Cowboys news: With the WR market exploding, a CeeDee Lamb extension could get expensive

Buckle Up, It May Get Wild for WR CeeDee Lamb After McLaurin’s Recent Extension - Rocky Garza Jr., Inside the Star

CeeDee is gonna get PAID.

On Wednesday, Washington Commanders WR Terry McLaurin, a young uber-talented wideout in the league, landed a long-term extension with the franchise to the tune of three years, $71 million.

According to ESPN Senior Writer Adam Schefter, McLaurin’s deal placed him among the NFL’s five highest-paid wideouts, and his signing bonus ($28 million) was the largest given to any WR.

Now you may be thinking: How does this affect WR CeeDee Lamb?

Well, we’re getting there.

Given that McLaurin’s new deal was all fine and dandy for him, the franchise, and their fans–it not only affects the Cowboys because they will have to face him for a couple more seasons twice a year, but they also are seeing Lamb’s price tag go up quickly.

Lamb, who’s entering Year Three, is expected to be the undisputed WR1 (if that wasn’t obvious enough), and he’s going to garner heavy volume off-the-bat since he will be the Cowboy’s best option in their receiving corps.

Why the Dallas Cowboys Should Ext. CeeDee Lamb & Trevon Diggs Early - Shane Carter, A to Z Sports

Getting ahead of these deals should be a high priority.

Trevon Diggs’ Market

While cornerbacks don’t cost as much as receivers do, the game’s best command top tier money. Jaire Alexander, Denzel Ward and JC Jackson’s new contracts this off-season are among the 10 richest at the position. With Ward and Alexander each exceeding $20 million per year.

The good news for the Dallas Cowboys and Trevon Diggs is this would be the opportune time for an extension. Especially if he continues to be the ball hawk he shows he is.

Going into the 2023 off-season, the expected most expensive CBs are likely to be Marcus Peters, Bradley Roby and possibly Byron Murphy. With Roby and Peters both already 30 years old and unlikely to earn what Diggs will on his second contract.

Both Should Be Extended Sooner Than Later

It’s understandable why the Cowboys would wait. They’ve got both players on their rookie deals for another year after this, possibly two with Lamb’s fifth-year option. Waiting could be what loses them both down the line.

The Dallas Cowboys have already allowed plenty of quality players to walk in free agency, get traded or cut. All in the name of team-reloading and saving cap space to sign players like these when it comes time.

If both players play at Pro Bowl/All-Pro levels this upcoming season, they’ll be seen as key components for the Dallas Cowboys future. It would beg the question of what’s the point of saving cap space if they continue not to use it?

As it stands, Dallas has the fourth most cap room in the league. The salary cap is expected to go up to a projected $230 million next off-season. The Cowboys may enjoy a rookie discount, but if they sit around (again) as other players raise the asking price, they may find themselves in a position to have to start all over again.

As they often do. With similar results.

The Dallas Cowboys have a sneaky bit of depth at defensive end - RJ Ochoa, Blogging the Boys

Cutting down the DE’s could get difficult.

In looking at this team’s “defensive ends” you miss the group’s best player in Micah Parsons. His presence is what truly changes things in an amazing way. But even without Parsons the Cowboys have a lot of pieces to work with. As noted Tank is a well-established leader and will make sure to fortify things against the run, but a combination of Dorance Armstrong, Dante Fowler Jr., and Carlos Watkins helping him out is hardly a bad one.

It is Dorance Armstrong who is expected to carry most of the weight that Randy Gregory leaves behind, but a fair bit of Cowboys fans are anticipating a bit of a career resurgence from Fowler given his relationship with defensive coordinator Dan Quinn. That feels a bit too optimistic for some, but it is certainly worth mentioning that the Cowboys have been proven right on a few different defensive ends that they believed in like Robert Quinn three years ago and Randy Gregory of different years past.

Sam Williams truly does represent the ability for this defense to change stratospheres, though. It was once thought that rookie defensive ends had difficulty making an impact until Micah Parsons changed the game and our expectations for things a bit.

None of this is to say that Williams can come in and have a Parsons-like impact, but if he is the player who Dan Quinn believed in throughout the pre-draft process then all told the defensive ends on this team will be just fine.

We broke down the state of the defensive end position as training camp approaches in the latest video over on the Blogging The Boys YouTube Channel. More positions will follow as camp gets closer so make sure to subscribe to our channel (which you can do right here) so you don’t miss any of them!

Backup QB Rankings: Cowboys Cooper Rush Disrespected? - Zach Dimmitt, Cowboys Maven

Where does Cooper Rush rank in terms of NFL backups?

Even if the stats don’t show it, the Dallas Cowboys believe they have a consistent presence behind quarterback Dak Prescott.

Indeed, last season, Cooper Rush finally showed up, even if for only one game.

Dallas entered Week 8 on the road against the Minnesota Vikings, a team with enough offensive talent to beat the streaking Cowboys, who came into Sunday Night Football on a five-game winning streak.

Both teams were coming off a bye. Both teams had also picked up overtime wins on the road in the game prior to the week-long break. But only one team was set to have its starting quarterback in this primetime matchup.

Prescott said he had a heard a pop in his calf during the Week 6 overtime win against the New England Patriots. It just so happened to come on the game’s final play, a 35-yard game-winning touchdown throw to CeeDee Lamb, who taunted his way into the end zone for the 35-29 win and a $10,000 fine in the mail.

For good reasons, it was one of the most memorable games of the Cowboys’ season, but one of the season’s most special moments came with Rush at the helm against Minnesota.

Despite the bye week, Prescott’s calf injury kept him out for the meeting with the Vikings. Rush was tasked to step in to make his first-career start after just three pass attempts in his three-year career.

17) Do Cowboys Need Dak Prescott To Run More? - Nick Eatman, DallasCowboys.com

Dak using his legs more will be a big win for the Cowboys offense.

17) Do Cowboys Need Dak Prescott To Run More?

Nick Eatman: Yes, they do. Without a doubt, he’s got to be more of a runner. And will most Cowboys fans be scared to death every time he does it? Probably. But that’s just part of the game and more importantly, it’s part of DAK’s game. Dak is a runner. Not, he’s not the fastest quarterback and isn’t the Lamar Jackson type, or even Josh Allen. But Dak is an athlete. He’s a big dude that can get from A to B, rather quickly and he’ll drag a defender or two along the way if he needs to. The Cowboys are just a better team when he runs the ball more. Five attempts a game doesn’t seem like a lot, but he’s done it 26 times. The Cowboys are 20-6 in those games. That’s good enough for me. He needs to tuck it under and run more, get the first down and keep the drive alive.

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