Cowboys should prepare for CeeDee Lamb holdout after recent WR activity

Contracts in the NFL have gone up exponentially, especially recently. Last week, we talked about how Dallas Cowboys legend Michael Irvin remembers when he signed a  5-year, $15 million contract in 1995 and thought it was groundbreaking money. Now, that’s chump change. We saw contracts for quarterbacks start to rise and now the same is happening with wide receivers across the league.

To many, this has been one of the craziest offseasons in recent NFL history. With so much movement and unexpected trades, the landscape of the league will look much different next year. Specifically, there were some giant contracts shelled out to wide receivers. First, the Jacksonville Jaguars signed Christian Kirk to a massive four-year, $72 million contract, a price tag many believed he wasn’t deserving of. That catapulted other receivers with top-tier talent to expect even more money.

The Miami Dolphins signed former Kansas City Chiefs WR Tyreek Hill to a four-year, $120 million contract (the highest paid non-quarterback in the league). The Las Vegas Raiders signed former Green Bay Packers WR Davante Adams to a five-year, $141.25 million contract. Most recently, the Buffalo Bills re-signed Stefon Diggs to a four-year, $104 million deal. Now, as seen in the tweet below, some teams are blaming the Kirk contract for causing hold outs amongst players.

Three talented receivers from the 2019 NFL Draft class are currently refusing to attend their teams offseason programs: Deebo Samuel, A.J. Brown, and Terry McLaurin. According to ESPN, that is because they want new, more lucrative contracts given the current receiver market. Keep in mind that they are all still under contract, but their teams cannot exercise fifth-year options to retain them through 2023. Samuel has actually asked for a trade from the Niners. So far, Brown and McLaurin have not insinuated wanting to leave their current teams.

So, what does this have to do with the Cowboys? Their current WR1 (with Michael Gallup still injured) CeeDee Lamb will be in Samuel, Brown, and McLaurin’s position in terms of rookie contracts next year. There is no guarantee, but there is a chance that Lamb, like his peers, will choose to hold out after seeing others get such big contracts, too.

https://twitter.com/TheAthleticNFL/status/1516429443719385088?s=20&t=NCIrcgFhxrTbyzQ3yXNQ9g

Given the current WR market, the Dallas Cowboys should prepare for CeeDee Lamb to potentially hold out for a bigger contract next year

The Titans organization has told Brown several times that they want him to remain in Tennessee. Titans GM Jon Robinson said he doesn’t foresee Brown requesting a trade like Samuel. McLaurin is apparently planning to go to the Washington Commanders training facilities, but is reportedly not going to take the field.

With Michael Gallup being the only starting-caliber Cowboys receiver under a long-term contract extension, Dallas can’t afford to lose another top-tier receiver next year. If they can miraculously get someone as good as or better than Lamb in this draft, they may be slightly more safe. But, since the loss of Amari Cooper, the wide receiver corps is seriously lacking depth as it is.

Another issue? Lamb and Samuel have the same agent – Tory Dandy. If Dandy is encouraging Samuel to do this and it goes well, why wouldn’t he encourage his other client to do it next year? Of course, a lot can change in a year. But, with the way things are going, money seems to be making this league go ’round. That’s not great for Cowboys fans considering Stephen and Jerry Jones love to dig around in the bargain bin.