Wide receiver CeeDee Lamb signed a massive, four-year, $136 million deal with the Dallas Cowboys, and now the team must decide on the future of QB Dak Prescott.
Wide receiver CeeDee Lamb has
signed a massive, four-year, $136 million contract with the Dallas Cowboys, but the deal might have created more questions than answers.
With such a large pact on the books, there are questions about whether the Cowboys can sign quarterback Dak Prescott, who is eligible for free agency at the end of the season.
The cost of signing both Lamb and Prescott could be prohibitive for the Cowboys. Lamb’s deal includes
$100 million in guaranteed money and a $38 million signing bonus—the largest ever for a wide receiver. Prescott’s
projected contract is a staggering $220.3 million over four years or $55.1 million annually.
Lamb, 25, held out of the offseason workouts and did not practice during training camp as his agent and the team tried to iron out a deal. Dallas owner Jerry Jones believed Lamb was the priority in finalizing a contract. Now, the team still has to figure out potentially new deals for Prescott and edge rusher
Micah Parsons, the 12th overall in the 2021 NFL Draft.
“I think CeeDee’s one of the best players in the NFL,” Jones said at the Cowboys’ pre-draft
press conference. “I think he’s very instrumental because of his position to quarterback success, personally. He’s multifaceted in where we can line him up, the type [of] things we can use him for. He’s dedicated in his practice and he’s sound physically. That puts him really right there at the top as far as a player.”
In his first year in Dallas, Lamb caught a team
rookie-record 74 passes for 935 yards and five touchdowns. He ranked second among league rookies in catches and receiving yards and became the first player in NFL history to start a rookie season with six consecutive games of five or more catches. Lamb also became the seventh rookie in Cowboys history to surpass 1,000 scrimmage yards.
Lamb had his best year as a pro in 2023 when he led the NFL with
135 receptions for 1,749 yards and 12 touchdowns. He earned All-Pro honors for the first time and is already a three-time Pro Bowler.
Prescott, 31, is also vital to the franchise’s success
. He is in the final season of a four-year, $160 million deal he signed with Dallas in 2021. The contract includes a no-franchise tag clause and a no-trade clause so that he will be part of the team for the 2024–25 season.
Prescott led the NFL with
36 touchdown passes, earned his highest-ever quarterback rating (105.9), and was second in the MVP voting last season behind Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson.
Prescott has been a three-time Pro Bowl selection and won the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award in 2022.
The Cowboys must decide whether to invest millions in Prescott or use those funds to build other parts of the roster, including Parsons and several other young playmakers.
Prescott is already an expensive player, with a
$55.5 million salary cap hit this year. If he doesn’t reach a new deal with Dallas by next March, when the new league year opens, he will count more than $40 million against the 2025 cap in dead-money charges.
The Cowboys selected Prescott in the fourth round (135th overall) of the 2016 NFL Draft from Mississippi State. He was the first quarterback drafted by the Cowboys since Stephen McGee in 2009 and the fifth since Jones bought the team in 1989.
There are questions over whether Prescott can lead the Cowboys to a Super Bowl title.
Prescott is 2–5 in the postseason over his career. He threw for 403 yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions in a 48–32 loss to Green Bay in the wild-card round this past season.
Jones seems to be open to re-signing Prescott.
“We’re in good shape there. We’re having good talks,” Jones said about the Prescott negotiations at Cowboys practice on Aug. 20.
