The CeeDee Lamb holdout is now stretching into its fourth week and there are currently no signs that the Dallas Cowboys' star wide receiver will be back in training camp anytime soon. The fifth-year player, who went 17th in the 2020 NFL Draft — five spots ahead of the Minnesota Vikings taking Justin Jefferson — wants a new contract on par with his draft classmate. And former Cowboys wideout Dez Bryant agrees with the young WR.
“Random @_CeeDeeThree deserves a Justin Jefferson contract!” Bryant wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Saturday. “No flaws on you pimp! Your value is worth the wait”
The whole Lamb situation is a fairly straightforward one that Bryant properly diagnosed. Jefferson got a four-year, $140 million extension from the Vikings this offseason, and Lamb, who was drafted earlier and has almost identical numbers wants something similar.
That said, the problem here is twofold.
First, while Lamb and Jefferson's numbers are virtually the same — Lamb has more receptions and touchdowns while Jefferson has more yards in six fewer games — the Cowboys WR never had a season like Jefferson did in 2022 when he led the league in receptions (128) and yards (1,809) on his way to winning NFL Offensive Player of the Year.
The other problem is that Jerry Jones and the Cowboys have a lot more mouths to feed than the Vikings. Jefferson is the only superstar player on Minnesota right now, so paying him $35 million per season is easily doable. On Dallas, there is Dak Prescott who is out of contract after this season, Micah Parsons, and several other players who have or soon need big deals.
While all that is true, Jones has dealt with something like this before, and when a team goes into a season missing its best offensive weapon, things can go wrong quickly.
The CeeDee Lamb holdout is reminiscent of Emmit Smith in 1993
Ahead of the 1993 season, then-three-time Pro Bowler and one-time first-team All-Pro running back Emmitt Smith held out for a new contract. That situation is obviously similar to the CeeDee Lamb holdout as he waits for his “Justin Jefferson contract,” although Smith has been critical of Lamb during this saga.
Smith sat out all of Cowboys training camp and even missed the first two games of the regular season. Dallas lost to Washington by 19 in the opener then fell to the Buffalo Bills by a field goal to start the season 0-2. That's when Joens caved and gave Smith the contract he wanted.
While this seems like the worst-case scenario in the Lamb fiasco, there is actually a silver lining here.
How did the 1993 season play out? Well, Smith led the league in rushing with 1,486 yards and won the NFL MVP Award. Plus, the Cowboys won the Super Bowl that season as well.
If history repeats itself, the CeeDee Lamb holdout may not be a bad thing at all.
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