The Cowboys play their first preseason game Sunday. Star receiver CeeDee Lamb won’t be there.
Lamb has not been with the team since the end of last season, and by the looks of things, he might not be there for the start of this season.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said Thursday that he feels no sense of urgency to get Lamb signed as the preseason begins. Lamb replied to the post of Jon Machota of TheAthletic quoting Jones as saying, “I don’t have any urgency to get it done,” with a simple “lol.”
“I went to high school. I went to college. I don’t know why I said it, but I’m just saying it,” Jones said of having no urgency to complete a deal, via Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News. “I don’t have a sense of urgency about getting it done. Give any reason you want.”
The Cowboys have had more than a year to negotiate a long-term deal with Lamb, who played last season for a base salary of $2.52 million. He then had a career year with a league-leading 135 catches for 1,749 yards and 12 touchdowns in earning All-Pro honors for the first time.
“We’re getting great work [done] and making real progress,” Jones said, via Nick Harris of the team website. “I don’t think [we’re] losing a step with where we are now.”
Jones apparently does expect either a long-term deal with Lamb, or he expects Lamb to show up for the start of the season to play on his fifth-year option of $17.991 million.
“I don’t expect not to have CeeDee Lamb,” Jones said.