Getty The pressure is on the Dallas Cowboys to get CeeDee Lamb more involved in the latest round of NFL rumors.
The Dallas Cowboys are dealing with an unhappy star receiver prompting plenty of NFL rumors about CeeDee Lamb’s future. After initially expressing frustration following the Cowboys’ 42-10 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in Week 5, Lamb has since admitted he could have handled things better.
Lamb’s unhappiness has prompted plenty of Cowboys rumors about the wideout’s future. Dallas picked up Lamb’s fifth-year option for 2024, but the receiver is looking for a lucrative contract extension with his rookie deal set to expire after next season. ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky listed Lamb as one of the receivers who needs a change of scenery suggesting it was time for the playmaker to push for a trade as the pundits discussed frustrated receivers amid NFL rumors.
“And if the Dallas Cowboys aren’t going to throw him the ball, if I was CeeDee, I’d be like, ‘Just trade me. Just trade me because you’re not using me,'” Orlovsky explained on an October 12, 2023 edition of “First Take.” “It’s going to hinder his ability to make income. There’s no question about it. He’s 30th in the NFL in target share, meaning there’s 29 guys who get thrown the football on a more consistent basis at wide receiver than CeeDee Lamb. That’s inexplainable.”
ESPN Analyst on CeeDee Lamb’s Frustration: ‘Force Feed Him the Ball’
https://x.com/jonmachota/status/1711740921404866662?s=20
Lamb leads the team in targets with 35 through five games, but Orlovsky believes this number needs to increase. The playmaker has had three straight games with four receptions as the team’s Week 2 matchup against the Jets continues to be an outlier as Lamb had 11 catches for 143 yards. Lamb has essentially been a non-factor in the red zone with just one touchdown heading into Week 6.
“The way that he doesn’t get used blows my mind,” Orlovsky noted. “I am in no way saying CeeDee Lamb is Justin Jefferson or Cooper Kupp or Ja’marr Chase, but I watch those offenses constantly move those guys to create matchups. Constantly get them off the ball to give them an opportunity to win. Force feed him the ball.
“… They just don’t throw him the football enough, and I think that CeeDee Lamb is at least, talent wise, worthy of 10 to 12 targets a game.”
Dallas Cowboys News: Dak Prescott Pushed CeeDee Lamb to Come to Him With His Frustration
https://x.com/GetUpESPN/status/1712451886958215222?s=20
There is no indication in the latest Cowboys news that the franchise has any plans to trade Lamb. The ESPN analyst does make a good point in that Dallas is not using Lamb enough to justify a new contract that could approach $100 million as NFL rumors suggest.
Spotrac projects Lamb’s market value to be a four-year, $97.8 million deal. Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott made a simple request to Lamb: come to me with your frustration.
“I told him [Prescott] straight up, and he came up to me, he was like, ‘If you have a problem with anything, just come up to me and we’ll talk about it. I don’t care how it really necessarily looks to the media, right,'” Lamb told reporters on October 13 when reflecting on his conversations with Prescott.
“But the media is going to do what the media does anyway. If I stand by myself, it’s a problem. If I go talk to him and I flare my hands a little bit, it’s a problem, right? So, at the end of the day, [it’s] just getting down to the nitty-gritty, getting everything understood and both parties to be on the same page. And me and Dak, we did that [the] first day back, so we can have all week, [a] fresh slate, get active.”