Let’s do a quick check on the local sports landscape. The Dallas Stars are loaded with young talent, currently possess the top seed in their conference, and appear poised for a deep playoff run. The Dallas Mavericks are the hottest team in the NBA after making some brilliant roster moves and have earned the “no one wants to see that team in the postseason” distinction. The Texas Rangers, of course, are coming off a World Series win and are stocked with their own deep pool of potential future stars.
The Dallas Cowboys?
The Cowboys did less than any other team in the league to improve their lot via free agency. They “kicked off” their offseason like Charlie Brown attempting to kick a football. But you know that the scent of football season is beginning to waft through the air, because an occurrence as predictable as a solar eclipse is set to occur: a high-profile Cowboys player due for a contract is about to hold out.
Per reports, a CeeDee Lamb holdout is a very real possibility.
Voluntary workouts start next week. As former Cowboys running back Troy Hambrick once inquired when skipping spring workouts, “What do voluntary mean?” Lamb skipping those get-togethers amidst contract negotiations would not be abnormal. However, mandatory minicamp takes place the first week of June, and right now it’s hard to see Lamb being a part of those.
Why? Because for some reason, despite it failing to really ever work in the club’s favor, despite a decades-long drought of real playoff success, this is the way the Cowboys are committed to doing business.
Year after year, contract after contract, the Cowboys convince themselves that they’re playing real hardball and wait as long as they can, while the price of the brick goes up. And then, with a few exceptions, they end up paying the player top of the market money in the end. Then they attempt to sell the idea that this is just how negotiations go, they knew they would get it done, and we lay people just don’t understand the inner workings of the cap and building a roster.
The reality is, the team should have been aggressive in locking Lamb up before last season. Despite some early struggles, by the end of 2022, Lamb’s first full season as the primary focus of the passing game, it was clear what his trajectory was. He tallied 107 catches, 1,359 yards, and nine touchdowns, earning him second-team All-Pro honors. His targets, yards, catches, and touchdowns had gone up every year of his career. What did they think was going to happen to Lamb as his career progressed at that point? He was going to get worse? Stop improving? He was 23! I understand both sides have to come to the table, but I don’t recall hearing any murmurs that the Cowboys were interested in giving Lamb an extension last offseason.
And lo and behold, in Lamb’s fourth year, his emergence continued as he ascended to superstar status. Now a first-team All Pro, Lamb reportedly wants to surpass Tyreek Hill’s $30 million per season to become the highest-paid wide receiver in the NFL, which makes sense, as the cap has gone up. (There are obviously details that could be sticking points as well, like the percentage of the contract that is guaranteed and the length and the general structure, but the narrative will be about the average annual value.)
Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson, who is also due for an extension, reportedly turned down $30 million per year last offseason. Lamb is not quite Jefferson, to be sure. But the Vikings are going to pay Jefferson sooner rather than later. Let’s say that number comes in at $35 million. If Lamb’s deal is not inked before then, which seems more and more likely, the number will go up to $32 million or $33 million. All because the Cowboys insist on doing business this way. There is no way to know with any certainty, but I’d be interested in an alternate universe where Dallas offered Lamb $25 million a season before last year’s breakout campaign. The way they operate costs them real resources in terms of building out their roster.
The most unnerving part is that I believe the Jones family actually convinces themselves they are winning or at least compromising in these scenarios. They are not. Per the Morning News’ report on Lamb’s potential holdout, Stephen Jones said: “Everybody goes about it a different way. We’ve had guys who have been around. [Ezekiel Elliott] was never around when he was wanting a contract. So we’ve dealt with both. We respect Zeke, but you prefer that they’re around when they’re under contract. It’s part of the business. You don’t love it, but it’s part of the business.”
This is one the most insane things this man has ever said. He is basically saying, “Zeke held out, and we got that one done, so while it’s not ideal, a holdout is not really anything to be concerned about.” Are we forgetting that the Cowboys caved to Zeke’s holdout with two years left on his contract and then gave him one of the worst contracts in recent NFL history? I’m in favor of signing your stars sooner rather than later, but that was criminal roster construction negligence. And now it is being back-sold as a win to downplay the impact that a holdout can have on negotiations?
In fact, what it does is set a precedent. A precedent other players and agents recognize.
Last offseason, the Cowboys were reportedly “dug in” on reworking and extending Martin after he did not report to training camp. (Note the date on that report: August 7.) What happened? They gave him a raise, a reworked deal, and he reported to camp (one week later, August 14). If you are Lamb or his agent, why would you have any reason to believe that no-showing mandatory workouts or even the beginning of camp would have any negative impact on your leverage?
I am not advocating for simply giving every big name player everything he wants every time he wants it. But there is real value in cutting these things off at the pass and trying to save some cash by getting a deal done before it gets to a holdout. Besides, if you’re going to end up just paying them essentially what it was reported that they were asking for in the first place, why not just do it and save the headaches?
There is a part of me that believes they actually like the headaches, because it fuels the Cowboys Take Machine. Whatever the reasoning, if this is how they’re going to play things, they need to be prepared for one of the biggest contract headaches they’ll have experienced in quite some time: pass rusher Micah Parsons. Lamb is a relatively quiet public individual, akin to Prescott. Parsons is not. Parsons never shies away from discussing money or contracts or bags, whether it is related to his own teammates or players around the league. We would be foolish to think that Parsons and his people are not paying very close attention to how the Lamb situation plays out, and stacking that on top of Elliott, Prescott, and Martin’s situations.
The Cowboys scouting department deserves all of the credit in the world for identifying talent all up and down the draft and getting them to The Star. Their development and coaching staff deserve praise for making sure these talents continue to grow so that they can even be in the position to command huge money down the line. But for some reason, when the business side of things gets to the business people, the situation often goes awry. One can only hope that they will reverse the trend and get Lamb’s deal done quickly. But I’m not holding my breath.
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