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Dallas Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb will hold out of training camp amid contract talks

Lamb was also absent for offseason workouts, waiting for a contract extension that would make him among the highest-paid at his position.

OXNARD, Calif. – For the second consecutive season, the Cowboys must deal with a player holding out of training camp in a contract dispute.

Last summer, guard Zack Martin held out before reporting after a face-to-face meeting with team owner Jerry Jones that finalized a restructured contract.

Will Jones see CeeDee Lamb in person to end this contract issue?

According to two people with knowledge of the situation, Lamb will hold out of training camp as he seeks a new contract that will pay him among the highest in the NFL at his position.

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Lamb is scheduled to earn $17.9 million this season as part of his fifth-year option. That’s a nice salary, but when compared to the other top receivers in the NFL, Lamb seeks more.

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Contract talks have gone slow between the sides which is disappointing considering how only two players were on the top of the priority list in seeking new deals: Lamb and quarterback Dak Prescott.

As Stephen Jones, the Cowboys’ executive vice president, notes, it takes two sides to make a deal.

The Cowboys’ prioritized getting Lamb signed over Prescott because he’s not here. Lamb missed the entire offseason program while Prescott showed up for work and expects to take the first-team reps in the first training camp practice on Thursday.

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Outside of a sudden change, Lamb will not be here.

The salary demands for Lamb start and end with a figure of $30 million per season. Vikings’ wide receiver Justin Jefferson has the highest average salary at $35 million. This offseason, Jefferson signed a four-year $140 million deal with $110 million guaranteed. Jefferson’s contract surpassed the Eagles’ A.J. Brown’s contract extension of $96 million over three years with $84 million in guarantees. Brown signed his deal this offseason as well.

Lamb saw those numbers push the market up. So did another wide receiver in the Bengals Ja’Marr Chase, who requires a contract extension himself next offseason. Stephen Jones has said agents are watching their counterparts finalize deals at certain positions trying to compute what they can get for their clients.

It’s part of a puzzle that in some cases helps the player from a financial standpoint while forcing the team to increase cap numbers for their star players.

In the last 48 hours, wide receivers made their mark in contact talks.

49ers receiver Brandon Aiyuk is conducting a hold-in during training camp as he seeks a contract extension. Aiyuk has told team officials he wants to be traded but general manager John Lynch told reporters he intends to keep Aiyuk. In 2022, 49ers receiver Deebo Samuel had a hold-in and eventually got a new contract.

A hold-in allows a player to attend training camp but not practice. The said player can attend meetings.

Former Cowboys receiver Amari Cooper, who missed the mandatory minicamp and was a threat to holdout, received a restructured contract according to ESPN on Tuesday.

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It’s clear Lamb is holding out. To get the money he believes he’s earned, a holdout is the best way possible.

“It’s a business, honestly,” Cowboys veteran cornerback Jourdan Lewis said Tuesday. “You got to look at from that side of things and understand it. You got to take care of your family that comes first. I understand what they’re doing. You just got to go out there and try to prepare as best we can without them or how long we’ll be without them.”

When you view the receiver position, four players average at least $30 million. You can debate whether Jefferson is better than Lamb. You might say Tyreek Hill ($30 million average) is better than all of them. You might like the Lions’ Amon-Ra St. Brown ($30 million) over Lamb or Hill or Jefferson. It doesn’t matter. The market is the market and Lamb expects to be within the top five when it comes to average salary.

In some ways, Lamb might become the highest-paid receiver in the game.

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The Cowboys are faced with the challenge of getting one of their top players back to work again, because of a holdout.

It’s easy to criticize the franchise that continues to have these issues, but most teams have contract holdouts. The Jets’ traded a conditional third-round pick to the Eagles for pass rusher Haason Reddick. As the first week of training camp starts, Reddick is holding out for a new deal.

It’s the business.

The Cowboys have to get Lamb, who set franchise single-season records in catches (135) and yards (1,749) last season, into training camp. And with this season having so much uncertainty around it given the contract statuses of Prescott and coach Mike McCarthy, securing Lamb’s future seems prudent.

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Staff Writer David Moore contributed to this report.

X: @calvinwatkins

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