Dallas Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb is not expected to report to mandatory team minicamp amid an ongoing contract dispute, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported.
Rapoport wrote that Lamb will be subject to fines if he misses the minicamp, which runs Tuesday to Thursday.
Lamb, who led the NFL with 135 catches during his 2023 All-Pro season, is currently set to play 2024 on a club option worth just under $18 million.
Michael Gehlken reported in April for the Dallas Morning News that Lamb was unlikely to join team activities until offered an extension.
Missing the entire three-day minicamp could lead to a fine of up to $101,716, per Gehlken.
The news that Lamb could potentially miss the first mandatory event of the Cowboys’ offseason comes the day after the Minnesota Vikings agreed to a record-breaking extension for star wide receiver Justin Jefferson.
Jefferson’s deal spans four years and is worth $140 million with $110 million guaranteed, reshaping the receivers market and making him the highest-paid non-quarterback in the league.
The deal has implications for Lamb given his statistical similarities to Jefferson, including a high percentage of his team’s target share and more than 5,000 receiving yards over his first four seasons.
Jefferson has more receiving yards in six fewer career games, but Lamb is coming off of a career-best season during which he set a Cowboys franchise record with 1,749 receiving yards. He also has a less extensive injury history than his counterpart on the Vikings.
Cowboys executive Stephen Jones said in April that the representatives of Jefferson, Lamb and the Cincinnati Bengals’ Ja’Marr Chase were in communication and had “their eye on something big” this summer, Mickey Spagnola reported for DallasCowboys.com.
That “something big” has already been set with Jefferson’s contract, which could put Lamb’s expected salary in the range of $35 million per year.
But Dallas has another major free agent to consider in quarterback Dak Prescott, who, like Lamb, is currently set to become an unrestricted free agent in 2025.
Gehlken wrote that there have so far been “extensive gaps in communication” between Lamb’s team and the Cowboys this summer, but ESPN’s Josina Anderson reported that talks are expected to “speed up” now that Jefferson’s deal is in place.
The Cowboys will need to continue these talks to decide if they can manage Lamb’s contract in a way that would keep them open to re-sign Prescott, as well as star outside linebacker Micah Parsons. Until then, Dallas might have to begin preparing for the 2024 season without their star receiver.