The 2024 offseason will require a number of key financial decisions involving the Cowboys’ nucleus. Top of the list in that respect is a new deal for quarterback Dak Prescott, but wideout CeeDee Lamb and edge rusher Micah Parsons are also eligible for monster extensions of their own.
Lamb was drafted in 2020, one year before Parsons. The former is on the books for $17.99M in 2024 on his fifth-year option, but Parsons will no doubt have his option picked up this spring.
That move will keep him in place through the 2025 campaign. As a result, Lamb represents a more pressing order of business for Dallas.
Parsons acknowledged as much during a recent appearance on NFL Network’s Super Bowl Live. As a result, he is not aggressively pursuing an extension, one which will likely put him at or near the top of the pecking order among edge rushers.
Lamb, too, will not come cheap on his second contract; he has publicly stated a desire to become the NFL’s highest-paid receiver.
Lamb posted single-season franchise records for both receptions (135) and yards (1,749) in 2023, scoring a career-high 14 total touchdowns along the way. The 24-year-old earned a first-team All-Pro nod along with a third career Pro Bowl invite as a result, and he could command an AAV at or near Tyreek Hill‘s market-setting $30M on his next pact.
Negotiations on that front will likely take precedence over talks with Parsons, though the latter is amenable to hammering out a deal in the near future.
“If they’re ready to talk about a deal and get a deal done, I’ll be super excited,” Parsons said. “You know I’m ready to be [with the] Cowboys for life, this is the team I wanted to be with, this is the team I want to win a championship with.”
Parsons has racked up 40.5 sacks in his three seasons with the Cowboys, posting at least 13 in each campaign. That consistency has earned the former Defensive Rookie of the Year a number of accolades (three total All-Pro honors, three Pro Bowl nods) and upped his market value.
A new Parsons contract will not kick in until 2026, by which time the edge market may have seen further growth from what has already taken place. Nick Bosa received the league’s largest deal for a non-quarterback in September, inking a $34M-per-year 49ers extension with $122.5M guaranteed.
Parsons will no doubt be aiming for a pact similar or larger in value to Bosa’s when the time comes to work out a mega-extension. That time will likely not come this offseason, though, or at least not until the Prescott and Lamb situations gain more clarity.
In any case, developments on the Parsons front will be worth monitoring given his importance to Dallas’ defense.
