The Dallas Cowboys are well into training camp now, but there is still one prominent player not taking part. Star wide receiver CeeDee Lamb has not yet reported, awaiting his contract extension, and Jerry Jones seems unbothered by it.
This week, Dallas held a joint practice with the Los Angeles Rams and Jones was in attendance. He spoke to the media, who asked about the status of Lamb. To this point, Jerry Jones still feels no urgency.
“I don’t know,” Jones said. “I don’t have a sense of urgency about getting it done. Put any reason you want. I was at Nobu two days ago. Give that as the reason. Whatever you want to put out there.”
He couldn’t have felt great if anyone showed him what was going on on social media after the comments. CeeDee Lamb responded on X, formerly Twitter, simply laughing at the comments that were made.
Entering the final year of his rookie contract, which will pay $17.99 million, Lamb has not taken part in any of the Dallas Cowboys’ offseason workouts. He skipped mandatory minicamp in June, which resulted in fines totaling about $100,000.
Those fines can be rescinded by the team. The fines being racked up during training camp cannot. CeeDee Lamb is being fined $50,000 for every day that he misses, but there has been no indication that he will be reporting anytime soon.
The former first-round pick is seeking an extension that will make him one of the highest-paid players in the NFL. Earlier this offseason, Justin Jefferson signed a deal with the Minnesota Vikings that made him the highest-paid non-quarterback in league history.
He agreed to a four-year, $140 million deal with $110 million in guarantees. That is reportedly the bar that CeeDee Lamb is looking to meet, but the Cowboys have not been willing to go to at this point.
“Well, I don’t know about that, but I know that we’re getting great work, making real progress and I don’t think losing a step at where we’re at now,” Jerry Jones said when he was asked whether he could see Lamb missing the season opener.
“Well, I don’t expect not to have CeeDee Lamb, but this camp has given … opportunities for the people who need it most,” Jones said. “And that’s the ones that aren’t proven like CeeDee. So it’s a great plan to see your receiving corps and develop a receiving corps from the rookies.”
Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys can paint this as positively as they want with the comments they make to the media. But inside that building, an urgency has to be building every day that CeeDee Lamb isn’t at training camp.
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