ARLINGTON, Texas — The Dallas Cowboys are like a rollercoaster: owner and general manager Jerry Jones can be moving along slow as molasses before suddenly kicking into high gear and getting deals done.
At the age of 81, Jones showed he still can close a deal when it matters most even when things look bleak. All-Pro wide receiver CeeDee Lamb had been holding out for the entirety of the Dallas offseason program in search of a long-term extension, and after the Cowboys’ preseason finale against the Los Angeles Chargers on Saturday, negotiations looked bleak. Jones and his son, Stephen, Dallas’ COO, had provided a variety of optimistic updates throughout the offseason, but Jones’ remarks this past weekend were uncertain.
“I don’t have any updates but we are near the season starting,” Jones said.
That was as close to Jones has come to admitting urgency, and he transformed the sentiment into a contract on Monday, re-signing his previously disgruntled receiver to a four-year, $136 million extension. Lamb’s new average per year salary of $34 million is the second-highest among NFL wide receivers, trailing only Minnesota Vikings wideout Justin Jefferson’s $35 million APY on his four-year, $140 million extension signed this offseason.
Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy made it clear the team had urgency, and now the deal is done.
“I think there’s urgency on both sides,” McCarthy said postgame on Saturday. Just once again, I mean, this is business. And you know, what goes on there is really between the individuals in the room. But yes, I think everybody involved wants to get it done.”
Now, it’s time for Jones and the Cowboys to turn their attention toward re-signing 2023 Second-Team All-Pro quarterback Dak Prescott, the 2023 NFL passing touchdowns leader with 36.
“Obviously you plan for Dak and you plan for CeeDee,” Cowboys COO Stephen Jones said, via Yahoo Sports, on Aug. 13. “The negotiations remain very cordial and everybody’s goal is to be a Cowboy in the future and come up with solutions to the challenges of their contracts come up with those solutions that make it to where one we can have all three [Prescott, Lamb and Micah Parsons] of them and two we can put a good team around them.”
The senior Jones’ last remarks about his 31-year-old quarterback’s extension made it seem like the negotiations were stuck in a stalemate.
“Well again, we’re just continuing to talk,” Jones said, via DallasCowboys.com, on Aug. 20 when asked about negotiations with Prescott. “The thing is there, since we’re really in-season, practicing, doing all those things, we’re operating under the existing contract really good. One of the things that the fans should really understand is that nine times out of 10, these are existing contracts that you have in place. You should be able to operate under those, but we’ve gotten it now in the NFL — other teams are dealing with it — with some time on the contract, you still might have a contract discussion. And that’s what we’re doing. None of us — player or team — want to hurt the preparation or likelihood of playing at your best.”
Dallas’ front office should now use the Lamb signing as a spark to re-ignite talks with Prescott and get a deal done before the 2024 regular season starts in less than two weeks on Sep. 8 in Cleveland against the Browns. One of the many reasons why is because Prescott has both a no-trade clause and a no-franchise-tag clause, meaning he has the power to walk into unrestricted free agency in March 2025 unencumbered. However, the only way this deal gets done is if the Jones boys alter their perspective on the quarterback contract market.
“We look at it like Dak’s our partner in this,” Stephen Jones said, via “The Doomsday Podcast, on Aug. 8. “We’re trying to win a championship. No one wants to win a championship more than Dak Prescott; I can assure you that. And we don’t look at it like we’re trying to, you know, pay him not to go somewhere else.”
Dallas needs to make it financially worth Prescott’s while to stick around with the Cowboys long-term and pass up on his contractual right to hit the open market since the quarterback has ALL the leverage.
Prescott is both open to the idea of playing the back end of his NFL career elsewhere, and firm that any accepted offer will not be anything less than market value for a quarterback with his career resume. Perhaps both Jerry and Stephen Jones and Prescott will be more energized to come together and get a deal done.
Even though there may be concerns about if the Cowboys can afford to spend market value on Prescott, Lamb and Parsons, there is a path forward. Dallas was projected to have $64.6 million in effective cap space in 2025, the fifth-most in the NFL, according to OverTheCap.com, and they are estimated to have $165.4 million in effective cap space in 2026, the most in the league per OverTheCap.com, prior to Lamb’s signing on Monday.
Now that Prescott knows his top target will be around for the foreseeable future, maybe both he and the Jones family will be more amicable to having a solution-focused mindset and getting the new contract done in the next few days.
