The Dallas Cowboys have a number of contract extensions to sort out in the coming months not including Micah Parsons, who remains unsigned as Dallas prepares for its first padded practice of training camp on Sunday.
Well, Cowboys fans can exhale ever so slightly as the team has signed tight end Jake Ferguson to a four-year extension, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. The deal is worth $52 million in total with $30 million guaranteed. Ferguson also got a $12 million signing bonus.
This is very surprising given 2024 was a down year for Ferguson's standards. He missed time with a concussion and a knee injury and wasn't all that productive when healthy, catching 59 passes for 494 yards without a single touchdown.
Despite the subpar season, this is a very good deal for the Cowboys. While Ferguson will have to prove that last year's production boiled down to injuries - including the one to Dak Pescott - he burst onto the scene in 2023 as one of the most dynamic young tight ends in the sport.
Cowboys shockingly sign TE Jake Ferguson to a four-year extension
A former fourth-round pick Ferguson played all 17 games that year and caught 71 passes for 761 yards and five touchdowns. He ranked top 10 at the position in each category.
An argument can be made that Ferguson is a top 10 player at the position when healthy and he should have plenty of room to operate in the middle of the field now that Dallas has George Pickens occupying more attention on top of CeeDee Lamb.
This extension makes Ferguson the seventh-highest paid tight end in the league. He's now making slightly more than the likes of Cole Kmet, Pat Freiermuth, Jonnu Smith and Dalton Schutlz, and slighty less than David Njoku and Mark Andrews. That is right where Ferg belongs in the TE hierarchy.
Again, Ferguson dealt with a knee injury, a concussion and lousy quarterback play for half the year from Cooper Rush. He's an ascending player who could put up huge numbers in 2025. This deal will look like a bargain in a year's time.
Hopefully this is the first of many contracts that Dallas gets sorted in Oxnard.