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The Dallas Cowboys players, both veterans and rookies, are gathering in Oxnard, California, for their training camp starting on July 24. This year, the team is focused on making it back to the Super Bowl for the first time since 1995. But everyone’s talking about the contracts of quarterback Dak Prescott and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb.
Contract negotiations are tough.
In the past year, the Cowboys couldn’t finalize deals with Prescott and Lamb. Meanwhile, other players’ salaries have soared. Trevor Lawrence from the Jaguars and Joe Burrow from the Bengals both earn $55 million annually. Justin Jefferson of the Vikings makes $35 million per year. With these skyrocketing figures, keeping Prescott and Lamb will cost the Cowboys a lot more.
So, who will team owner Jerry Jones prioritize signing first?
According to Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News (subscription required), Lamb is expected to be the top priority over Prescott in contract talks. This might mean Lamb could hold out at the start of training camp.
“The Cowboys want Lamb in camp, but the talks, slow as they’ve been, could pick up once the team arrives in California,” writes Watkins.
Lamb has been absent all offseason. He missed organized team activities (OTAs) and mandatory minicamp. Now it seems like the Cowboys want to lock in a deal with him before turning their attention to Prescott’s contract.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler mentioned on SportsCenter that while the Cowboys have told Prescott privately they want to extend his contract, there hasn’t been much progress. “Here’s a little bit of a wrinkle,” Fowler said via Bleacher Report. “You still have Tua Tagovailoa in Miami who needs to get a deal done. You still have Jordan Love in Green Bay who needs to get a deal done. Dak Prescott has the most leverage of those three, so he very well could be waiting for those two to go first and then he bats clean up with a huge deal that could be a market resetter.”
Tua Tagovailoa and Jordan Love are entering their final contract years and might secure deals before the season starts. With rising quarterback salaries, Prescott could potentially earn more than both.
Prescott’s current contract ends after this year without a franchise tag clause. If no agreement is reached by 2025, he’ll hit free agency.
The Cowboys need to secure contracts for two key players: Lamb and Prescott. But right now, it looks like Lamb is their main focus.
