From @ToddBrock24f7: The Lions WR scored an extension making him the highest-paid receiver in the NFL. The Cowboys will have to pay even more to keep Lamb.
During Tuesday’s pre-draft press conference at The Star in Frisco, Jerry and Stephen Jones blamed- in part- a lack of information for why superstar wide receiver CeeDee Lamb has not been granted a contract extension yet.
“Your actual question is: why don’t you have something done and negotiated and put in the drawer? Well, we’d like to see some more leaves fall. We’d like to see some more action,” Jerry explained.
“I want to see a few more cards play, candidly.”
Well, a big card just got played. And the price to stay all-in on Lamb just went way up.
The Detroit Lions announced a record-setting extension for wideout Amon-Ra St. Brown on Wednesday, giving him another four years with the club and over $120 million, with $77 million of it guaranteed. The deal makes the 24-year-old the highest-paid receiver in the NFL… and resets the market for everyone else.
Speaking with reporters the day prior, the top two men in the Cowboys brain trust tried to explain that talks with Lamb- currently set to play the final year of his contract for a guaranteed $17.99 million- haven’t even begun because they didn’t know the number it would take to get Lamb signed.
“I can assure you, if we felt like we could get a number that was a good number…?” Stephen asked rhetorically. “Unfortunately, these- as we all know- representatives talk to each other. You don’t think the representatives of [Justin] Jefferson and CeeDee and [Ja’Marr] Chase aren’t talking? And you don’t think they’ve got their eye on something really big? Please. Same thing with Micah, same thing with Dak. It’s cat-and-mouse.”
But now a new cat has pounced, and he just caught a whopper of a mouse.
Lamb was drafted in 2020, one year ahead of St. Brown. Lamb was the 17th overall pick; St. Brown was 112th. Both were named to the Pro Bowl and awarded All-Pro honors last season, but Lamb was the head-to-head leader in receptions, yards, touchdowns, and even rushing.
Yet Lamb is now set to make a full $12 million less than St. Brown’s new average annual salary.
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“You don’t know what those big numbers might be,” Stephen claimed Tuesday. “If your gut feel was- if Jerry’s gut feel was- that was a good number, then you might would do it.”
Lamb was already expected to surpass Tyreek Hill’s $30 million-per-year figure with an extension that the Joneses called an offseason priority. Jefferson and Chase were also demanding new deals that would top that amount. (And they could happen at any time.) But now that St. Brown has unexpectedly joined the club, Lamb’s asking price will certainly rocket well past $30 million.
“One reason you’re not doing it is you may not have the answer,” Jerry said Tuesday. “You may really need to see if there’s more cap room. You might need to see if you’re going to get somebody else signed. Or you really, right then, might not even have the money. Under the cap, of course. I guess what I’m trying to say is: timing is obviously as important as the principal amount.”
Jerry absolutely blew the timing on a Lamb extension. Now he’ll have to come up with a lot more principal if Lamb is to stay in the star.
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