The Cowboys are less than a month away from training camp, and are at risk of their starting receiver sitting out if they don’t come up with a deal fast.
The Dallas Cowboys still have not come up with a contract extension for quarterback Dak Prescott, wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, or linebacker Micah Parsons - their three best players whose contracts are ending after this year for Prescott and Lamb, and at the end of next year for Parsons.
Lamb is getting impatient waiting on a deal to be made and already sat out of OTAs and minicamp in May in protest. Now, it looks like he could miss training camp in July as well.
Would CeeDee really miss Cowboys training camp?
CeeDee Lamb is the Cowboys’ No. 1 receiver and with Michael Gallup gone, even more pressure is going to be on Lamb to be the most reliable target for Prescott this season. Last year, Lamb was the NFL leader in receptions and set a franchise record for receiving yards in a single season.
When Lamb was drafted in 2020, he signed a four-year, $14,010,012 contract with the Cowboys, including a $7,749,100 signing bonus and $14,010,012 guaranteed, for an average annual salary of $3,502,503. The Cowboys picked up his fifth-year option for 2024, so he’s still under contract this season, but without an extension, he’ll be playing on a one-year deal worth $17.991 million.
For comparison, players like Vikings’ Justin Jefferson, Lions’ Amon-Ra St. Brown, and Dolphins’ Jaylen Waddle have all just signed contracts worth over $28 million. Lamb is expecting something in that same range and is waiting on the Cowboys to make that happen with a contract extension.
The Cowboys start training camp in Oxnard, California on July 24, and Lamb is reportedly willing to miss training camp too if a deal isn’t made before then. Missing training camp is a whole different ball game than missing minicamp. Without Lamb, the Cowboys will have to look to Brandin Cooks as their No. 1 receiver, with inexperienced young receivers Jalen Tolbert, KaVontae Turpin, and Jalen Brooks. They should definitely be avoiding that scenario at all costs, and yet...
It wouldn’t be the first time a player has held out as a way to push a team to do what they want. Guard Zack Martin did it last year and it worked - the Cowboys raised his annual salary by about $8 million.
The Cowboys can claim not to be worried about Lamb’s fitness for the start of the season, but working out with the team is different than working out on his own, and the risk of him being unhappy with the situation could have a severely negative effect on the season.
