What CeeDee Lamb is doing was expected, and while we shouldn’t panic about it just yet, fans have every right to be frustrated with how this front office continues to handle these things.

Jerry Jones and the crew find themselves in poor positions in nearly every contract negotiation.

I listened to Adam Schefter on ESPN yesterday after this was reported, and he said that Dallas might not even see him again until he get’s a contract extension.

“The Dallas Cowboys may not see CeeDee Lamb again until he gets his [contract extension]. And again this is something the Cowboys have been prepared for, planned for, they know they have to pay him, they want to pay him. But the two sides right now are not close to getting a long-term deal done and while they’re not CeeDee Lamb will stay away.”

From @NFLTotalAccess: Two big-name WRs — CeeDee Lamb and Justin Jefferson — were not present for voluntary offseason conditioning as they await contract extensions. pic.twitter.com/nlXpusmytP

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 15, 2024

Planned For This?

The title of this post is highly frustrating. I’m generally asking here: There is no way this front office could have planned this, right?

This post is more about me getting out all my thoughts about why this continues to happen and I would love to hear from you also.

Coming off of the most statistically successful season that any wide receiver has ever had in Dallas Cowboys franchise history, you will let guys like Justin Jefferson and Ja’Mar Chase set the market before you sign him.

Being “prepared” for this would have involved maybe completing a deal with Micah Parsons or messing with Dak’s contract so the cap hit wasn’t so high in 2024.

At least if they did that, they could have signed maybe another wide receiver if they had this “planned,” like come on.

In addition to CeeDee Lamb, Micah Parsons also did not show up for start of the Cowboys offseason program. Parsons didn’t participate last year either https://t.co/bYV67kQWNE

— Clarence Hill Jr (@clarencehilljr) April 15, 2024

This happened with Dez Bryant and every other big deal that they had to make. The player always has the leverage, which is fine if you want the distraction.

Meanwhile, the Eagles front office nailed it again, signing DeVonta Smith, who signed a 4-year, $90.59M extension Monday morning.

Lamb has every right to hold out until he gets that bag, but man, if I were Jerry Jones, I would do everything in my power to get this man signed and into the building.

If only this football team had a real GM who could handle this stuff for the Jones family.

2024 Outlook

I am sticking to my guns here, saying this team will be in trouble by Thanksgiving.

They have the Ravens, Bengals, 49ers, Lions, and Texans on the schedule in 2024. If they even get three of them before Turkey Day, this might be a problem.

At the end of the day, Lamb will be signed, but what else will be around this team to make it better?

They will get a few bodies in the draft, but I only expect the first three rounds to be players who may have a chance to compete.

Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb isn’t expected to attend the start of Dallas’ voluntary off-season program Monday while he awaits a new contract to replace the one scheduled to pay him a fully-guaranteed $17.199 million for his upcoming fifth-year option season. pic.twitter.com/68lOV8I5sv

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 15, 2024

An offensive lineman should be taken first, and then we can see what is available in the second or third round. They still need a running back and probably another wide receiver.

I am tired of writing about negative stuff; I wish one time this team would do something right and give us all a reason to think they care about winning.

Maybe I am growing tired of the 25 years and counting deal, on a season where Mike McCarthy and Dak Prescott may be playing for their jobs, they sure as heck didn’t get any better this offseason.

It would be hard to see them winning another 12 games. Their current win total has been set at 10.5, we will see how the rest of the offseason shakes out, but as you can tell it is highly frustrating.