If you’re going to start again, you might as well really, truly start anew. Furthermore, there might be no purpose for wide receiver CeeDee Lamb to be a part of the Cowboys’ future plans if there’s a chance that quarterback Dak Prescott won’t be.
That’s the logic behind the newest mock draft from USA Today’s Cowboys Wire, which calls for two massive deals to complete the destruction of the Cowboys as they currently exist. The process started during this year’s NFL free-agency period. Dealing Prescott is a single action. Lamb trading is an additional.
Five 2023 starters have already left the team, including Tony Pollard, the backup running back, and Tyron Smith, the reliable left tackle. The Cowboys have made very few additions via the free-agent market and have chosen not to hire a new head coach and fire Mike McCarthy, the one move that could have kept the team intact while simultaneously demonstrating a new direction.
Rather, the Cowboys have chosen to hold onto McCarthy and wait for him to enter free agency. And we’re probably in for a whole roster destruction if the 2024 season performs as poorly as the 2023 season did. Is there any reason not to begin right away?
Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb on the Trading Block
Cowboys Wire is pushing for Lamb to receive two picks in addition to Prescott’s draft benefit, sending him to the Pittsburgh Steelers for their first- and third-round selections. That package is identical to the one Tennessee brought in when it traded A.J. Brown to Philadelphia, as the website points out.
Cowboys Wire columnist K.D. Drummond provided the following reasoning: “Signing Lamb to a long-term deal makes little sense if Dallas is going young at quarterback. Rather, this gives a rebuilt offensive access to additional draft money. Dallas now has a ton of salary space and three first-round picks in the 2024 draft; Micah Parsons is the only player that requires a top-of-market extension.
If things carry on as they are, that is basically how the Cowboys and their supporters would have to see a post-2024 season. Trey Lance and maybe another young player took Prescott’s place. One of the several wide receivers selected in this draft will take Lamb’s spot.
Yes, it would still be Micah Parsons’ club, but going ahead, it would look radically different.
Cowboys Might Want More
Naturally, the expectation would be that Lamb would draw more than Brown did for the Titans in 2021 if the Cowboys placed him on the trade market. Money would be the same motivator.
The Titans would not budge from their desire to pay Brown, even though he sought a large deal. After the Titans moved him, he signed a four-year, $100 million contract with the Eagles.
Lamb aspires to be the NFL’s highest-paid wide receiver. With a four-year, $115 million overall agreement, Spotrac projects him to be close at $28.8 million year.
Brown has just finished a season in which he had 869 yards through 63 receptions while missing four games.
With 1,051 yards in his first season and 1,078 yards in his second, he had been outstanding in his first two seasons. In his first three years, Brown averaged 69.7 yards per game and scored 24 touchdowns.
Lamb easily outperforms such figures; in the previous season, he set a league record with 135 receptions and 1,749 yards. Throughout his career, he averaged 78.0 yards per game; the previous season, he had 102.9 yards per game.
The Cowboys should expect to gain more than two picks, even if they are strong picks, if they decide to move Lamb. The Brown deal serves as a starting point.
This is all a long shot. The Cowboys will probably wait things out, struggle through the 2024 campaign, and then have a disastrous offseason. However, they could take the lead if they make some audacious transactions before this draft.
