Getty CeeDee Lamb of the Dallas Cowboys celebrates with teammate Michael Gallup.
The Dallas Cowboys are in the thick of preparing for the NFL Draft but have extensions for CeeDee Lamb and Trevon Diggs high on their radar.
Both Diggs and Lamb are members of the 2020 draft class and are heading into their fourth year with the Cowboys. As a former second-round pick, Diggs could become a free agent at the end of the season if an extension isn’t reached. Dallas could also decide to franchise tag him.
Lamb — a former first-rounder — has a fifth-year option that the Cowboys can execute to keep him under contract for one more season, although there are clear benefits to getting an extension done now. Other receivers reaching new deals could raise his value, especially if Lamb turns in another big year.
Cowboys EVP Stephen Jones said extensions for the two stars will become a priority after the draft is over.
“As we move forward, that’ll become a bigger priority here as we move past the draft,” Jones said on 105.3 The Fan on Tuesday, April 18. “We’ve historically signed a lot of guys during that training camp period to extensions. But guys like CeeDee Lamb and [Trevon] Diggs are certainly on our radar in terms of guys that we’d love to have around here for another five, six years, whatever that turns out to be.”
Both Diggs, Lamb Have Earned Extensions With Cowboys
GettyTrevon Diggs of the Dallas Cowboys.
There’s little doubt that Lamb and Diggs are worthy of extensions, carving out key roles with the Cowboys since their arrivals.
Diggs has been named to the Pro Bowl the past two seasons and is coming off a year where he had three interceptions and 14 pass breakups, per Pro Football Focus. In 2021, Diggs led the NFL in interceptions with 11 picks.
Lamb has taken over the No. 1 wide receiver role in Dallas and is coming off a pair of Pro Bowls as well. He caught 107 passes for 1,359 yards and nine touchdowns last season — all career-highs — per Pro Football Reference.
Brandin Cooks Not Coming in to Usurp CeeDee Lamb as No. 1 Receiver
Lamb will have some new company in the Cowboys wide receiver corps this offseason, with Dallas trading for veteran Brandin Cooks. Cooks is looking forward to building a relationship with Lamb as they work to build up the Cowboys’ passing game.
“CeeDee, you’re talking about a guy that’s been electric since the moment he stepped into this league but you at last year what he did to really just go into that mode of a true No. 1 receiver,” Cooks said on Adam Schefter’s podcast. “I’ve got a lot of respect for his game from afar and I hit him up and was like, ‘Look, I’m coming to just help.’ Like, there’s no ego.”
Cooks has played the last three seasons with the Houston Texans, going over 1,000 yards in two of those campaigns. He missed four games last season for the struggling Texans, notching 57 catches for 699 yards and three touchdowns. The 29-year-old pass-catcher was not happy with the direction of the Texans franchise and landed with a contender in the Cowboys.