Getty Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones
The Dallas Cowboys have multiple contract extensions looming, and one of them will probably be the definition of a bank-breaker. Besides potential new deals for QB Dak Prescott and pass rusher Micah Parsons, wide receiver CeeDee Lamb is also due a huge payday.
Lamb is coming off a first-team All-Pro campaign and only has one year left remaining on his rookie deal. He has established himself as an elite receiver, and that’s why Bleacher Report writer Alex Ballentine believes the team will make him one of, if not the highest-paid WR in the NFL.
“Of the top receivers on the market, Lamb feels like the least likely to be on the move… A contract that pays him $31 million annually qualifies and the Cowboys have the future cap space to make it happen. He’s certainly earned it after putting in his first All-Pro season in 2023. Prediction: Lamb signs a five-year, $155 million extension this summer,” Ballentine wrote on April 6.
Lamb has only gotten better each season, and his on-field relationship with Prescott was at its best in 2023. That being said, part of the issue with extending Lamb is Prescott himself.
Prescott is also in need of an extension, but recent reports have stated that Dallas has not offered one. The Cowboys have to be smart about not overbooking when it comes to big extensions.
CeeDee Lamb Sets Career Bests
Lamb has stepped up his production each year, but 2023 was different gravy. The former Oklahoma Sooner put out personal bests in almost every statistical category.
According to Sports Reference, his 135 receptions cleared his previous best (107 in 2022) by considerable margin. It also led the entirety of the NFL. Further, his 1749 receiving yards last season was almost 400 yards more than his previous best.
The same goes for his touchdowns, as Lamb totaled double-digit scores for the first time in his career with 12 TD catches. He also added two rushing scores to boot.
In a year where the 25-year-old needed to maximize his value, Lamb didn’t just help his case with Dallas. He proved that he is one of the best WRs in the league and deserves to be paid accordingly.
NFL Exec Believes Cowboys Are Trying to Low-Ball Prescott
As mentioned above, Dallas has yet to extend Prescott and don’t seem to be in a rush to do so. According to The Athletic reporter Mike Sando, an anonymous NFL exec believes the team’s lack of free agency additions could be purposefully setting up a mediocre season for both the team and Prescott.
“If the guy wants $60 million a year, you know what we are going to do instead?” the anonymous executive said. “We are going to have an average team, and you are going to play worse and we are going to get you at a better price.”
“Tanking” for a draft pick isn’t unheard of, but doing so just to get a QB on a cheaper deal is. Perhaps the exec is onto something with Prescott. But this is a comment that feels more like a rib on the Cowboys than a serious plan.