Cowboys pick up WR CeeDee Lamb’s fifth-year option - NFL.com, Grant Gordon

Those 88 jerseys at home will last a while now.

In little to no surprise, the Dallas Cowboys are picking up the fifth-year option of Pro Bowl wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Thursday night.

Lamb is the second player from the 2020 NFL Draft first-round class to have his option exercised following Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

Coming off the best season of his burgeoning career, Lamb is now set to make $19.74 million in 2024.

The 24-year-old earned his second straight Pro Bowl selection in 2022 after piling up career highs of 107 receptions, 1,359 yards and nine touchdowns.

Do pre-draft visitors like Zay Flowers hint at Cowboys’ plans at No. 26? - ESPN, Todd Archer

Receivers making up a majority of visits, staff is doing its due diligence.

A year ago, the Dallas Cowboys were able to hide their affection for Tulsa offensive tackle Tyler Smith, whom they ended up taking at No. 24 overall. He was not a Dallas Day visitor and they did not put him on their top-30 national visitors list.

Normally, history says the Cowboys’ top selection will be among those who have made their way to their facility before the draft.

Since 2005, the Cowboys have used their first pick on a player who was one of the top-30 visitors or a Dallas Day participant all but four times: DeMarcus Ware in 2005, Morris Claiborne in 2012, CeeDee Lamb in 2020 (when no visitors were allowed because of the pandemic), and Smith.

2023 NFL Draft: 5 best mid-round fits for the Dallas Cowboys - PFF, John Owning

Dallas loves diamonds in the rough, just gotta search them out.

The NFL draft’s mid-rounds (Rounds 3 and 4) have bore some fruit for the Dallas Cowboys recently, as the team has picked up contributors in Jake Ferguson, Osa Odighizuwa, Neville Gallimore, Tony Pollard, Michael Gallup and Dorance Armstrong since 2018.

The Cowboys hope to replicate that feat this year with the 90th (third round) and 129th (fourth round) overall picks. To keep things fair and realistic, each of the prospects listed below is ranked between 65th (beginning of the third round) and 135th (end of the fourth round) on PFF’s big board.

WR CEDRIC TILLMAN, TENNESSEE

Even though many draft analysts tout Jalin Hyatt as the best Tennesse receiver in the 2023 draft, Tillman was Tennessee’s best weapon for my money, as he wins in ways that translate better to the NFL.

Cowboys Terence Steele Beats Deadline, Lineman Signs Contract - Cowboys Country, Mike Fisher

Better late than never.

Steele, who a month ago received a second-round restricted free agent tender from the Cowboys, on Thursday signed the deal just ahead of the Friday deadline to do so.

The fourth-year tackle’s agreement locks him in at a second-tier RFA price, which gives him a $4.3M salary for the 2023 season, pending the opportunity for both sides to negotiate a longer-term deal.

Progress Report: Longest Punt of Anger’s Career - DallasCowboys.com, Layton Praytor

A position we rarely talk about.

As the Cowboys shift from free agency to the draft, let’s focus on players who are under contract, with a look back to last year but still focusing on their role for the 2023 season. Today, we’ll continue the series with punter Bryan Anger.

What Worked: Anger posted his first career Pro Bowl worthy season with the Cowboys in 2021 during his first year in Dallas and followed that up last season with a year that was almost better in some ways. He boomed the longest punt of his career and the longest one by any punter in the NFL in 2022 with an 83-yarder, while mirroring his yards per punt average from the prior season at 48.8 yards. His ability to pin opponents inside the 20-yard line increased to its highest total since 2019 at 39.7% as well.

Needs Some Work: Few punters have been as consistent as Anger has been during his two years with the Cowboys. He was a big part of a fairly strong special teams unit under coordinator John Fassel despite seeing opponents return 280 yards worth of punts, the most Anger has seen since the 2018 season. The argument could be made that some of that was out of Anger’s control and was frankly the only real blemish on an otherwise really strong season.

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