CeeDee Lamb wants to be highest-paid receiver in NFL, after winning Super Bowl
With one game remaining, Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb already has 1,651 receiving yards, a career high. On Saturday night against the Lions, he caught a career-high 13 passes for a career-high 227 yards.
Lamn’s contract hasn’t been renewed yet. On Thursday, he expressed to reporters his anticipation that he will become the highest-paid wide receiver in football once he gets one.
Lamb stated, according to Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News, “ideally, yeah, for sure.” Lamb went on to say that his current goal is to assist the Cowboys in winning the Super Bowl.
“After that, then we’ll start talking,” Lamb said.
Technically, they could start talking now. He became eligible for a new deal after the final game of the 2022 regular season. And while the longer the Cowboys wait the more expensive it might get, Lamb is carrying the risk of injury for every game he plays without a new deal.
His contract does not need to be extended by the Cowboys. For a mere $17.991 million, they can retain him in 2024 under the fifth-year option. They could then use the franchise tag after that.
They treated quarterback Dak Prescott in that manner. The Cowboys will have a lot of work to do in the offseason to keep important players happy while also managing the cap, with Prescott poised for a massive extension (a cap number of nearly $60 million next year enhances his leverage) and linebacker Micah Parsons eligible for a new deal after Sunday — and possibly not willing to wait.
Technically, Dolphins receiver Tyreek Hill is the highest-paid receiver, at $30 million per year in new money. That number is a little fugazi, however, because it’s pumped up by a $44.9 million compensation package in 2026, the final year of the deal.
That said, if Lamb wants to be the highest-paid receiver on paper, similar devices could be used to get him that designation. If the Cowboys are willing to go along.
The true query is if the Cowboys are prepared to give a receiver a sizable, long-term financial commitment. In 2022, when Amari Cooper would have cost $20 million for a further season, they traded him. (They may now regret doing it.) With top receivers available throughout the draft (Puka Nacua, for instance, selected in the fifth round), Lamb may be the Cowboys’ top choice for hardball strategies among Lamb, Parsons, and Prescott.
It will be difficult for Dallas to field a squad that competes at the highest level because cap charges for its great players will eventually become excessive.
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