On Thursday, at the same time Jerry Jones was making headlines with his “no urgency” quote about CeeDee Lamb’s contract, Stephen Jones was reassuring Cowboys fans that the star receiver isn’t going anywhere.
Stephen Jones joined the Doomsday podcast and said negotiations are “cordial” between the Cowboys and Lamb’s agent, who just returned from the Paris Olympics this week.
“We think the world of CeeDee, and we understand where he’s coming from on this and why he’s not here,” Stephen Jones said on the Doomsday podcast. “But we also continue to work very hard on getting this deal done. . . . Zero. Zero. Zero thought process of not having CeeDee be a Dallas Cowboy. CeeDee’s not going to be playing anywhere but Dallas, but we want this to be a great situation for him when we’re all said and done but also a good situation so that we can put a great football team on the field.”
Jerry Jones said what he said Thursday, even if some Cowboys fans want to blame the messenger and not Jerry Jones’ message. It’s the owner’s own fault that his quote about the sides making “real progress” on a deal was lost in the “no urgency” headline.
It’s also Jerry Jones’ fault that Lamb scrubbed “America’s Team” from his social media and responded to Jones’ quote with an “lol.”
The Cowboys have not seen Lamb since the end of last season. He is holding out while seeking a long-term contract.
Stephen Jones said he feels good about negotiations.
“When he reports, which we certainly believe he will at some point, hopefully with a new contract, but we continue to make progress,” Stephen Jones said.
Lamb is scheduled to make $17.991 million on the fifth-year option after playing last season for a base salary of $2.52 million. He is coming off a career year when he made a league-leading 135 catches for 1,749 yards and 12 touchdowns in earning All-Pro honors for the first time.