Latest CeeDee Lamb report kicks off concerning aspect of Cowboys' 2024 offseason
The Dallas Cowboys' offseason workouts are about to begin as the team will report for its first day of voluntary workouts on April 15th. While the team gearing up for another season should excite fans, a chaotic offseason of potential holdouts is set to begin as WR CeeDee Lamb isn't expected to report as he negotiates […]
The Dallas Cowboys' offseason workouts are about to begin as the team will report for its first day of voluntary workouts on April 15th.
While the team gearing up for another season should excite fans, a chaotic offseason of potential holdouts is set to begin as WR CeeDee Lamb isn't expected to report as he negotiates a contract extension with the Cowboys.
"Barring a contract extension that, when complete, is expected to make Lamb the highest-paid wide receiver in NFL history, Lamb won’t take the field," insider Michael Gehlken wrote for Dallas Morning News. "At least, that is the precedent he appears certain to follow."
The first phase of offseason workouts, per the NFL, "consists of the first two weeks of the program with activities limited to meetings, strength and conditioning, and physical rehabilitation only."
In other words, Lamb is currently not set to miss reps with Dak Prescott, which he's likely already working with away from the Cowboys' facilities. Prescott is known for getting together with his receivers at the football field he's got in his backyard.
But that could soon change for Lamb as holding out from training camp appears to be a strong possibility considering he'll be negotiating a top-of-the-market type deal at wide receiver after an insane 1,749-yard 2023 season which earned him First-Team All-Pro honors. The league's highest-paid WR in average value per year is Tyreek Hill at $30M. The leverage belongs to him.
The news is nothing short of expected and it's on the Cowboys' front office that we've gotten to this point in the first place when they could've prioritized it a year a go. After all, we've witnessed the team draw out negotiations many times before instead of being proactive, which seems to invariably cost them in the long term in two main ways:
1) They don't get to pay lower prices by paying earlier.
2) Doing everything at the last moment limits their chances of getting creative with the salary cap. That's one of the underrated problems of their stubborn "deadlines make deals" philosophy.
It's very telling to be facing potential holdouts from Lamb, Dak Prescott, and Micah Parsons in the same year. That's not a players problem, it's a front office problem.
Although the latter two haven't been reported to be planning to hold out at any point this offseason, don't be surprised if it happens. Parsons could be motivated to "cut in line" in front of the guys who have the most urgency to get a deal done and although Prescott's style has never been to hold out, he's got a tremendous amount of leverage that he could be motivated to use if negotiations hit a major speedbump down the road.
