The Cowboys have garnered attention this offseason for two primary reasons: They say, first, that they are totally committed for 2024, but they haven’t done anything to prove it.
But in all of this focus, a big problem has gone unnoticed: their precarious contract circumstances with three important players: Micah Parsons, Dak Prescott, and receiver CeeDee Lamb. The team has been putting off making choices rather than taking swift action on these problems.
Prescott’s predicament serves to emphasize this issue. Early in his career, the Cowboys failed to provide him a fair contract; as a result, they are now stuck with an expensive one. In the end, they signed him to a hurried deal that will only allow him to look into the market in 2025.
Lamb is experiencing similar delays. The club could sign him to a long-term contract, but if they hold off, they run the danger of adding additional money to his deal—especially if other receivers sign big deals.
There are rumors that the team is attempting to sway Parsons’s contract expectations. In any case, the Cowboys must publicly address these problems.
The way the Cowboys handle contracts begs the issue of whether they can manage elite players in the current NFL. Their failure to adequately reward new talent may be preventing them from succeeding on the field, even in spite of their commercial success.
Fans ought to hold the Cowboys responsible for how they handled these situations, rather than placing the blame on the players or the media.