“It never gets cheaper if you wait!” Mike Florio baffled with Jerry Jones and Cowboys’ reluctance to pay CeeDee Lamb

Lamb will play this season on the final year option of his rookie contract.

“It never gets cheaper if you wait!” Mike Florio baffled with Jerry Jones and Cowboys’ reluctance to pay CeeDee Lamb

Mike Florio and CeeDee Lamb (via Screengrab on YouTube/ IMAGO)

The Dallas Cowboys face challenges on and off the football field in 2024 and 2025. As the stars of the team are all near the end of their respective contracts, the team will need to play its cards right. Apart from QB Dak Prescott who is heading into the final year of his four-year deal worth $160 million, CeeDee Lamb and Micah Parsons head into the final year of their rookie contracts and are due for big paydays next season.

CeeDee Lamb had dismissed rumors of him holding out last month until he reached an agreement with the Cowboys. However, the wideout is yet to report to organized team activities and his absence from practice is being linked to the Dallas Cowboys’ failure to close a long-term deal with his agent. Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk is confused concerning the team’s strategy.

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He lambasted the team for its reluctance to pay the younger players.

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They constantly misplay it, and with some of these guys what they do is they wait way too long. It never gets cheaper if you wait. They got themselves into a mess with Dak by waiting, into a mess with Zeke by waiting, they're in a mess with CeeDee Lamb by waiting and they'll flip it around and do things that make you say what like the contract they gave to Michael Gallup coming off of a torn ACL...
Mike Florio on Pro Football Talk

Florio is speechless at the contractual decisions made by Jerry Jones as he tends to keep deserving players waiting and at times, pays the most unexpected players despite uncertainty surrounding their future.

CeeDee Lamb and the Dallas Cowboys have not had negotiations with respect to his contract in a while

The holdup on Lamb’s contract is because the team is patiently waiting to see how the Minnesota Vikings deal with Justin Jefferson’s contract. Another receiver on whose contract they will determine Lamb’s value is Tee Higgins of the Cincinnati Bengals. With Jefferson likely to get a historic contract and Higgins temporarily accepting a franchise tag until the Bengals re-negotiate with him after next season, the Cowboys seem to be in no hurry to sign Lamb.

CeeDee Lamb
CeeDee Lamb (via IMAGO)

It would seem sensible to sign CeeDee Lamb to an extension at this stage, the reason being the Cowboys have the opportunity to set the market value for a wideout of his caliber. Jefferson’s deal is expected to be as huge as $100 million. Lamb is expected to seek compensation similar to Tyreek Hill or Davante Adams. That would amount to roughly between $28 and $30 million per year.

As Florio stated, the Cowboys have been erratic when it comes to handing out contracts. They tend to wait until it’s too late and they are in a do-or-die situation. The same happened when Dak Prescott was last due for a contract extension and Ezekiel Elliott, who became the highest-paid RB in the NFL at the time, had to play hardball with the team in order to get paid. This time, Dallas has to get it right if they intend to keep this immensely talented roster together.

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