I never see comments about pay your deal when teams cut players with multiple year left on their contracts or force players to take pay cuts to avoid getting cut. Why is it we focus on the players when this stuff happens and never the owners when it’s the other way around.
Ghost when players are cut they are paid what was agreed on. The players knows what they will be paid if they play out the full deal, what bonuses are paid and when, what the guarantees are in the event they are cut.
Play. Your. Deal.
@Macbeth Per Sports Illustrated
“NFL contracts, the guaranteed sum is below the theoretical value of the agreement about 90% of the time. And that’s especially true for lesser players, since they have limited negotiating power.
Signing bonuses are ringfenced in the NFL. Often, however, if a player is cut from a team as a result of injury, underperformance or simply to save money, their contract evaporates. Contrast that with Major League Baseball, where contracts are fully guaranteed: the Los Angeles Angels’ Mike Trout signed a $426.5m, 12-year deal in 2019, every dollar destined for his bank account. Almost all NBA contracts are fully guaranteed. But in the NFL, through no fault of his own a player could find himself unemployed after a year having earned, for example, $1m from what was theoretically a three-year deal worth $3m.”
Research your takes before you correct others
I’d love to read it before I reply.
I’d agree about the latter point about guarantees in baseball and basketball. The NFLPA needs to be a real union and secure fully guaranteed deals for players.
Ghost I can’t seem to find the article you referenced but I want to ask if the article references the 10% that don’t receive the guarantee.
Are those 10% tied into players who don’t meet contractual obligations such as Randy Gregory for a recent example? Or a player who is cut for off rhe field incidents?
LOL. He’ll be there for game 1, because the penalties are severe if he doesn’t, but holding out in the preseason is the only leverage these guys have. Guess what, nobody in the building cares that Ceedee Lamb isn’t taking preseason snaps, it’s unnecessary.
Let him walk. He can choose to play out the deal he has or not. Then let him walk.
This is all greed with zero thought for the team or more importantly the fans.
Very few players, especially in the top tier of their position, play out the final year of their contracts. People saying he’s greedy, but this is how the league is set up. Cowboys aren’t being greedy by not paying him what he’s worth? It’s their fault his price tag is so high in the first place! They should have paid him the moment free agency started. The market was in a different place then. I’m actually surprised he hasn’t asked for a trade yet, and he may not, but it’s still surprising this has dragged on so long
Remember when the narrative was to follow CeeDee Lamb, Jerry Jeudy, and Ruggs III….. No one would have imagined that CeeDee and Mike McCarthy would be the last combo standing.
Soooo, if Cee Dee had a poor season last year would the cowboys be justified tearing up his contract and reducing his salary?
The way the league is set up? Yes, but that assumes he’s not on a 5th year option. He is, and it is guaranteed, so it is moot at this point. With how he has played, he is underpaid. The Cowboys dug themselves a hole by not extending his contract sooner. I’m not a Cowboys fan, but just trying to look at this from a logical standpoint, I can’t understand what they are doing. Maybe they know something I don’t
That’s exactly what teams do, ALL THE TIME. That’s why these guys fight for more guaranteed money in their contracts, because the teams absolutely will tear up their contract when they feel they’re no longer needed.
It’s funny seeing all of these arguments trying to protect these billionaire owners from the “greedy” players. These poor old men might have to sell one of their yachts one day to afford these player salaries.
Billionairres doesn’t matter. Salary cap does.
Then trade him and move on. Some other team would be more than happy to give him the contract he wants.
DAL offered Lamb, 33 million, and the top WR is at 35. So they are within more or less, 2 million? The only thing not close is the drama queens in the media and elsewhere. This contract will be signed so relax. The only people who benefit from all this are pharmaceutical companies.