The Dallas Cowboys and star wide receiver CeeDee Lamb have agreed to a four-year, $136 million contract extension, Yahoo Sports’ Jori Epstein confirmed, ending Lamb’s holdout and temporarily calming the waters around the team.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter first reported the deal.
The contract comes with $100 million in guarantees. It’s the second-largest contract for a non-quarterback in NFL history, trailing only Justin Jefferson’s four-year, $140 million extension that he signed with the Minnesota Vikings in June.
Lamb, 25, held out of Cowboys training camp while seeking a new contract more in line with top-end wide receiver money, which is exactly how he’s performed since being drafted in the first round in 2020. Last season, Lamb was named first-team All-Pro after catching 135 passes for 1,749 and 12 touchdowns, to go along with two rushing touchdowns.
He’s also a three-time Pro Bowler with three straight 1,000-yard receiving seasons, forming one of the NFL’s best quarterback-wide receiver combinations with Dak Prescott.
Lamb was entering the final season of his rookie contract and due $17.9 million this season on a fifth-year option that the Cowboys had exercised. His extension pays him in line with a booming wide receiver market that’s produced deals this offseason for Jefferson, A.J. Brown and Amon-Ra St. Brown in excess of $30 million per season.
The deal provides some resolution in an offseason of uncertainty in Dallas and gets Lamb back at practice with two weeks remaining before the start of the season. The Cowboys open their regular season on Sept. 8 at the Cleveland Browns.
What will come of Dak Prescott talks?
The subject of Prescott’s long-term status remains unresolved. Prescott is entering the final season of a four-year $160 million contract and is scheduled to become a free agent at the end of the upcoming season, barring an extension.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has offered vague updates on contract discussions with Prescott, telling reporters last week “we’re just continuing to talk.”
“The thing is there, since we’re really in-season, practicing, doing all those things, we’re operating under the existing contract really good,” Jones said, per the team’s website. …
“You should be able to operate under those, but we’ve gotten it now in the NFL — other teams are dealing with it — with some time on the contract, you still might have a contract discussion. And that’s what we’re doing. None of us — player or team — want to hurt the preparation or likelihood of playing at your best.”
Prescott, meanwhile, has not held out. He’s remained with the team through training camp and the preseason. Until and if he gets an extension, his status beyond next season with the Cowboys will remain a storyline in Dallas.
But the good news for the Cowboys and their fans is that Prescott has his top weapon back in the lineup for the start of a regular season that will once again come with high expectations.
