The primary reason the Dallas' Cowboys' "all in" 2024 offseason morphed into the "get it done with less" offseason is because they failed to re-sign 2023 NFL MVP runner-up quarterback Dak Prescott and 2023 NFL receptions leader (135) wide receiver CeeDee Lamb to long-term deals prior to the start of free agency in March.
Prescott ($55.1 million cap hit, per Spotrac) and Lamb ($17.991 million fifth-year option) are both entering the final year of their current contracts with Prescott carrying the second-highest 2024 cap hit in the entire NFL, trailing only Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson ($63.77 million).
Doing so would have allowed Dallas to spread out its top players' cap hits, in the final year of each of their respective deals, out to future years, allowing the Cowboys to field a more competitive team now while dealing with higher hits in the future as the league's salary cap continues to increase each and every year, thanks to the NFL's massive media rights deal.
On Thursday, Cowboys COO and EVP Stephen Jones pulled the curtain back on how negotiations are going with both Lamb, who is holding out of training camp until he receives a new deal after missing the entire spring offseason program, and three-time All-Pro pass rusher Micah Parsons, who is now extension eligible for the first time this offseason after now having three seasons of NFL experience. Dallas owner and general manager Jerry Jones addressed Prescott's contract negotiations, saying "I do not think that this will be his last year with the Cowboys, at all."
"Both of them [Lamb and Parsons], rightfully so, believe they should be the highest-paid non-quarterback in the league," Stephen Jones said at the Cowboys' introductory press conference on Thursday. "Totally respect that. So very difficult situations that we're trying to work through with them."
However, even though Prescott is letting his business people push for market value on his new deal -- one that could potentially average $60 million a year -- he is all for both Lamb and Parsons resetting their respective markets with each of their second NFL contracts.
"Those guys definitely need to get paid," Prescott said on Thursday. "Need to get their money. I've gotten a contract and the last thing I'm going to do is ask them to take less. This is a two-way street when you're talking about contracts. I've gotten older. I've got [a] decision in this thing, it's not just one way here. It's about my agent [Todd France] and Jerry and those guys getting together and talking, and they understanding where I am. I understand where they are. From there, that will get handled. Those young guys damn sure need to get taken care of, and if they get the biggest contracts, I'm a fan of it."
Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson assumed the title of the NFL's highest-paid non-quarterback this offseason after signing a four-year, $140 million extension ($35 average per year with $88.7 million fully guaranteed). The prior holder of that crown was NFL 2022 Defensive Player of the Year Nick Bosa of the San Francisco 49ers, a peer of Parsons'. Bosa signed a five-year, $170 million extension ($34 million average per year with $88 million fully guaranteed) with San Francisco in early September last year. At the time, Parsons said he was "super happy" for Bosa with a Cheshire Cat-like grin on his face as he was making his remarks.
The Cowboys only have $12.05 million in cap space remaining for the 2024 season, according to OverTheCap.com, but they are projected to have $64.8 million in effective cap space in 2025, the fifth most in the entire league, and Dallas is projected to lead the NFL in effective cap space in 2026 ($165.4 million). In short, Dallas can re-sign Prescott, Lamb and Parsons if it can lock them into deals now and structure them wisely.
"That's the world's smallest violin," Jerry Jones said Thursday, gesturing playing a mini violin, after his son Stephen noted the degree of difficulty associated with the negotiations. "We're blessed to get up in the morning and have these problems. ... I don't flare when it happens to us. It's a part of doing business. … Business as usual. I can deal with this. ... I don't get bent out of shape."