JULY 26: Walking back his comments about Lamb a bit Friday, Stephen Jones said (via the Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s Clarence Hill) the fifth-year wide receiver is not “dug in” on becoming the league’s highest-paid non-quarterback. Not too much wiggle room exists here, as it would stand to reason Lamb will want to collect more than Brown ($32MM AAV, $84MM guaranteed) did earlier this year. This matter figures to come down to how Lamb’s contract compares to Jefferson’s, with a sizable guarantee gap existing between the Eagles and Vikings receiver extensions.
JULY 25: Beginning their training camp, the Cowboys have not completed any extensions with their top players just yet. A report earlier this week indicated not much progress has emerged with CeeDee Lamb, who is holding out. Dak Prescott and Micah Parsons are in attendance in Oxnard, Calif., but they join Lamb in one of the more interesting contract quandaries in many years.
Parsons said earlier this summer he expected to become the NFL’s highest-paid non-quarterback when he signs an extension, though the Cowboys have some time with the 2021 draftee due to the fifth-year option. Lamb is heading into his fifth-year option season, and Cowboys COO Stephen Jones shed some light on the team’s negotiations with the All-Pro wide receiver. Lamb joins Parsons in angling to become the NFL’s highest-paid non-QB, per the second-generation NFL exec.
[RELATED: The Cowboys’ Contract Dilemma]
While Jones stopped short of naming names (via the Dallas Morning News’ Calvin Watkins), it is not difficult to learn which players the Dallas bigwig was referencing. Lamb said in January he wanted to be the NFL’s highest-paid wide receiver. The landscape has changed since those comments, with three more wideouts — Amon-Ra St. Brown, A.J. Brown and Justin Jefferson — crossing the $30MM-per-year barrier. The guarantees in Jefferson’s record-smashing $35MM-per-year deal ($110MM in total, $88.7MM full) far eclipsed previous records, and they have certainly complicated Cowboys-Lamb talks.
Dallas did not enter serious negotiations with Lamb last year, as the Vikings also waited until Year 5 — the norm for first-round wideouts until this offseason, when DeVonta Smith and Jaylen Waddle received early extensions — with Jefferson. The Minnesota contract moves the bar for the Cowboys, who have never guaranteed more than $40MM (Amari Cooper) for a receiver. In Dallas’ defense, only 10 wideouts are tied to deals that contained $40MM at signing.
Jones called having three players who could set the market at their positions “not easy,” and Lamb could still be franchise-tagged in 2025. Though, the fifth-year wideout is attempting to force the issue by holding out; Zack Martin did so and succeeded last year. A tag is off the table for Prescott, who holds tremendous leverage with no-tag and no-trade clauses. Prescott’s monster cap number ($55.13MM) this year and void years-driven $40.13MM dead money figure for 2025 give him rare ammo to use against a team also dealing with Lamb and Parsons.
Although the ninth-year QB could maneuver his way to free agency fairly easily, Jerry Jones does not believe 2024 will be Prescott’s Dallas finale. A $60MM-per-year price tag has been rumored for Dak, who may soon have more to work with should the Jordan Love and Tua Tagovailoa deals cross the goal lines in Green Bay and Miami soon.
“Just to be very specific. I do not think this will be his last year with the Cowboys, at all,” Jones said, via The Athletic’s Jon Machota (subscription required). “I want to say if it hasn’t been clear — of how much we appreciate what Dak Prescott has meant to this team in a positive way. The players do play better when he’s out there. He does make his teammates play at a higher level there’s no question about it. So I’m right there in line with his best fan.”
Differing reports have come out regarding whether Prescott or Lamb is the team’s immediate priority. It would stand to reason Prescott would be due to his unique situation, as Lamb can still be tagged. The Cowboys are believed to be set to make their longtime starter a strong offer, one that would drop his record-setting (along with Deshaun Watson and other QBs this year) cap number and give the Cowboys some security.
Prescott prefers to stay in Dallas as well, though the 2023 second-team All-Pro stopped short of guaranteeing his career will unfold entirely with the franchise. As legendary figures like Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Joe Montana and countless other greats have shown, of course, QBs regularly do not go wire-to-wire with the teams that drafted them. Roger Staubach, Troy Aikman and Tony Romo did, though.
“I’m gonna say it. I want to be here, but when you look [it] up, all the other great quarterbacks that I watched played for other teams [than their first team],” Prescott said, via Yahoo’s Charles Robinson. “… That’s not something to fear.”
Prescott, 30, has not been afraid to maximize his leverage; it took three offseasons for him to sign his current four-year, $160MM contract. Hinting at a future departure is not out of character, and the Cowboys will need to make a whopping offer to ensure they keep their former fourth-round find off next year’s market, where a host of suitors would await.