Given their history with doling out contract extensions, it can hardly be surprising that the Cowboys opened training camp with two potential mega-deals—for CeeDee Lamb and Dak Prescott for sure—left unattended. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has always been deliberate before giving out franchise-altering contracts.
Maybe there is some wisdom in that kind of patient thoroughness in most aspects of business. But in the NFL, it can be costly to be the last team in line signing an extension with a star player, especially at positions where the market is red-hot and skyrocketing.
Quarterback and wide receiver? Those markets are skyrocketing. And by playing the “patience” game, the Cowboys are costing themselves money and killing future free-agent options by bloating their salary-cap hits.
That’s how one former foe, ex-Eagles GM Joe Banner, sees things, at least.
Cowboys Strategy an Advantage for Foes
Writing on Twitter/X this week, Banner said he always found the way the Cowboys handled their roster to be an advantage for his own team-building.
“When I was at Eagles we thought that Cowboys plan to resign players as late as they did, provided a significant competitive advantage for us. That remains true and obvious to this day. Not sure why they have continued with this strategy,” Banner posted.
Deals for Prescott and Lamb—which could have been taken care of early in the offseason, or even last offseason—have not gotten cheaper as spring has turned to summer. Quite the opposite.
Justin Jefferson of the Vikings reset the receiver market last month by agreeing to a deal worth $35 million per year. Lamb will want to match Jefferson, or at least be right in his neighborhood. Had the Cowboys moved quicker on Lamb, they might have beaten the Vikings to a new contract, and allowed Lamb to be the NFL’s highest-paid receiver ($32 million or so), even if Jefferson later eclipsed the number.
The same could well apply to Prescott. If they’d reworked Prescott last year, they might have him locked up to a deal worth $50-55 million annually. They can forget that. Packers quarterback Jordan Love, with just one full NFL season as a starter under his belt, just got $55 million per year. Oft-injured Dolphins star Tua Tagovailoa, with one playoff appearance to his name, got $53 million.
Instead, the Cowboys are looking to re-sign Lamb and Prescott at what figures to be around $8-10 million more per year combined than they could have. In a hard-cap league, that’s significant.
‘Stubborn Sameness’ Is Frustrating
If it is an advantage to other organizations, the way the Cowboys continually allow themselves to be outmaneuvered in the market for free agents and contract extensions, it is frustrating for fans and Cowboys observers.
Four other quarterbacks have gotten major extensions this offseason—Jared Goff, Trevor Lawrence, Love and Tagovailoa—and now, Prescott and the Cowboys are the last pair standing. It’s possible that the Cowboys could simply let Prescott play out the final year of his contract and let him hit free agency.
But if they pay Prescott this summer, they’ve allowed the market to push his value incredibly high.
As columnist Tim Cowlishaw wrote this week in the Dallas Morning-News, “The Cowboys watch these things happen, Stephen Jones says negotiations are ongoing and the club had made another offer, Jerry Jones suggests he wants more information (”more leaves falling”) and the stubborn sameness of the Cowboys organization begins to overwhelm you.”
The rest of the NFC East, though, smiles happily.
