Last week we heard that CeeDee Lamb, who is seemingly in the middle of contract negotiations with the Dallas Cowboys, could potentially not participate on the field during offseason activities. That is a benign version of a holdout.
Lamb is coming off of the most statistically successful season that a wide receiver has ever had in franchise history as far as individual accomplishments are concerned. This is the second offseason that he has been eligible for an extension and it would stand to reason that not signing one last year means the numbers on his new contract will grow.
This is the case because of how Lamb played last season, but also because of what potentially lies ahead. Other notable wideouts like Justin Jefferson, Ja’Marr Chase, Jaylen Waddle and Brandon Aiyuk are all eligible for new deals and at some point it stands to reason that one, or many of them, will sign, and likely for at least $30M per year (the deal that Lamb was projected to receive earlier this offseason).
We have listed four names that could up Lamb's eventual number if they sign first (the laws of supply and demand are what they are) but a fifth lurks as a wildcard of sorts. And unfortunately it is a player on a team who has shown high levels of aggression in the past to try and beat the market’s climb before it is too late.
The Eagles could really complicate the Cowboys’ process of trying to get a CeeDee Lamb extension done
Throughout the course of recent history the Philadelphia Eagles have shown an elite ability (sigh) to beat the market on different deals. Simply put, they understand that paying early typically means paying less in the long run.
Last offseason saw them pay quarterback Jalen Hurts on the heels of his MVP-caliber season in 2022. Hurts became the first player to reach an AAV in the $50M per year range, a mark that was eclipsed by three different players in the months that followed. Conversations now seem to live in the $60M per year range to prove the point even further.
But this conversation is about wide receivers, not quarterbacks, and the Eagles have one that is eligible for a contract extension for the first time in DeVonta Smith. According to ESPN, Smith is a strong candidate to receive the next big extension from Philly.
The two sides aren’t working against any kind of imminent deadline here. Smith is under contract through 2024 at a base salary of just over $1 million. And the Eagles have until May 2 to exercise the fifth-year option on Smith’s rookie deal, which would come in around $16 million for the 2025 season, according to OverTheCap.
But Philadelphia has a well-established history of signing foundational players as early as possible, in part because they know the price tag will only go up. With a number of top-end receivers eligible for new deals, including Justin Jefferson and Ja’Marr Chase, there’s likely extra incentive to get something done with Smith before the market resets.
Everything about this second paragraph is what has helped the Eagles maintain financial flexibility over the last decade and change. They understand that there is a level of aggression necessary for building out your roster and that having it allows for the highest level of escapability relative to the big-time contract positions in the league.
Interestingly Smith was taken with the pick that originally belonged to the Cowboys during the 2021 NFL Draft. Dallas traded back with Philly and moved from 10 to 12 (that selection passed hands from San Francisco to Miami to Philly and ultimately to Dallas) so that the Eagles could take him. The irony involved there if Smith also cost them on the CeeDee Lamb front writes itself.
How exactly could it do that, though? Well Lamb is a much more accomplished player than Smith so whatever the latter signs for is ultimately going to serve as a point of leverage in Lamb's negotiations with the Cowboys. As mentioned. the Eagles are unafraid to pay more now to avoid doing so later and if they put Smith anywhere near a $30M AAV then the Cowboys are going to have to step up significantly for that for their own top wideout.
And this is just DeVonta Smith that we are talking about. If and when the likes of the other receivers we mentioned ink new deals then the price, as ESPN literally noted, will only go up. Debates can be had as to whether or not Lamb is better than every name we have noted, but once again the laws of supply and demand speak for themselves. “The price tag will only go up” is an unavoidable truth here.
One month ago NFL Network reported that Lamb would be the “priority” for the Cowboys in terms of the pending extensions on their to-do list, but that was a month ago. More time has passed. Thankfully since then no big deals have come, but that may not be the case another month into the future.
The Cowboys have made it very clear that their priority is to pay their own and getting a CeeDee Lamb deal done with go a long way to proving that they really mean that. While there are arguments to be made for getting extensions done with Dak Prescott and/or Micah Parsons. it is fair to say that Lamb could be the most pressing given the market at his position is most likely to balloon exponentially relative to the others.
