If you’re going to start from the beginning, you might as well really, really start from the beginning. And for the Cowboys, if there’s a possibility that quarterback Dak Prescott is not in the future plans, then there may well be no point in having wide receiver CeeDee Lamb in the future plans, either.
That's the perspective of the USA Today site Cowboys Wire, which is proposing in its most recent mock draft a pair of megatrades that conclude the process that essentially began during this year’s NFL free-agency period—the dismantling of the Cowboys as we know them. Trading Prescott is one move. Trading Lamb is another.
Already departed are five starters from 2023, including stalwart left tackle Tyron Smith and running back Tony Pollard. The Cowboys have added very little on the free-agent market, and chose not to make the one move that could have kept the team together while also representing a new direction—firing Mike McCarthy and hiring a new head coach.
Instead, the Cowboys’ approach has been to keep McCarthy and stay inactive in free agency. And if the 2024 season goes as poorly as 2023 did, it's likely that the entire roster will be dismantled. Why not just start it now?
CeeDee Lamb, Dak Prescott on the Trade Block
In addition to gaining a draft haul for Prescott, Cowboys Wire is recommending a two-pick haul for Lamb, sending him to the Pittsburgh Steelers for their first-round pick and their third-round pick. As the site notes, that package is similar to the one brought in when Tennessee when it traded A.J. Brown to Philadelphia.
Here’s the reasoning from Cowboys Wire writer K.D. Drummond: “If Dallas is going young at quarterback, signing Lamb to a long-term deal makes little sense. Instead, this adds more draft capital to a rebuilding offense. Dallas now has three first-round picks in the 2024 draft along with a ton of cap space moving forward with only Micah Parsons in need of a top-of-market extension.”
That’s, essentially, how the Cowboys and their fans would have to think about a post-2024 season, if things continue on their current path. Prescott replaced by Trey Lance and, likely, another young player. Lamb replaced by a player from this draft, which is loaded with wide receivers.
It would be Micah Parsons’ team, certainly, but it would look very, very different going forward.
Cowboys Could Request More
Of course, if the Cowboys put Lamb on the trade market, the hope would be that he would draw more than what Brown drew for the Titans in 2021. The motivation would be the same—money.
Brown wanted a big extension from the Titans, but they were not budging off what they wanted to pay him. So the Titans traded him, and the Eagles gave him a four-year, $100 million contract.
Lamb wants to be the highest-paid wide receiver in the game. Spotrac predicts him to be close, at $28.8 million per year, with a four-year, $115 million total deal.
Brown was coming off a year in which he missed four games and totaled 869 yards on 63 receptions.
He had been excellent in his first two seasons, with 1,051 yards as a rookie and 1,078 yards in Year 2. Brown scored 24 touchdowns and averaged 69.7 yards per game in his first three years.
Lamb exceeds those numbers by far: He is coming off a year in which he led the league with 135 catches and accumulated 1,749 yards. His average yards per game in his career is 78.0, and he had 102.9 yards per game last season.
The Brown trade is a starting point, but if the Cowboys move Lamb, they should definitely expect to receive more than two picks, even if they’re high-quality picks.
All of this is a long shot. It’s likely the Cowboys play things out, grind through the 2024 season, then are left with a mess of an offseason. But they could get ahead of things by making some bold trades ahead of this draft.
