Dallas City News

Mandatory minicamps are beginning all across the NFL on Tuesday and the Dallas Cowboys fall squarely in the camp of those kicking things off. The first word there is obviously important as mandatory means you better be there… or else.

Any player absent from mandatory minicamp is subject to fine from their team so generally absences are only lever related to something specific like wanting a new contract. That is where wide receiver CeeDee Lamb finds himself. Not at The Star in Frisco.

CeeDee Lamb is reportedly absent from mandatory minicamp for the Cowboys

It should come as no surprise that CeeDee Lamb is not at mandatory minicamp given that he has not appeared at the voluntary portion of team activities to this point either. He has made it clear that he is seeking a contract extension that puts him on par with the NFL’s best.

The Minnesota Vikings gave Justin Jefferson a four-year, $140M extension with a historic $88.7M guaranteed at signing. It stands to reason that this will serve as a barometer of sorts for Dallas and Lamb, although ESPN’s Adam Schefter does not think that he will match those numbers.

Whatever Lamb thinks he can get is obviously something that only he and his representation know. But what we all know is that he is not present on Tuesday and won’t be until something changes.

As noted, Lamb leaves himself subject to fine if he does not attend, but presuming he ultimately does get the extension he seeks we are talking about drops in the bucket in an overall sense. So he is likely not sweating.

Lamb is one of three major extensions that the Cowboys have theoretically been working on this offseason with Dak Prescott and Micah Parsons serving as the others. From a time perspective, assuming you want them all back, Prescott is the most paramount given that he is on the final year of his current contract and cannot have the franchise tag placed on him.

But Lamb is arguably the priority given that the wide receiver market continues to explode. Like Prescott, he is also entering the final year of his current deal, although he can be franchise tagged in 2025, but even with Justin Jefferson getting paid, the threat of Ja’Marr Chase or Brandon Aiyuk raising the market still exists.

For clarity’s sake, Micah Parsons is only entering the fourth year of his rookie contract and can be put into franchise tag limbo himself starting in 2026, but not paying a cornerstone player as soon as possible and risking them turning in an all-time season that raises their price is exactly what Dallas did with Lamb a year ago which has led us to this point.