CeeDee Lamb Contract Details: Lamb and camp were at $34M/year ‘forever’, Dallas lingered at $32.5M
The Dallas Cowboys did the damn thing on Monday and at long last took care of wide receiver CeeDee Lamb. All told the new deal is of the 4-year, $136M variety which comes in at $34M per year for the 2020 first-round pick. Notably the deal includes a $38M signing bonus which is the largest ever for a wide receiver.
Ultimately CeeDee did not reset the wide receiver market from an annual average value standpoint, but he did get the signing bonus flare that we noted. Reports ranged over the last few weeks about what Lamb did and did not want, but a common denominator always seemed to be that his deal would come in south of Justin Jefferson’s with the Minnesota Vikings.
From an AAV standpoint Jefferson sits at $35M so that ultimately wound up true. As the CeeDee deal is now take care of some details have emerged though and it seems as if CeeDee had long accepted not getting there, at least according to NFL Network’s Jane Slater.
Some more details on the CeeDee Lamb deal according to a source informed.
– Two sides off and on in recent weeks.
-Started really getting steam Saturday.
-For a long time Cowboys were at 32.5M APY then moved up to 33…Lamb and his camp “have been at 34 forever.”
-In the end it…— Jane Slater (@SlaterNFL) August 26, 2024
You’ll have to click on Jane’s tweet to expand it but she notes that conversations between Lamb and the Cowboys really took off last Saturday. Whether that was before or after the preseason finale is obviously unknown.
Interestingly though Jane notes that “for a long time” Dallas was at $32.5M annually but that CeeDee and his representation have been at $34M “forever.” Let me remind you that CeeDee’s deal is worth $34M per year.
Assuming this is true, Jane is a very reputable reporter so that is more than fair here, the Cowboys ultimately bent the knee to CeeDee’s asking price and gave him the signing bonus that no receiver had ever gotten. Living in this world it shows how being unwilling to set the market or reach a market is unwise for players of this caliber.
Time will tell if the Cowboys get a deal done with quarterback Dak Prescott, but if they do similar things will likely wind up being true. A sense of proactivity has been lacking from the organization for some time relative to deals of this magnitude.
It would behoove them to learn a less about it all at some point.