Dallas Cowboys Projected To Trade $115 Million Offensive Star For Load Of Draft Picks

The Dallas Cowboys are in a pivotal place when it comes to their immediate future.

Instead of extending Dak Prescott and freeing up salary cap space to add talent that would help them make a run at a Super Bowl in 2024, they are allowing their franchise QB to play through the end of his contract.

Now, with far less talent —due to players who have left during free agency — Prescott is expected to somehow win this season without the same level of talent he had last season. Either way, there’s a strong chance he walks and joins another team after 2024.

The  USA Today site Cowboys Wire is advocating for the team to just hit the restart button now, ahead of the NFL Draft. In its latest mock draft a pair of megatrades that finish off the process that pretty much already began during this year’s NFL free-agency process—the dismantling of the Cowboys as we know them. Trading Prescott is one move.

Even more surprising, they believe trading CeeDee Lamb could also be on the table for the Dallas Cowboys.

Already gone are five starters from 2023, including stalwart left tackle Tyron Smith and running back Tony Pollard. The Cowboys have added precious little on the free-agent market, and declined to make the one move that could have kept the team together while also proving a new direction—firing Mike McCarthy and adding a new head coach.

Instead, the Cowboys’ strategy has been to keep McCarthy and sit on their hands through free agency. And if the 2024 season flops as badly as 2023 did, we’re likely in for a complete roster demolition. Why not just start it now?

Dallas Cowboys Projected To Trade Both Dak Prescott And CeeDee Lamb

In addition to reaping a draft haul for Prescott, Cowboys Wire is advocating a two-pick haul for Lamb, sending him to the Pittsburgh Steelers for their first-round pick and their third-round pick. As the site notes, that package is similar to the one brought in by Tennessee when it traded A.J. Brown to Philadelphia.

Here’s the logic from Cowboys Wire writer K.D. Drummond: “If Dallas is going young at quarterback, signing Lamb to a long-term deal makes little sense. Instead, this adds more draft capital to a rebuilding offense. Dallas now has three first-round picks in the 2024 draft along with a ton of cap space moving forward with only Micah Parsons in need of a top-of-market extension.”

That’s, essentially, how the Dallas Cowboys and their fans would have to think about a post-2024 season, if things continue on their current path. Prescott replaced by Trey Lance and likely, another young player. Lamb replaced by a player from this draft, which is loaded with wide receivers.

It would be Micah Parsons’ team, certainly, but it would look very, very different going forward.

There’s even a chance CeeDee Lamb could get more if he was shopped to other teams.

Lamb wants to be the highest-paid wide receiver in the game. Spotrac projects him to be close, at $28.8 million per year, with a four-year, $115 million total deal.

AJ Brown was coming off a year in which he missed four games and totaled 869 yards on 63 receptions.

He had been excellent in his first two seasons, with 1,051 yards as a rookie and 1,078 yards in Year 2. Brown scored 24 touchdowns and averaged 69.7 yards per game in his first three years.

Lamb blows those numbers away: He is coming off a year in which he led the league with 135 receptions and totaled 1,749 yards. He averaged 78.0 yards per game in his career, and had 102.9 yards per game last season.

The Brown trade is a starting point, but if the Dallas Cowboys move Lamb, they should certainly expect to add more than two picks, even if they’re good picks.