Cowboys’ contract conundrum is only just beginning as other players will soon need new deals

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Dak Prescott, Micah Parsons, and CeeDee Lamb aren’t the only All-Pros looking for new deals soon.

We’ve talked all offseason, and even going back to last year, about the new contracts due to QB Dak Prescott, LB Micah Parsons, and WR CeeDee Lamb. While we’re still waiting for just one of these to get resolved, it’s hard not to look down the pike and see the next wave of Dallas Cowboys nearing the end of their rookie contracts.

Sure, Prescott’s future is the key here no matter who else you talk about. Playing the most important and expensive position in football, Prescott’s money will be a major factor in what Dallas is able to do with their other talent. Lamb and Parsons are also critical; All-Pro talents at positions with some of the highest payrolls. Keeping all three of them long-term is doable but we’re still waiting for the first domino to fall.

One reason why these talks may be taking so long is that the Cowboys have more All-Pro mouths to feed in the near future. The 2022 draft class is entering its third year, just one behind Parsons in terms of tenure and contract expiration. And even in just two seasons, we already have two elite NFL players from that draft, LG Tyler Smith and CB DaRon Bland, plus another budding star in TE Jake Ferguson.

Like Prescott and Parsons, Smith and Bland were both Second-Team All-Pros in 2023. Smith emerged as one of football’s dominant guards and Bland had a record-breaking year with his five pick-sixes, nine interceptions total, for Dallas’ defense. Ferguson also broke out with his first Pro Bowl trip, finishing the year in the Top 10 for catches, yards, and touchdowns among tight ends.

Thankfully, these guys aren’t going to command the same kind of money as the current wave. Prescott’s in a league of his own with QB money, with a going rate of $55 million per year based on the latest deals. Lamb and Parsons’ positions are now paying elite talents around $35 million per year. You can see why there’s been so much angst around these negotiations as these three contracts will shape Dallas’ salary cap landscape for years to come.

That landscape will determine what the Cowboys can do to keep guys like Bland, Smith, and Ferguson in the coming years. The top cornerbacks and guards are making about $21 million per year these days and tight ends aren’t far behind at $17 million. These numbers should go up in the next few years with natural inflation; they won’t hit WR/Edge levels but will still demand significant chunks.

Like with Parsons and Lamb, Dallas has a fifth-year option on Smith’s deal to try to kick the can down the road for a year. But as we’re seeing this offseason with Lamb, that may not matter if Smith is willing to hold out. Lamb did not report to the team’s spring camps earlier this month, wanting his long-term deal now instead of playing 2024 on the fifth-year option deal of about $18 million. Even though it’s a big bump from his first four seasons, it’s still about half of what he’d be making annually on the open market.

Many of us are fatigued by the waiting and the discussion about players’ money. But you can see why there’s a wait; it’s not as simple as Dallas just shutting up and paying up. Good drafting has brought in a rush of young talent all looking for their next contracts, and right at the same time the Cowboys have to make a franchise-defining decision about their starting quarterback. This also helps us to see that if Dallas is considering the reset button at QB, keeping all of these other guys around will be a primary motivator in that move.

Time will tell what the Cowboys’ financial flexibility is once they have to pay DaRon Bland, Tyler Smith, Jake Ferguson, and other up-and-coming talent. But that next wave is coming, and it’s why the team can’t be flippant about its decisions now with Dak Prescott, Micah Parsons, and CeeDee Lamb. As much as they want to keep every homegrown star and win with them, it becomes prohibitive somewhere down the line. We seem to be hitting that wall now, and how Dallas gets around it will drive this team’s future for years to come.