Cowboys' Top Contract Extension Priorities Entering Training Camp
The Dallas Cowboys might just have been the most frustrating team over the course of the NFL offseason.
Despite back-to-back-to-back 12-win seasons with nothing to show for it in the way of postseason success, Jerry Jones did not open the purse strings. In fact, the Cowboys were the lowest-spending team this offseason by a wide margin.
The obvious reason behind that is that there are several key contracts that are up for extension right now. Mike McCarthy doesn't count against the salary cap, but he's in the final year of his deal.
Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb and Micah Parsons are the three biggest stars on the team. All three are extension-eligible right now. Prescott and Lamb would both hit free agency if they remained unexpended heading into next offseason.
Here, we'll take a look at those contract extensions and rank them by their current priority, starting with the lowest and working our way to the top priority based on timeline, importance to team and current market.
3. Micah Parsons
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Micah Parsons is one of the best overall football players in the league right now. But he isn't the Cowboys top priority when it comes to figuring out contract extensions right now.
For one, Parsons isn't set to become a free agent until 2026. He's still playing on his rookie contract and that includes a fifth-year option for the 2025 season that will pay him $21.3 million. The Cowboys already picked that option.
That was probably the easiest choice the Cowboys had to make all offseason. If and when the Cowboys give Parsons his new contract, it is going to be massive. Parsons is only 25 years old and he already has 40.5 sacks in three seasons.
He has publicly stated that he expects to be the highest-paid non-quarterback in the league. He even went so far as to put a number on it, noting that the market could be up to $40 million per year, per Clarence E. Hill of the Fort Worth Telegram.
There's no rush at this point because if Parsons is thinking about those kind of numbers it doesn't do him any good to rush a contract. It's in his best interest to let things play out and see how other teams deal with another year of a potentially rising salary cap and sign an extension in 2025.
The Cowboys don't have that luxury with their other two stars.
2. Dak Prescott
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In reality, the Cowboys have probably missed the boat on the optimum time to extend Dak Prescott. Getting him a new contract before Trevor Lawrence and Jared Goff got their contracts that set the current market even higher.
There might be growing frustration that the Cowboys haven't been able to win in the playoffs, but that hasn't all been on Precott.
The bottom line is that Prescott has delivered elite production when healthy. He was second in total QBR last season and finished second in MVP voting. The Cowboys are 73-41 with Prescott as the starter.
Dallas could certainly decide to roll the dice on Trey Lance becoming a franchise quarterback or walk through the mystery door of drafting a prospect in 2025. But both carry a whole lot more ambiguity than continuing forward with Prescott.
The good news is that it sounds like both parties are amicable to a new deal and Prescott doesn't sound like a quarterback who feels disrespected by the team's approach.
"I don't really take things personal," he said, per Todd Archer of ESPN. "Maybe in my first deal, maybe things were a little different than they are now. One, it's my age and who I am, where I am in my life, and I guess the fact that that first deal got done. The understanding that I have a lot of decision in this, too. I have a lot of say-so, too."
Prescott's mindset and the fact that he already has one major contract extension with the Cowboys under his belt has afforded them the opportunity to wait.
1. CeeDee Lamb
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The Cowboys might be able to afford to be patient on a Dak Presott contract extension. They don't have the same grace in the CeeDee Lamb contract situation.
Lamb has become one of the league's premier pass catchers and the price for a top-of-the-market player at the position has skyrocketed. Every extension for the upper echelon of the position has seemingly raised the price.
Ideally, the Cowboys would have been able to get Lamb under a new contract before the Vikings extended Justin Jefferson. Instead, they'll now have to compete with the four-year, $140 million deal the Vikings just gave their star receiver.
Lamb's production is going to put him in the same ballpark. He led the league with 135 receptions and was second in receiving yards with 1,749. He had the eighth-highest target rate in the league, per Player Profiler, and is obviously the crux of the Cowboys passing attack.
He's also pressing the issue of a new contract. The 25-year-old sat out the team's mandatory minicamp and is expected to hold out in training camp.
This season is too important for the Cowboys to risk having their star receiver sit out a portion of training camp and get off to a slow start. It's time to get a deal figured out now to maximize the 2024 season.
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