As was the case with Dak Prescott (the last time), DeMarcus Lawrence, Zeke Elliott, Zack Martin and, going back now, Dez Bryant, this was a public spat with a predictable ending. Dallas generally doesn’t let its stars walk in their prime. The Joneses also don’t mind going to the mat with those guys in negotiations.
In this particular situation, the Cowboys would tell you, and Stephen Jones said it to me explicitly last month, that Lamb simply wasn’t going to do a deal last year, when he was first eligible for one. Waiting made sense, too, since a bunch of receivers would likely do deals in 2024, and those deals were indeed done. The big one, of course, was for Justin Jefferson in Minnesota, and it’s no coincidence that as that deal got done, Lamb’s situation turned.
He decided to hold out, to try to push the issue. There was a gap to bridge. That took time. It’s done now. Will all the acrimony impact Lamb’s play? Probably not.
• While we’re there, count me among the folks who think the decades-long argument over the general manager title in Dallas is overrated, in the aftermath of what Cowboys owner and GM Jerry Jones said to my buddy Clarence Hill, who just jumped to the ALLCITY DLLS site after nearly three decades at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Why? Two reasons.
One, the Cowboys have good people running the show in jobs that equate to those sorts of titles in other organizations. Will McClay has run the scouting department for over a decade, and could’ve had a GM job elsewhere if he wanted to leave (he’s waited with intention, and the time to go may come soon for him). Todd Williams has run the team’s cap-operations side for a generation.
Two, the roster has never been the issue in Dallas. They’ve been among the NFL’s most talented teams, really, going back to the end of the Bill Parcells era, nearly 20 years ago.
For a lot of owners, the call not to give someone the GM title is a principle thing. The Cincinnati Bengals have never had one by title—with owner Mike Brown assuming the role. Even so, they’ve had director of player personnel Duke Tobin serving for years in a de facto GM position, and Tobin’s done a great job keeping the roster stocked. Patriots owner Robert Kraft has taken a similar tact, believing the GM title would have to go to someone overseeing the whole organization. He’s never had a GM. So even though Scott Pioli and Nick Caserio did a great job building championship rosters, neither of them ever held the title.
Of course, it’s a big deal in Dallas, because everything is a big deal with the Cowboys. It also is because of the history with Jerry Jones holding that title, and what it meant for Jimmy Johnson and the team in 1990s, and because the Cowboys haven’t hoisted a Lombardi Trophy since.
But as far as having people in place to build a really good roster? The Cowboys have had that. And if you want to argue with how things have been set up beyond just that, well, that’s where there really is an argument to be had.
• Final cuts are Tuesday, and as I’ve dug through some of the names that are being dangled on the trade market, the Denver Broncos’ trade bait was interesting to me—particularly that they have made it known to the other 31 clubs that veteran wideout Tim Patrick and running back Samaje Perine can be had, and will be cut if they aren’t traded.
It’s not any sort of stunner. But it does back up what Sean Payton has said about his rookie class this offseason, and what he said to me about the group directly earlier this month.
“I’m encouraged with this rookie class,” he said. “I’m telling you people are underestimating this [Devaughn] Vele we got later in the draft, Troy Franklin in the fourth round, Kaden Ellis’s brother [Jonah]. I told [Broncos co-owner/CEO] Greg [Penner] about the 2006 class and the ’17 draft class in New Orleans. This ’24 draft class, you watch—it has a chance to be something you look back on …”
That Franklin and Vele have given the team viable developmental options at receiver makes Patrick expendable, and fifth-round running back Audric Estime has paved the way for Perine’s exit. So, again, those would be, to use Payton’s word, encouraging signs.
• The Kansas City Chiefs are going heavy at receiver by bringing back Juju Smith-Schuster, with Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, Xavier Worthy, Rashee Rice, Skyy Moore, Justin Watson and Mecole Hardman already in the mix. And there are two good reasons for it.
Brown will miss time early in the season with a shoulder injury, while there’s still the possibility that Rice serves a suspension to begin the year, news that would likely come in the next few days or so (the Friday before Labor Day is always a popular spot for a news dump). Smith-Schuster is a natural slot receiver, and that’s where the majority of Rice’s snaps were going to come.
Of course, how much Smith-Schuster has left is another question.
• Because I was interested, I looked up how rare it is for Minnesota Vikings first-round rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy to be out before the season starts. The answer, for this millennium, is actually: very.
I keep a chart of when first-round quarterbacks got their first starts, going back to 2000. Over the 24 draft cycles before this one, 69 quarterbacks have been drafted in the first round. Only three failed to play a single snap as a rookie—Jordan Love in ’20 for the Green Bay Packers, Jason Campbell in ’05 for Washington and Carson Palmer in 2000 for the Bengals—and those three were redshirted, not hurt.
So if Vikings fans feel cursed, I get it. I also believe McCarthy will benefit from getting to learn this year, while watching Sam Darnold go through the ups and downs of a season. Especially with the staff the Vikings have for their quarterbacks.
• I’m interested to see if owners will tweak the new kickoff Tuesday at their private equity meeting in Minnesota. My suggestion would be to discuss moving the touchback out to the 35. I think there’ll be a lot of teams kicking the ball deep into the end zone early on, figuring the five extra yards they’ll yield to the opponents are worth it to study how other teams are handling it early in the year. But if five yards becomes 10, with the ball going to the 35 rather than the 30, my guess is those teams would think twice about that strategy.
• Mike Williams starting team drills with the New York Jets is a big deal—they’ve slowly worked him back in the offense over the past couple of weeks. But Williams will have to earn his snaps, coming back from the torn ACL. Allen Lazard has shown new life in camp, and obviously has Aaron Rodgers’s trust, and the coaches have a plan for rookie Malachi Corley. So how Williams fits into that is an open question.
• One thing to dig out of today’s avalanche of bottom-of-the-roster news will be how many teams keep three quarterbacks. The NFLPA’s rejection of a proposed rules change allowing for teams to freely move the emergency quarterback up and off the roster from the practice squad could certainly impact that. The union didn’t want to create the precedent of having guys who should be on the active roster hidden on the practice squad.
• Congrats to Jason and Travis Kelce on their new podcast deal. Obviously, there are a lot of reasons for the value of the podcast. But one thing that all players should take note of—both of those guys were still active players when they started, which added a lot of value and uniqueness to it, and drew in an audience that they can now work to keep and build on.
• The Washington Commanders renaming their stadium only makes me think how badly they needed a new one. Hopefully it happens, and happens in D.C.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as CeeDee Lamb’s Deal With the Cowboys Was Predictable, Plus NFL Cutdown Day Notes.
