The Dallas Cowboys and owner Jerry Jones have come under criticism this offseason for their seeming lack of urgency to sign Dak Prescott to a contract extension. It now appears Jones is bringing that same approach to a CeeDee Lamb contract extension.
Lamb and Prescott are two of the best NFL players right now. Lamb earned first-team All-Pro honors last season and since entering the league as the 17th overall pick, he’s earned three Pro Bowl selections and made the All-Pro team twice.
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Prescott, coming off an MVP-caliber season, is a three-time Pro Bowl selection who earned second-team All-Pro honors last year after leading the NFL in passing touchdowns. He also earned the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year in 2022.
However, at a time when NFL revenue is exploding and the salaries for the highest-paid NFL players are following suit, Dallas has expressed little public desire to extend Prescott or Lamb this summer. Meanwhile, teams around the league are signing their top players to market-setting contracts, further driving up the asking price for Prescott and Lamb.
- CeeDee Lamb contract (Spotrac): $17.991 million salary in 2024, 2025 NFL free agent
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Now, amid Lamb’s training camp holdout, Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones is once again using his time with reporters to downplay the importance of extending Lamb. Asked for an update on contract talks, Jones told reporters on Thursday that there’s no urgency to get a deal done.
“I don’t have any urgency to get it done.”
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones on CeeDee Lamb contract talks (H/T Jon Machota of The Athletic)
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Why the Dallas Cowboys are creating their own problems
On the one hand, Dallas doesn’t necessarily have to extend Lamb right now. It can allow the All-Pro wide receiver to play out the final season of his rookie contract and then apply the franchise tag on him in 2025. The problem for the Cowboys is two-fold.
First, they used this same strategy with Prescott years ago and he turned it into having all the leverage in contract talks thus putting them in the situation they are now. Second, Lamb is already holding out over his contract right now. If he is tagged next offseason, he will be unsigned and thus can skip training camp without being subject to fines. It will also push even more leverage into Lamb’s hands.
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- Dak Prescott contract (Spotrac):Â $55.455 million cap hit in 2024, NFL free agent in 2025
It’s the very same reason Prescott controls. Dallas is stuck with a $40 million cap hit in 2025 even if Prescott is off the roster and it can’t use the franchise tag on him. Meanwhile, there are substantiated NFL rumors that Prescott can easily land more than $60 million per year on his next contract if he hits the open market, an average annual value that would be at least $5 million higher than the highest-paid NFL quarterbacks right now (Joe Burrow, Trevor Lawrence and Jordan Love).
The Cowboys’ front office will also be going through the same issue next year with Micah Parsons, who could easily push for a contract worth north of $35 million per season. Considering how Dallas has handled matters with Prescott and Lamb, there’s very little reason to believe things will go any better with Parsons.
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