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The Cowboys have gone from being all-in to a potential five-alarm fire.
They were unable to improve the team in free agency because they needed to resolve contract situations with three key players: quarterback Dak Prescott, receiver CeeDee Lamb and linebacker Micah Parsons. As training camp approaches, they still haven’t resolved a single one of those issues.
It may explode later this month.
In just over three weeks, the Cowboys will report for camp. They will begin practicing in Oxnard on July 25.
Lamb, who skipped the entire preseason program (including mandatory minicamp), is not expected to report to training camp without a new contract. He is entering his fifth-year option, which carries a salary of $17.991 million. That’s about half of the current market cap at his position, or $35 million.
According to the NFLPA, the Cowboys have $13 million in cap space. A new deal with Dak would create more cap space by lowering his 2024 salary cap hit from $55.4 million. That said, a new deal for Lamb could also create cap space for the current year through a large signing bonus and a minimum salary. For example, a five-year deal with a $30 million signing bonus and a minimum base salary of $1.17 million would shave more than $10 million off his current-year salary cap hit, leaving it at $7.17 million.
This approach would create bigger salary-cap years down the road, of course, and that’s one reason the Cowboys are currently in this bind. On top of Prescott’s $55.4 million for 2024, he counts for $54.5 million in 2025, even if he’s not on the team. Only a new deal lowers those numbers. That’s one reason Dak has so much leverage.
Then there’s Parsons. He’s expected to make just $2.9 million this year. He shouldn’t set foot on a football field until he gets a new contract.
Of course, he has said he is willing to be patient, but he shouldn’t be. He should insist on a new deal right now and wait until he gets it.
Five years ago, running back Ezekiel Elliott’s refusal to play was unexpected. If both Parsons and Lamb stay away, and if Dak doesn’t reduce his salary figures for the next two years with a new contract, the Cowboys will have a huge mess on their hands.
Even with those three players on the team, the mismanagement of their contracts has already undermined the prospects for 2024. Last year, the Cowboys ran away with an unlikely division title (thanks in large part to a complete Philadelphia collapse) before being blown out at home in the playoffs. This year, while the other NFC East teams have improved, Dallas has had to juggle to stay on course.
In a league where everything is going down the drain, the 2024 season could be a season of failure for Dallas. You could say the damage has already been done. The only question now is whether the situation will be exacerbated if one or two key players sit out training camp until they get what they want.
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