This would certainly be a doozy, however unlikely. But if the Cowboys have an urge to truly throw their cap issues to the wind, even as they struggle to find a contract common ground with star wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, they could go out and make a trade for another star receiver looking for a new contract: the Vikings’ Justin Jefferson. You might have heard of him.
That’s the outlandish proposal from the Vikings Wire site at USA Today, which looked at possible trade packages Minnesota could bring in if its stalemate with Jefferson on a new deal persisted.
The proposed package would be a doozy, with Jefferson landing in Dallas and the Cowboys giving up:
First and third-round draft picks in the 2025 NFL Draft, first-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, CB Jourdan Lewis, and WR Jalen Tolbert
Jefferson is looking to be the highest-paid receiver in the game, and probably should—with Lamb a close No. 2. As USA Today’s Andrew Harbaugh wrote: “That sort of money and contract can be a burden to hammer out, and sides could break things off in time.
“Because there are universes where the extension doesn’t get done, we wanted to explore some trades.”
Cowboys Would Have to Change Course for a Blockbuster Trade
Hard to imagine a universe, though, in which the Cowboys spent much of the winter and spring crying poverty, allowing about a third of the team’s starters to bolt through free agency or retirement, then turn around and give up half o the team’s future picks in the first three round to get a player who would line up opposite Lamb.
Jefferson is coming off a year that was cut short by injury, but earned Pro Bowl spots in each of his first three NFL seasons. He led the NFL in catches (128) and yardage (1,809) in 2022 and has racked up an average of 98.3 yards per game in his career.
It’s a great wide-receiver combo, and perhaps the Cowboys could structure contracts to make it work under the salary cap. Certainly, the potential of a Lamb-Jefferson wide-receiver duo leaves open the possibility that Dak Prescott would then be re-signed, too, lowering his cap number for the upcoming season.
That would fly in the face of the stance the Cowboys have taken to this point on 2024, when they appear to want their current roster to prove their worth before committing to them financially. (More specifically, they want Prescott to show his worth.)
But Spotrac projects Jefferson to get a four-year, $130 million contract in an extension, and puts Lamb’s value slightly higher, at four years and $135 million.
How, exactly, the Cowboys could be expected to pay out nearly $70 million per year for two receivers is a mystery.
CeeDee Lamb Contract to Get Done in July?
Back on Earth, the reality for both Jefferson and Lamb is that they’re both all but certain to remain with their current teams on new contracts in the coming months—or weeks, the hope is.
While the Cowboys might not come to new agreements with Prescott or star Micah Parsons, a Lamb deal is likely to get done before training camp or soon after it starts, according to ESPN beat writer Todd Archer.
“If more leaves fall, such as a Justin Jefferson deal with Minnesota, then the price for Lamb could go even higher,” Archer wrote this week. “Of the Cowboys’ big three deals for Prescott, Lamb and Micah Parsons, the talks with Lamb could begin in earnest soon, with an eye on getting finalized in training camp. He has skipped the offseason program for the first time and worked on his own, but Lamb has gotten in multiple throwing sessions with Prescott.”
