National Football League

The Cowboys finally paid CeeDee Lamb. Why did it take so long?

Published Aug. 26, 2024 4:25 p.m. ET

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David Helman

NFL Reporter

Training camp is drawing to a close and the NFL season is imminent, so of course it was time for the Dallas Cowboys to start doing business.

Word came down Monday that the Cowboys have finally agreed to a blockbuster deal with star receiver CeeDee Lamb. The four-year extension secures Lamb in Dallas through the 2028 season while paying him a reported $136 million, with roughly $100 million in guaranteed money.

That's exciting for Lamb. Just as fun for the Cowboys and their fans is that it ends a months-long holdout and gets one of the NFL's best playmakers back to work with enough time to prep for Week 1.

While that might come as a relief, it'd be even more exciting if it weren't so predictable.

Yes, the Cowboys waited until the last minute to end a contract dispute with a star player. It's a methodology so predictable we can call it a playbook at this point.

Don't believe me? Let history be the guide. It was just over one year ago that the Cowboys resolved Zack Martin's holdout, bringing their All-Pro guard back to camp after a three-week absence. 

They pushed the envelope a bit further back in 2019, when they waited until the week of the season opener to sign Ezekiel Elliott to his mega extension.

And while they did get Dez Bryant into training camp way back in 2015, they still pushed negotiations as far as they could. With the NFL's franchise tag deadline forcing an end to contract talks on July 15, the Cowboys inked their last star receiver just hours before league rules wouldn't allow them to negotiate anymore.

At this point, it's part of the Dallas Cowboys' DNA – deadlines make deals. And if there isn't a real deadline, then the practical deadline of time before the start of the regular season will make do.

It's the way of things, though that doesn't make it less curious. It's particularly interesting considering that these deals always seem to work out exactly the way we expected. Despite the lengthiness of the holdout, Elliott's extension went for six years and a record-setting $90 million.

First Things First weighs in on CeeDee Lamb's extension

When Dak Prescott, after multiple years of back and forth, finally signed his deal in 2021, he hit the coveted $40 million salary in addition to securing the no-trade and no-tag clauses that are currently giving him so much leverage in his own contract negotiations.

More on that in a second.

But Lamb now falls into this category, too. It's hard not to think the 25-year-old didn't get exactly what he wanted when he began his holdout four long months ago.

The proof is in the numbers. Lamb's contract value, contract duration, average salary and total guarantees all slot in just below Justin Jefferson. At $34 million per year, he's the second-highest-paid, non-quarterback in the league — just below the Vikings' All-Pro from his same draft class. His signing bonus of $38 million is the highest ever given to a receiver — possibly a concession in exchange for Lamb not topping any of Jefferson's other benchmarks.

Regardless of the minutiae, the framework of this deal has been in place since Jefferson signed his contract way back on June 3.

Again, if you don't believe me, the tea leaves were easy to read.

Maybe the sticking points were that hard to get over. Maybe Lamb and his representatives truly drove that hard of a bargain. All we know for sure is that the Cowboys' best playmaker missed most of training camp over a predictable contract.

Thankfully, it's irrelevant now. Cowboys officials will be all smiles as they introduce their new $34 million receiver later this week, and Lamb will hopefully have enough time to get up to speed before that Sept. 8 trip to face the Cleveland Browns.

But even if the end result is the desired outcome, it's hard not to wonder about the methodology. The Cowboys will be doing this same song and dance with Micah Parsons in 2025, and he just might have a stronger case for a chart-topping payday than Lamb did. On top of that, Parsons — one of the league's most dynamic personalities — might be more willing to make himself heard if he feels he's being treated unfairly. 

And then there's Dak Prescott. It's startling to think that the noise over the Lamb contract has moved the Cowboys' signal-caller to the backburner. Because, while Prescott might have reported to training camp, his contract situation is much more dire, with the aforementioned no-trade and no-tag clauses guaranteeing that he'll hit the open market in March if the Cowboys can't sign him before then.

In true Cowboys fashion, the start of the 2024 season feels like a firm deadline for getting something done.

With Lamb secure, do they have time to turn their attention to that? Does Lamb's presence on the roster make Prescott more willing to sign on for several more years? Can the Cowboys afford the asking price of an All-Pro quarterback with unprecedented leverage? We've been asking these questions for months, but they come into sharper focus now that one obvious obstacle has been cleared.

Knowing Jerry Jones' penchant for salesmanship, maybe that's been the point all along. There's no good reason the Cowboys need to do business this way, but damn if it isn't entertaining to watch.

David Helman covers the NFL for FOX Sports and hosts the NFL on FOX podcast. He previously spent nine seasons covering the Cowboys for the team's official website. In 2018, he won a regional Emmy for his role in producing "Dak Prescott: A Family Reunion" about the quarterback's time at Mississippi State. Follow him on Twitter at @davidhelman_.

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