Dallas City News

Cowboys, WR CeeDee Lamb agree to terms on four-year, $136 million extension – Nick Shook, NFL.com

At long last, the Cowboys will have their WR1 back on the field for the season opener.

Lamb will also receive $100 million guaranteed and a wide receiver-record $38 million signing bonus, per Rapoport and Pelissero.

The deal will pay Lamb the second-highest average annual salary at $34 million per year, coming in just behind Minnesota’s Justin Jefferson (four years, $35 million per year).

Lamb has remained away from the Cowboys since OTAs, which he skipped as part of his efforts to secure a new deal before the start of the season, and has remained a frequent topic in the Cowboys news cycle because of his prolonged absence. It hasn’t been a smooth process, either, especially when owner Jerry Jones told reporters he didn’t “have any urgency to get it done” in early August, eliciting a short, displeased response from Lamb via social media.

Jones eventually doubled back to control the public relations damage, and as the preseason neared its conclusion, it seemed as if a deal would be done for Lamb before Week 1. It happened Monday, providing quarterback Dak Prescott with his most important weapon just in time for the start of a pivotal season.

Cowboys hosting Dalvin Cook on visit: Dallas bringing in veteran RB despite having Ezekiel Elliott, per report – Garrett Podel, CBS Sports

The Cowboys have kept Rico Dowdle and Ezekiel Elliott fresh for the regular season, but are still looking at veteran options in the backfield.

Cook played his first five seasons (2017-2021) under Cowboys new defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer, who was the Minnesota Vikings head coach at the time. He has made the Pro Bowl in four of the last five years, and has rushed for at least 1,135 yards in each of those four campaigns from 2019 to 2022 in Minnesota.

In 2023, Cook played in 15 games with the New York Jets, but he totaled just 214 rushing yards on 67 carries (3.2 yards per carry). He ended up finishing the year with the Baltimore Ravens and totaling 23 rushing yards on eight carries against the Houston Texans in the 2023 AFC Divisional Round. Since 2019, Cook has the fourth-most rushing yards (5,238), tied for the fourth-most rushing touchdowns (43) and the fifth-most rushing first downs (268). He is the Vikings; third-leading rusher with 5,993 yards, trailing only Robert Smith and Adrian Peterson. His 47 rushing touchdowns rank fourth in Vikings history.

Cook reportedly used much of the 2024 offseason to rehab from shoulder surgery and “feels the best he has in years,” per NFL Media.

Mike McCarthy reacts to CeeDee Lamb contract extension with Cowboys – Patrik Walker, DallasCowboys.com

The Cowboys head coach, in the final year of his contract, is certainly looking forward to calling plays with Prescott and Lamb on the field again.

“I think, No. 1, is it’s great to get the contract in place and to have him back,” said McCarthy not long after the deal was agreed to by both sides. “ … I was anticipating a sooner or later type of situation today, but it was good to get this done. I think we’re all relieved.”

McCarthy held firm the entire time that Lamb would return to the team soon and that, once he did, the Cowboys would ramp up the First-Team All-Pro wideout in practice.

That remains the plan heading into Labor Day weekend.

“The schedule that we have for the week, frankly, fits into a ramp-up mode,” he said. “I don’t feel like we have to do a whole lot of adjusting. Obviously, we’re gonna have a plan for him.”

What Lamb has been able to do since entering the league is excelsior on many fronts and literally historic on others, as McCarthy can readily.

“The talent has been extremely evident since this young man has stepped on a football field,” said the Cowboys’ head coach. “Not only does he play every position on the offensive perimeter, but he’s also an exceptional returner, and he loves it. He loves being in the backfield and loves running the ball [as well]. He gives you that opportunity to not only take advantage of that schematically, but he’s damn good at all of it.”

Cowboys Rumors: Dak Prescott, Micah Parsons Contracts Not Any Closer After Lamb Deal – Andrew Peters, Bleacher Report

Contract watch for big name players is far from over in Dallas.

Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Cowboys are not “any closer” to extending Prescott or Parsons.

“It has not felt like there’s been a real sense of urgency to get a deal done,” Schefter said on SportsCenter. “And the urgency helped them today with CeeDee Lamb, but it has not really been there, nor should it be there with Dak Prescott nor Micah Parsons. So those two situations continue to linger on. And now that Dallas has reached the agreement with CeeDee Lamb, it can take some of the attention that it was devoting to their wide receiver and now begin to focus it on the quarterback and the elite defensive player that Micah Parsons is.

“But it doesn’t appear at this time that a deal with either one of those players—Parsons or Prescott—is any closer despite the fact that CeeDee Lamb now has an agreement to keep him in Dallas for the next five years.”

Prescott will be a free agent after the 2024 season and should be due for a big raise this offseason. The veteran led the NFL with 36 touchdowns and had the third-most passing yards with 4,516 last year.

The quarterback market was reset this offseason after Trevor Lawrence, Tua Tagovailoa and Jordan Love landed deals that will pay them more than $50 million a year, and Prescott is well deserving of a number in that range as well.

The Cowboys have more time to figure out Parsons’ contract situation, as he’s under contract through the 2025 season. That also gives Parsons time to have a career season and raise his value even more.

Jerry Jones believes the “angst, pressure” of being in the last year of a contract is a positive – Charean Williams, Pro Football Talk

Jerry is betting on his team to perform under pressure this season, because of course he is.

Mike McCarthy is entering the final year of his deal with the Cowboys, something he has admitted is a “challenge.”

Jones said Saturday night he believes having your back against the wall brings out your best.

“Absolutely, I do. I really do,” Jones said. “There’s no question in my mind that angst, pressure, competing will bring out the best in this game from coaches and players. But . . . this game has to have some extra [fire] over the guys that you’re in front of [on the field]. That’s why I’m kind of amazed at someone talking about the job they’re doing without a contract. Blows my mind.”

McCarthy has posted back-to-back-to-back 12 win seasons, something not accomplished in Dallas since the 1990s dynasty. The Cowboys are 36-15 in the regular season the past three seasons, with only the Chiefs, at 37-14, posting a better record in that span.

Can the Cowboys trade Trey Lance, or is he in Dallas for the year? – Reid Hanson, The Cowboys Wire

The Trey Lance trade talks will continue into the regular season, even with Cooper Rush likely serving as the Cowboys’ QB2.

The Cowboys are in a pickle of sorts because Lance is scheduled to count $5,310,717 against the salary cap, which is more than what most teams want to dedicate to the QB3 position. Lance is still valuable in some regard as a developmental piece, but it would have to be on the right team for the right dollar amount.

The Cowboys have to answer whether or not that’s in Dallas under his scheduled cost or if there are alternatives. Based on Jerry Jones’ comments, he’s committed to the cause, but words aren’t actions and things could be happening behind the scenes.

“Certainly, we plan on him being on our roster, for sure,” Jones said of his young QB.

If the Cowboys are open to the idea of trading Lance, these are exactly the type of statements Jones would be expected to say. A trading team doesn’t want to float the idea the player in question might get cut loose. But since Dallas would receive zero relief by cutting Lance, it’s safe to assume Jones was being truthful and Lance’s spot on the 53-man roster is fairly safe.