The Dallas Cowboys play a real football game in 19 days. That also means they have just over two weeks to get their best offensive weapon signed to a contract.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones on contract talks with CeeDee Lamb: “I don’t have any urgency to get it done.” Jerry has said a lot of ridiculous things in his life, but what he has said and how he has handled this situation with Lamb is embarrassing.
It is no secret who the biggest weapon will be this upcoming season for the Dallas Cowboys. CeeDee Lamb is one of the top receivers in the game and someone they will lean heavily on throughout the season, like they did in 2023.
Can They Live Without Him?
Jerry Jones wants every player to take a hometown discount and play for less, the funny thing about that is, if the Cowboys start the season without Lamb there, he will get paid after two games.
Remember when Jerry didn’t pay Emmitt Smith back in the early 90s? They got embarrassed the first two games. He then put his money where his mouth was and paid him.
Heck, the Cowboys just went through this in 2018. They had to trade for Amari Cooper in October and that saved the season. This is going to happen all over again if Jerry doesn’t pay the man.
They have one other wide receiver on the roster that has proven something over the years, and yet, that won’t be enough.
CeeDee Lamb rn https://t.co/PIA5FsxTZc pic.twitter.com/ytHgqDgtvH
— DraftKings (@DraftKings) August 19, 2024
If they had a guy like Derrick Henry running the football, I would probably be less concerned, but they will have a running back by committee, this won’t be good.
The Cowboys had a problem finding the end zone a bit the last few years. They converted 40 of their 71 red zone drives into touchdowns in 2023, a rate of 56.3% that ranked 14th in the NFL. Without CeeDee, this might drop to under 50%.
If you think this team will not end up a bottom five offense without him, you are crazy. For a franchise that has had amazing wide receivers, he just set two team records.
Both the receptions (122) and receiving yards (1,651) in a single season, but sure, let’s act like this team will be fine without him.
Pecking Order
Brandin Cooks looks to be having a good camp, but for a team with Super Bowl or bust written all over them, he can’t be your No. 1 guy.
His first season with the Cowboys last year, Cooks finished with 54 receptions, 657 yards receiving, and 8 touchdowns.
https://twitter.com/Brandoniswrite/status/1825585588768280866
Jake Ferguson is in line to have a monster year, he will depended on heavily with or without Lamb.
Ferguson finished second on the team last season in receiving yards, finishing with 761 yards.
Cooks and Ferg will be the go-to guys. If Lamb remains unsigned, then it’ll probably be Jalen Tolbert, who many thought was a bust after he couldn’t even see the field during his rookie season.
Who is after Tolbert, though? KaVontae Turpin’s name is there, but he should be used in anyway they can. Throw him the ball, hand him the ball, etc.
Nobody is going to be scared of Ryan Flournoy or Jalen Brooks.
I don’t see the Cowboys winning 12 games again even if Lamb is out there week one. I do think they will make the playoffs and have road playoff game. They just did not do enough in terms of adding talent this offseason.
Lamb should be the first priority right now and then let Dak Prescott and Micah Parsons worry about their situations at the end of the season. Jerry you need to sign that man.
Obviously, the offense would suffer w/o Lamb. I heard they recently offered him just under $33 million per year, that’s SECOND highest among all WRs, so he is not being lowballed by any stretch. Same for DP, who they offered around $55 million per year.
Just for a little contrast, the average annual salary in the US is around $60 THOUSAND per year.
For some reason many take the players side on these negotiations. I will look at what is being offered before making an opinion. So far IMO, the Cowboys’ offers appear to be very fair.
Unfortunately for the team and fans, they don’t have a Rodgers at QB who was able to win games with 3rd, 4th, and 5th stringers a couple years ago. So, the loss of Lamb would be pretty significant.
I am tired of this. Lifelong Cowboys fan for more than 40 years. Dallas has become the “me” team. Dak, CD, all of them only care about themselves. Brady took less than market because he wanted his legacy to be about winning. In the salary cap era, it’s extremely difficult to win with paying more than half of your total SC on a handful of players. Dak and CD, with crystal clarity, are telling the world, their legacy will not matter. The fans do not matter. The team does. not. matter. the only thing that matters is money. Makes me sick. Win something – then maybe whine about about being underpaid in the top 2% of the NFL (and top .0001% of avg American)
Totally agree. It is pretty sickening, and people are getting fed up with these outrageous salaries that in the end are being paid by fans and average folks alike. Been commenting for years here about GREEDY Dak, and he seems to be rubbing off on some other players. I hope he goes elsewhere next year and keep Lance/Rush and draft one and let the competition begin.
Exactly it’s not about winning championships anymore it’s all about being the highest paid .The greed of players now makes me sick just like Dak Prescott hasn’t done anything yet is gonna want 60 million or more
Well they haven’t won anything with CeeDee so far so what does it really matter