FILE – Dallas Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb (88) runs on the field before an NFL football game against the Miami Dolphins, Dec 24, 2023, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Doug Murray, File)
FRISCO, Texas (AP) — Now that CeeDee Lamb has a contract that could keep him with the Dallas Cowboys through 2028, the All-Pro receiver is ready for the peace of mind that quarterback Dak Prescott will be with him.
Lamb went through the team’s light workout Tuesday night, a few hours after signing the $136 million, four-year extension that ended his monthslong holdout.
Prescott is going into the final season of the club-record $160 million, four-year deal he signed in 2021. And coming off by far the best year with his No. 1 receiver.
Lamb led the NFL with 135 catches and had 1,749 yards receiving with 12 touchdowns. The 25-year-old has set career highs in all three categories each of his four seasons.
Prescott delivered all but a few dozen of those throws, and he and agent Todd France have been in off-and-on discussions with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones for months on another big contract.
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“You look at our numbers together, they’re at top of the charts,” Lamb said. “I have no doubt that they’re going to get a deal done. We all know I want Dak here. Jerry wants Dak here, too. Let’s just get this under control, kill the speculations.”
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Lamb just lived through about eight months of similar speculations, all the way up until he got the number from agent Tory Dandy that he knew would be good enough for an agreement.
“It was kinda crazy because he hit me with, ‘Yeah, man. This is going south,’” Lamb said. “I’m like, ‘What do you mean, it’s going south? It’s time.’ And he’s, ‘Yeah, they’re only going to pay you $34 (million) a year.’ I’m like, ‘Bro, where do I sign?’”
The money is just shy of the largest contract for a non-quarterback in NFL history. The $140 million, four-year deal that receiver Justin Jefferson reached with Minnesota came the day before Lamb officially became a holdout when he didn’t report to mandatory minicamp in June.
Lamb missed all of training camp in California, along with the entire offseason program. He hadn’t been inside team headquarters since January, after Dallas’ crushing 48-32 home wild-card loss to Green Bay.
The former Oklahoma standout was in Miami when the agreement was reached, but he spent plenty of time in the spring and summer at home, not far from team headquarters.
“I’d drive by ‘The Star.’ I’d look at it. Tempted to come in, obviously,” Lamb said. “Then I’d go grab some food across the street.”
The timing of the deal gives Lamb slightly less than two weeks to get ready for the opener Sept. 8 at Cleveland.
“I gotta get bumped a little bit,” Lamb said. “Not so much hit, as I’m running, a little nudge. Those are just little things, contact balance. But again, I train for those. I feel like I’m more prepared than ever.”
And that includes a 60-play day against the Browns, even without a training camp that Lamb acknowledged he wished he hadn’t missed.
“Yes, bro. No question. I’ll be ready,” Lamb said.
Lamb was a little sheepish about his viral moment on social media during camp, when he responded with an “lol” to Jones saying he didn’t feel a sense of urgency to get the Lamb deal done.
“He’s entitled to whatever he’s got to say, as long as we get the deal done,” Lamb said.
And once the deal was done, Lamb and Jones had “a businessman conversation,” the receiver said. “Just have to (make it) clear that everything was behind us. I’m not worried about nothing. We got what we needed to get done. And now it’s time for me to go ball.”
