Jerry Jones clarified why he feels no urgency in signing Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb. But how clear is this?

LOS ANGELES – Jerry Jones was ready to go back.

At the very least, the Dallas Cowboys team owner was ready to clarify his negotiating position.

How much does he want to reunite with All-Pro receiver CeeDee Lamb?

Desire and urgency, Jones explained on Sunday, are not synonymous.

“It has nothing to do with how we feel about what CeeDee Lamb is to the Dallas Cowboys and what we hope he will be in the future,” Jones said Sunday at SoFi Stadium before his team’s preseason loss. for the Los Angeles Rams. “I think I got in trouble the other day when I said, ‘Look, we’re not urgent about CeeDee [returning].’”

The lack of urgency stems from the four weeks remaining before the Cowboys open their regular season at the Cleveland Browns, Jones said. He added that Lamb would not have played in this week’s preseason game, and the team owner doesn’t care about Lamb’s chemistry entering Year 5 with Dak Prescott at quarterback.

This isn’t the first time Dallas has waited to sign a premium contract, the Cowboys’ mantra that “deadlines make deals” for their stars has increasingly become “until there’s a deadline, we won’t make a deal.”

On the team’s current roster alone, Prescott, running back Ezekiel Elliott and defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence received deals within the free agency, season-opening and surgery time deadlines, respectively. Players and coaches know that Lamb’s trading is normal—and largely out of his control.

Still, what impact do the Cowboys’ negotiation strategies have on the team’s psyche? For an organization 28 years removed from its last conference title game, let alone the Super Bowl, it’s worth asking.

“I completely understand the anguish that happens when … someone says anything about whether or not you missed them,” Jones said. “’Well, CeeDee: I miss you. But you can’t lose here by competing.

“And it doesn’t put any pressure on us.”

‘Going against each other’: How the Cowboys’ recent history explains Lamb’s prolonged resistance

Elliott’s resistance in 2019 more closely resembled Lamb’s. His result tells him why Lamb is doing what he is doing and what Lamb’s result is likely to be.

Elliott was out of training camp for the entire 40 days, awaiting his first contract extension. He trained in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, while his teammates spent weeks in Southern California and then returned to Dallas.

It wasn’t until four days before the season opener that the Cowboys and Elliott agreed to an extension. Dallas didn’t skimp on the deal by waiting an entire offseason to sign Elliott, instead giving him a record six-year extension worth $90 million, with $50 million guaranteed.

Along the way, Jones publicly presented a stance similar to his “no urgency” comments from Lamb. Tensions rose when Jones asked a question about Elliott during the preseason and responded, “Zeke who?”

The moment surprised Elliott, just as Jones’ recent comments prompted Lamb to tweet “lol.” What could Lamb be facing?

“It’s very difficult because you go through the first three or four years and you’re on the same side,” Elliott told reporters at Cowboys training camp. “This is the first time you are facing each other. So you have to have a little thick skin… but at the end of the day, we all have the same goal and we all support CeeDee.

“It will be done.”

Elliott is not alone in his feeling of inevitability. Coach Mike McCarthy spoke similarly about how happy he will be to see Lamb “as soon as he gets here,” speaking in “whens” rather than “ifs” about Lamb’s future.

“We have every confidence in the way he works, that he’s going to come here, ready to go,” McCarthy said Friday. “When the time comes, we will carry on as if he never left.”

Before Lamb left, he was at the top of his game. Lamb caught a league-high 135 passes from Prescott last season for 1,749 yards (second to Tyreek Hill’s 1,799) and 12 touchdowns (third behind Hill and Mike Evans’ 13).

Lamb and Prescott trained in the off-season and are communicating. Prescott, also entering the final year of his contract, has no regrets about Lamb’s resistance.

The receiver contacted Prescott with wishes following Prescott’s birthday on July 29.

“That also led to some negotiations,” Prescott told reporters. “He’s wanting to come back, ready to come back, waiting for it to be done for him. I know I am too. Hopefully we can get it back sooner rather than later.

“But I know he’s working and I know he’s eager and working and ready to get back with the boys.”

Is it better for the Cowboys to rush or slow play the Lamb resolution?

The story goes that Jones will sign a deal with Lamb before week one. League executives believe Lamb will also be in the building at that time.

One executive who negotiated high-level deals considered the logic of resistance independent of emotions.

“Resisting [is] a path of mutual destruction,” said the NFC executive. “You’re doing this because you think it’s going to hurt us. It will hurt you just as much.”

The executive rejected the most common refrains of criticism of the Cowboys, arguing three points for the current delay in negotiations.

The first: how often a team wins the Super Bowl why of your top-of-the-market receiver? The Kansas City Chiefs have won the last two Super Bowls after trading the league’s most productive receiver, Hill.

The second: The Cowboys can’t simply consider a receiver megadeal like the Cincinnati Bengals, as receiver Ja’Marr Chase holds on a year after quarterback Joe Burrow cashed in. Neither are the Cowboys in the same boat as the San Francisco 49ers and Brandon Aiyuk, whose trade considerations precede quarterback Brock Purdy’s trade window by a year but also benefit from the certainty of rusher Nick Bosa’s deal being finalized last year.

Instead, Dallas should consider Lamb, Prescott and edge rusher Micah Parsons for deals in the imminent future. If they can’t keep all three, who’s on the outside looking in? And if they decide to keep all three — is there reason to believe the deals will get them to the Lombardi Trophy when the trio hasn’t won a divisional round game in three healthy postseasons?

And the third: if Lamb has a contract this year, why not wait another year and be more sure of his value?

“People are paying guys just because they’re next, not because they’re worthy,” the executive said. “Sometimes there is value in certainty.”

Can a Cowboys team with a quarterback, receiver and head coach with expiring contracts wait?

One AFC general manager saw Lamb’s resistance differently, pushing back when asked how teams that pay quarterbacks a lot could also reach deals with receivers. The issue arose after the Vikings gave Justin Jefferson an extension worth $35 million per year, as they benefit from the fact that their top two quarterbacks cost a combined $8.97 million against the cap this season. The Cowboys are in a completely different ballpark at $58 million.

The general manager’s response: Look at the Philadelphia Eagles. Quarterback Jalen Hurts, receivers AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith and running back Saquon Barkley are all being paid well for their positions.

Long agreements, a set of voidable years, and past negotiations help the case. The gymnastics cap is available to the teams.

For now, the Cowboys will try to convince Lamb that he needs neither the price the Vikings gave Jefferson nor the assurance that the Bengals have already extended Chase, and therefore he won’t miss the boat on an imminent market increase.

Lamb will try to argue otherwise — and hope the team makes him an offer he’s willing to accept before Sept. 8, when the stakes will get higher.

Elliott, who came very close to that breaking point, can empathize.

“It’s a shame when the business part of the game comes up,” Elliott said. “The most important thing is to stay in shape, make sure you are ready.

“The agreement will be made. But when that deal closes, be ready to get to work.”