Dallas Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones admitted Sunday that he “got in trouble” for comments he made Friday about star wide receiver CeeDee Lamb’s ongoing contract holdout.
In comments made at the team’s training camp in Oxnard, Calif., Jones said that he doesn’t feel “any urgency” to finalize a contract extension with Lamb, the team’s 2020 first-round pick and a three-time Pro Bowler who has become one of the NFL’s best pass-catchers.
The most notable reaction to Jones’ comments came from Lamb himself, who had a three-letter response on social media:
While Jones did not exactly walk back his comments during an appearance on the team’s pregame show Sunday before a preseason contest against the Los Angeles Rams, he did specify what he meant by a lack of “urgency” in negotiations with Lamb.
“No one appreciates CeeDee being on the field any more than I do,” Jones said. “But let me say this: He wouldn’t be taking a snap out here today if he had been here for all [of training camp so far]. You’ve got to use your head when [deciding to] expose key players.
“We know exactly what CeeDee can do. … We wouldn’t have him out here, and it really has not anything to do with his contract. [Quarterback] Dak [Prescott] won’t be out here.”
Though Prescott is also in ongoing negotiations with the Cowboys as he enters the final year of his own contract, the star veteran Dallas quarterback has been a full participant in training camp. Jones was making the point that, like most starters on the Cowboys and on several teams across the NFL, Prescott is not seeing any on-field action in the opening week of preseason, and Lamb would not be doing so either.
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That said, Jones said he gets where Lamb was coming from with his response.
“I understand completely the angst that’s happening when … someone says anything about whether you’re missed or not — Well, CeeDee, you’re missed,” Jones said. “But you’re not missed out here competing [today] and it doesn’t put any pressure on us.”
Lamb is seeking a lucrative contract extension in line with the four-year deal worth up to $140 million and $110 million guaranteed that fellow 2020 first-round pick Justin Jefferson got from the Minnesota Vikings, or at least the four-year, $120 million deal with $77 million fully guaranteed that 2021 draft pick Amon-Ra St. Brown got from the Detroit Lions.
Lamb led the entire NFL last season with 135 catches and set a new Cowboys single-season franchise record with 1,749 receiving yards, passing Hall of Famer Michael Irvin’s mark.
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