Cowboys mailbag: Questions on CeeDee Lamb, Dak Prescott and getting contracts finalized
Our latest mailbag features plenty of questions about the Dallas Cowboys.
Every week, we take questions on X (Twitter) and Facebook about Dallas Cowboys players and other issues surrounding the team. So let’s get right into it.
“Will CeeDee Lamb’s contract be bigger than Justin Jefferson’s?”
(@DC4L on Facebook)
Mike: When you look at CeeDee Lamb and Justin Jefferson’s statistics side-by-side, Jefferson is ahead but not by much. By that rule you would say Lamb deserves a contract less than Jefferson. Sure, that’s taking contract philosophy in a vacuum here but that would be the starting point for both sides to work from. Now Jefferson has set the benchmark both Lamb and the Cowboys front office have a figure to work with and will more than likely be the next contract to get done.
His holdout will only help speed things up and if anything Cowboys fans should be happy he wasn’t present at minicamp. By not being there he protects himself from injury and Cowboys fans don’t want to wake up to news Lamb suffered a setback at a training session.
#Cowboys star WR CeeDee Lamb has not been spotted in Dallas for mandatory minicamp, sources say. Lamb has not been present for voluntary OTAs, but is not reporting to minicamp, which subjects a player to fines.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) June 4, 2024
Lamb seeks a new contract extension. pic.twitter.com/gw2M4Q1Et8
Best guess is with Jefferson earning an average of $35 million per-year, Lamb will be somewhere close to that but slightly less.
Dana: Last month, Jerry Jones mentioned that he was interested in seeing more “leaves fall” before extending CeeDee Lamb, meaning that he wanted to get a baseline of what the market looks like after a few other WRs got new contracts of their own. Now the biggest leaf has fallen with Jefferson’s contract making him the highest paid WR in history, averaging $35 million per year.
Now it is no secret that Lamb is looking to get paid like he is one of the very best WRs in the NFL, as he should. But is it realistic to expect something higher than $35 million? Jefferson and Lamb both came into the NFL in 2020 and have had pretty comparable production, especially after Lamb took over the WR1 role in 2022.
Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb on Micah Parsons’ @BleacherReport The Edge podcast on his next contract: “I can’t give you no numbers right now, but I’ll tell you this, one of the top paid receivers for sure, if not the (highest-paid WR). That’s always the goal.”
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) February 10, 2024
Do you want to be a… pic.twitter.com/A0Sw1bHICV
Lamb and his agent definitely have a strong argument, but the Cowboys front office have two other very large contract extensions on their radar with the expectation that Micah Parsons’ will likely make him the highest paid non-QB in NFL history. They should be able to come to a healthy agreement that makes CeeDee Lamb one of the top paid receivers in the NFL, even if that is just short of Jefferson’s $35 million per year.
“What does next year look like if Dak isn’t on the team?”
(@KrunkleKris via Twitter)
Mike: It looks like an offense led by Trey Lance. If Dak ends up not signing an extension and has priced himself out of the team then the front office will more than likely sign Lance to an extension and he becomes the heir to the throne. What that looks like is up for debate as we haven’t seen Lance play under center in Dallas a great deal, plus we don’t know how far along he’s developed in the offseason. We will get to see plenty of Lance this preseason and he will pretty much dominate the snap share in the preseason games.
So from there we can judge what this offense would look like if Dak was to leave the team next year and have a clearer answer to this question.
#DallasCowboys QB Trey Lance in the lab getting ready for the season.
— Tony Catalina (@Tony_Catalina) March 18, 2024
All indications are Lance will have a real chance to supplant Cooper Rush for QB2 this year.
( : Kecia.dpt on IG) pic.twitter.com/qZ7pqLugBe
Dana: The first year of the Cowboys post-Prescott would be a pretty rough one. The hope would be that they have a very solid plan on what to do to replace him before that happens. That plan could be heavily dependent on Trey Lance. If he is able to blow everyone’s expectations of out of the water, the Cowboys could decide to stick with that investment at QB moving forward. If that doesn’t happen, depending on how the 2024 season plays out, the Cowboys could try to draft a starting caliber QB early on in the 2025 draft, or even sign a veteran QB to step in. That might not be the only change that this team could face in 2025, as Mike McCarthy and Mike Zimmer are both on one-year contracts. With all of the changes that could bring, 2025 might be a year where the team is working to find the new normal.
“How likely do you think a deal is done for all three big guys? (Prescott/Lamb/Parsons)”
(@NFLAngelo_ via Twitter)
Mike: Ok, so we can take Micah Parsons off the list (for now). Although he can push for a contract extension this year, he’s still under contract for the next two seasons and isn’t an immediate contract to get resolved as a matter or urgency. For Lamb and Dak, it’s most likely both will get done. This offense runs through both guys and this front office knows they need these guys to be signed to maintain that level of efficiency. Training camp has always been a place these major deals get done, and usually come out of the blue when it does get announced.
As for Parsons, expect his name to dominate the headlines when his contract renewal is ready to hit the negotiating table next year. Unless his production completely falls off the cliff (which is unlikely), then expect the likelihood of him getting re-signed being quite high.
Dana: Very likely. The Cowboys’ front office has been anticipating these big contract extensions and have been very vocal about the need to get each of them done. They have been very frugal in free agency and have put a lot of expectations on the rookies and younger guys on the team for this very reason. In an article from Todd Archer from ESPN, Stephen Jones reiterated the sentiment on 105.3 The Fan.
“When we’re all said and done, we max out our salary cap every year. We will have done that and what comes with having a good roster, which we do, we also are looking towards signing our own guys. It doesn’t mean it happens overnight. But when you’re wanting to sign players like Dak [Prescott] and Micah [Parsons] and CeeDee [Lamb], then certainly you have to hold money back if you want to have a realistic chance of signing those guys.”
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