The Dallas Cowboys are set to break training camp Thursday and head back to Texas, but they are currently slated to do so without long-term extensions for either 2023 first-team All-Pro wide receiver CeeDee Lamb or 2023 second-team All-Pro quarterback Dak Prescott.
Jerry and Stephen Jones have been clear all offseason that they have been carving out cap space to re-sign both Prescott and Lamb, but they have yet to put pen to paper and extend the 2023 NFL receptions leader (Lamb with 135) or the 2023 NFL passing touchdowns leader (Prescott with 36).
For Jones and the Cowboys, it would make all the sense in the world to get both Lamb's and Prescott's contracts done no later than next week. Dallas is set to host a training camp practice at The Star, its team headquarters in Frisco, Texas, on Aug. 27 and another one with a season kickoff ceremony on Aug. 28.
On Tuesday, Jerry Jones offered a hopeful update on Lamb, who has held out from the entirety of the Cowboys' offseason program in search of a second NFL contract beyond the final year of his rookie deal in 2024: "I believe we'll come together." Jones has reportedly offered a deal to his 25-year-old WR1 that would make him the second-highest paid wide receiver in the NFL on an average per year basis, trailing only fellow member of the 2020 NFL Draft class, Justin Jefferson, who signed a four-year, $135 million extension with $110 million guaranteed earlier this offseason.
"We're in good shape there. We're having good talks," Jones said, via The Athletic, on Tuesday when asked about negotiations with Lamb. "I think I am [optimistic]. And when I say that, it doesn't sound too promising. The facts are that I believe we'll come together. I don't want to speak for him. That's what I'm trying not to do. But we wouldn't have offered him what we've offered him if we didn't want him to be here."
As for Prescott, Dallas appears open to having him play out the 2024 regular season and then trying again to re-sign him next offseason when he will have the option of hitting the open market and talking to other teams thanks to the no-franchise tag clause and no-trade clause Prescott's agent, Todd France, negotiated into his four-year, $160 million contract.
"Well again, we're just continuing to talk," Jones said, via DallasCowboys.com, on Tuesday 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."
Last month, Prescott had a similar quote on his contract situation as Jones did on Tuesday.
"There's been conversations back and forth, but for the most part for me as y'all know, I let my agent (Todd France) do that, especially as we get right here into training camp," Prescott said at a camp in Southlake, Texas. "Day 1 of training camp, my mind flips to obviously helping my team and just doing everything I can within the organization and on the football field to make sure that I'm my best and everyone around me is their best. The money and all that will take care of itself as it always has."
In the case of Lamb, the reason why it would be ideal to have his contract done sometime next week is twofold: it would benefit both the Dallas Cowboys' football team and the Dallas Cowboys' public perception. Whenever Lamb does show back up, even though he's been tirelessly working out on his own, head coach Mike McCarthy made it clear he'll need to be reintegrated into team activity carefully.
"We have to be smart when he gets here," McCarthy said on Aug. 9. "We're going to ramp up and get the wrinkles, there's always going to be some new wrinkles that I'm sure he's in tune with from a communication standpoint, but he's going to need some reps. Yeah, we'll get that done."
Getting Lamb back in the building next week will allow him multiple weeks to get ramped up before playing on the road at the Cleveland Browns in Week 1, the NFL's top total defense (270.2 total yards allowed per game) and home of 2023 NFL Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett. That could prevent Lamb from suffering any type of soft issue injury that could occur during the regular season when a player misses significant time in training camp. It would also give Jones a PR victory in which he could sell the idea that he waited to get a deal he was comfortable with and one that will allow Lamb to be ready for another huge year in 2024 with business as usual.
The urgency to get Prescott's deal done before the season is equally dire, but in a different way. The 31-year-old quarterback has been a good solider, showing up to every workout and practice this offseason -- voluntary or mandatory -- in the lead up to a season that could be his last in Dallas. The Cowboys need to sign him before the 2024 season because it wouldn't make sense for Prescott to not test the open market next offseason, if he still isn't signed by that point.
Should the stalemate regarding Prescott reach that point, it would make sense for fans of other teams to begin to start getting their photoshops of him in their favorite team's jersey because it would be unclear how Prescott himself would feel toward a front office who has had them in their building for nine seasons, following 2024, and not felt strongly enough about him to get another extension done. Prescott himself alluded to the quarterbacks he grew up watching switch teams toward the back half of their careers. He has also indicated that there won't be any hometown discounts and that he will be seeking market value for a quarterback of his tenure and accomplishments.
Getting Prescott signed prior to the season would provide the Cowboys' locker room and fanbase a sense of relief and security entering 2024 after a disastrous end to 2023 with their postseason loss against the Green Bay Packers. Plus, maintaining the heart of an offense, in Prescott, that led the NFL in scoring (29.9 points per game) in 2023, McCarthy's first season as Dallas' offensive play-caller, is just good business. Securing Prescott's services next week would allow the Cowboys to prevent their negotiations with their face-of-the-franchise quarterback from falling into the "too late to apologize" category as both sides get locked into in-season mode once September rolls around.
