The Dallas Cowboys may have won the NFC East in 2023, but their run in the NFL Playoffs was, once again, short-lived. Their blowout loss to the Green Bay Packers in the Wild Card Round caused a great deal of uncertainty regarding the team’s future. Mike McCarthy was not given a contract extension and will coach in 2024 as a lame duck. Stars Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, and Micah Parsons are all due to receive massive contract extension. None of them have received one, at least not to their liking.
Lamb, who was a First Team All-Pro last season, has gone so far as to hold out from voluntary OTA’s. He also has not reported for training camp as he hopes this tactic will help him land a massive contract extension.
Prescott is present for camp, but he too is looking for a new deal, one that could make him the highest-paid quarterback in NFL history.
The Dallas Cowboys Have Hope for 2024 Because of CeeDee Lamb and Dak Prescott
Despite the fact that Dallas does not have any of their three biggest stars under contract beyond this year, they can take solace in the fact that they do have them for 2024. Sure, Lamb is holding out, but he will eventually come to play with or without a new deal. He stands to lose so much more money on his next contract by sitting out the season.
Fans may remember that former Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell tried that once. It did not work out for him.
It is fair to assume, therefore, that Lamb will join the team at some point.
According to NFL analyst Ryan Fowler of Bleacher Report, the star players that the Cowboys have, especially on offense, should give fans hope for the 2024 season:
The Dallas Cowboys lost impact players such as tackle Tyron Smith and running back Tony Pollard this offseason. However, Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb are both returning, and they’re among the top quarterback-wideout tandems in the NFL.
Lamb is fresh off tallying a career-high 1,789 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns. As long as he stays healthy, the Cowboys’ offensive identity should continue to revolve around the passing game.
Meanwhile, Prescott is heading into the final year of his contract and has yet to sign an extension. Cowboys fans should expect to see the best version of Prescott this fall with Lamb as his featured target.
If both Prescott and Lamb play the 2024 season without new contracts, one must expect that they will be at the absolute top of their games. If the Cowboys will not give them the extensions that they feel they deserve, another NFL team will.
The Dallas Cowboys Need Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb
The Cowboys certainly have hope in 2024 because of their star players. That being said, if they want to have hope beyond this season, they need to pay them.
As Fowler notes, Lamb had over 1,700 yards and 12 touchdowns last season. Dallas lacks any other wide receiver that can come anywhere close to those numbers. The second-leading pass catcher on the team, Jake Ferguson, had almost 1,000 less receiving yards than Lamb.
Dallas also did next to nothing to improve their wide receiver room this offseason, and their running back room got considerably worse.
As for Prescott, he finished second in NFL MVP voting last year after completing 69.5% of his passes for 4,516 yards, 36 touchdowns, just nine interceptions, and a passer rating of 105.9.
Sure, the team came up short in the NFL Playoffs. But to get to the postseason, a team needs to have a successful regular season, and the Cowboys won’t be able to do that without either of their stars.
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