Sources suggested price tag for Justin Jefferson will have impact on Cowboys, CeeDee Lamb

A reported price for Justin Jefferson could have an obvious impact on CeeDee Lamb.

The Dallas Cowboys need to take care of CeeDee Lamb. He is among the best players on the team and being currently set to enter the final year of his contract (the option season of his rookie deal after having been a first-round pick in 2020) is not ideal. You want to reward your stars for stellar performances and Lamb is coming off of literally the most statistically impressive season that a wide receiver has ever had in franchise history.

As if that weren’t enough reason to want to get a deal done with Lamb (he and the team are reportedly not close) there is also the market at his position and that it is seemingly a volcano on the verge of erupting.

Justin Jefferson, Ja’Marr Chase, Jaylen Waddle, Brandon Aiyuk and Amon-Ra St. Brown are a handful of names that are all looking to get paid and handsomely so. The Philadelphia Eagles, ever understanding of the finances of football, understand that getting deals done early is usually how you save in the long run and locked up DeVonta Smith earlier this week.

The clock is ticking.

A reported AAV for Justin Jefferson certainly impacts CeeDee Lamb

For the moment Tyreek Hill of the Miami Dolphins holds the largest AAV of all wide receivers at $30M. It is safe to say that in the relative blink of an eye that this is going to change.

One projection from earlier in the offseason had Lamb receiving an extension that also saw him average $30M per year. That feels a bit improbable given that $30M is the current going rate and these things are generally a “the next guy gets a little bit more” proposition, but anything is possible.

If and when another wideout beats Lamb to the punch you can bet your bottom dollar (if you haven’t thrown it in the Pay CeeDee Lamb Fund) that his price will go up. On Thursday. The Athletic’s Dianna Russini noted in their newsletter “Scoop City” that Justin Jefferson could fetch $32M per year.

Living in a hypothetical where this happens, the probability of locking Lamb down to $30M per year just shrank in likelihood.

This is why we are continually stressing that the Cowboys need to get this done. In a world where Jefferson goes first and draws an AAV of $32M then Lamb will be far from the only receiver who has representation raising their own price. Ja’Marr Chase, Jaylen Waddle and the rest of the bunch will all rip up the offer sheet containing yesterday’s price as the status quo will have changed.

You cannot present any rational argument against taking care of CeeDee Lamb and doing so as soon as possible, again, given the potential volatility at his position market specifically. If you are a proponent of the team extending Dak Prescott then his is a situation of extreme importance as well, but there are not as many quarterbacks who stand to raise the price floor this particular offseason the way the phenomenon exists at wide receiver.