The Dallas Cowboys are attempting to sign several of their own star players to long-term contract extensions which could eventually include wide receiver CeeDee Lamb. Bleacher Report’s Alex Ballentine projected that Lamb’s new deal will top $100 million with a possible four-year, $105 million contract headed the playmaker’s way.
The analyst added that a massive $80 million of Lamb’s next deal could be guaranteed. The challenge is Lamb may not be motivated to sign a long-term deal until 2024, meaning things “could get complicated,” per Ballentine.
“The timing of his contract will be interesting,” Ballentine wrote on June 5, 2023. “If the Cowboys can get something done before the Vikings sign with Jefferson, it will likely help them keep some of the cost down.
“The Cowboys already exercised Lamb’s fifth-year option worth $18 million in 2024, so there’s no rush in that regard, but it benefits both sides to get it done earlier. That could get complicated. Dak Prescott’s contract expires after the 2024 season.”
Cowboys Star CeeDee Lamb Has a Team-Friendly $2.5 Million Salary for 2023
Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb when asked about his contract extension potentially become a distraction: “I’m going to be 100 percent honest, I’m not even distracted. The money, definitely worried about it. But it’s not nothing that’s really on my mind every day that I wake up or when I…
Lamb has a strong hold on the Cowboys top receiver role which Dallas paved the way for by trading Amari Cooper to the Browns during the 2022 offseason. The wideout has posted back-to-back seasons topping 1,000 receiving yards and is coming off career-high numbers in the majority of statistical categories. Lamb had 156 receptions for 1,359 yards and 9 touchdowns during his 17 starts in 2022.
The good news for the Cowboys is Lamb still has one season remaining on his four-year, $14 million rookie contract, and Dallas has already exercised the wideout’s fifth-year option for 2024. Lamb has a team-friendly $2.5 million salary for 2023, but this number jumps up to $17.9 million in 2024 if no new long-term deal is reached.
Stephen Jones on Possible New Contracts for Cowboys: ‘It Seems Like More & More Guys Want to Wait’
CEEDEE LAMB DOWN THERE SOMEWHERE
Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones labeled Lamb as one of the players the team is attempting to sign to a new deal. Trevon Diggs, Dak Prescott and Terence Steele are among the additional Dallas players who are potential extension candidates.
“Our goal would be hopefully to start to chip away at this because we do have guys up,” Jones told reporters on June 5. “Whether it’s a Steele. Whether it’s a Diggs. Whether it’s CeeDee, right on down the line. We got guys that [are] going to need to be addressed as we move forward, but our focus is also on winning in 2023.”
Jones also admitted that most players prefer to wait to sign a contract as prices continue to go up each offseason. The Cowboys executive revealed that the team has “touched base” with the players that are in consideration for a contract extension.
“No specific order, it’s just kind of when opportunity arises and they got to be motivated to want to do it,” Jones added. “It seems like more and more guys want to wait, and I understand why.
“Usually the price goes up from one year to the next, but people don’t seem to be in that type of hurry. But if the opportunities there, we’d sure like to get one, two, three of these guys signed.”
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Cowboys Predicted to Make $105 Million Move: ‘Could Get Complicated’