In context of Brandon Aiyuk and Haason Reddick, let’s reexamine Cowboys’ comfort with CeeDee Lamb holdout

OXNARD, Calif. — Stephen Jones sat in a tent overlooking the Dallas Cowboys’ mock game on Tuesday and considered his dilemma.

The Cowboys executive vice president knew he and colleagues need to determine three key contractual futures.

Jones recognized, too, that strategizing the future for Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb and Micah Parsons is a good problem to face.

How many teams are racking their brains on how they’ll pay their homegrown 2016 fourth-round quarterback, their 2020 first-round wide receiver and their 2021 first-round edge rusher?

One.

Jones thought back to a favorite saying of his father, Cowboys team owner and general manager Jerry Jones.

“To use an old Jerryism, Santa Claus doesn’t put the bicycle under the Christmas tree every year,” Jones told Yahoo Sports. “You gotta come to grips that you gotta pay for it.”

So the Cowboys continue to negotiate with wide receiver CeeDee Lamb as he holds out, and quarterback Dak Prescott, whose extension Jones says he hopes “gets done before the start of this season. I mean, that’s our goal.”

But as Lamb’s holdout stretches past three weeks, the Cowboys insist they’re not losing sleep over the All-Pro’s absence.

Part of the calm stems from a trust in Lamb’s work ethic, Jones says, “so we’re not worried about the old days [when] you’d have guys come in, they’ve been drinking beer ’til they got their contract signed and then you got two or three weeks to get them in shape.”

And a part of the contentment stems from a glance across the league to realize that maybe the contractual grass isn’t greener than Oxnard — and maybe a holdout from one starter isn’t so bad.

Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb is looking to be paid like an elite wide receiver. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

The San Francisco 49ers and Brandon Aiyuk have dominated headlines throughout the last week-plus as they navigate through their future or lack thereof together.

Will Aiyuk be traded? Conversations with the New England Patriots,…

Source link : https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/in-context-of-brandon-aiyuk-and-haason-reddick-lets-reexamine-cowboys-comfort-with-ceedee-lamb-holdout-173541011.html

Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-08-14 17:35:41

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