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Four Verts: Nobody knows what the Cowboys are doing with CeeDee Lamb, and of course, yes, for the return of the ‘hold-ins’

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Football is here! NFL training camps have begun across the country, creating new and exciting stories and things for fans to watch. But this week’s Four Verts column begins with a perplexing contract situation that has been talked about ad nauseam until now.

The Cowboys are constantly mainstays in the NFL news cycle for a variety of reasons, but this time it’s for a reason that is driving their fanbase absolutely crazy. They have three crucial players up for contract extensions right now: Dak Prescott, Micah Parsons and CeeDee Lamb. Three players who are essential to the success of the Cowboys and their future endeavors. At the moment, they have gone 0 for 3, without any of these contractual situations being resolved. Prescott is probably the most important contract they need to land based on the nature of his position, but Lamb is actually the one causing the most conflict right now.

According to multiple media outlets, Lamb will not participate in Dallas training camp without a new deal. Because Lamb is coming off a rookie contract, he is not yet subject to the daily $50,000 fines that other veterans who hold out are at risk of receiving. There really is no incentive for Lamb to show up without a contract offer from the Cowboys that has a chance of making him O Highest-paid wide receiver in the league. His play last year deserved it and the Cowboys simply can’t have a functioning offense without him in the lineup. He is a total and complete necessity.

It’s quite disconcerting that the Cowboys seem content with the crux of their roster, playing on soon-to-expire or soon-to-expire deals. Assuming Prescott, Lamb and Parsons reach the levels of talent they’ve demonstrated thus far, these deals will only get more expensive over the next eight months. It simply doesn’t make sense to give the player all the advantage in this situation and make the team more desperate in their role.

The only reason this might make sense is if the Cowboys are truly ready to hit the “reset” button after next season. That would be bold. This is a franchise quarterback, wide receiver and pass rusher – three things every team would love to have. Still, the Cowboys are treating this situation a little lightly. Being proactive will save them a lot of heartache and money if they just get out of their own way and do something. Playing the season, or even entering training camp, with these issues unresolved doesn’t make much sense.

But it gets people going. Seriously, just search “@DallasCowboys” on Twitter. It’s a gold mine.

Speaking of collective bargaining agreements, one way players have gotten around their contract disputes without racking up $50,000 a day in fines is by holding in to camp. Basically just showing up and doing nothing while keeping your hard-earned money in your pocket. For now, this is a way to have a holdout-like effect without actually losing money – we’ll see what happens with this method when the NFL and NFLPA eventually negotiate a new CBA.

This year, there are a handful of high-profile players who, at the very least, will not participate in practices during the early part of training camp. Here are the names to keep an eye on over the next month or so.

49ers general manager John Lynch will definitely have his work cut out for him in the coming weeks trying to get two key pieces to the 49ers’ success back under contracts that will keep them happy and ready to contribute next season. That’s no small feat with Brock Purdy’s contract coming up, but it’s certainly doable for at least this year. Interestingly, Williams is choosing to lose $50,000 a day to make this desire known. Braver man than most.

Cowboys star receiver CeeDee Lamb is holding out — but he's not subject to $50,000-a-day fines.  (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)

Cowboys star receiver CeeDee Lamb is holding out — but he’s not subject to $50,000-a-day fines. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)

Jets defensive end Haason Reddick is also facing an expensive wait for a new deal, which is a little interesting considering the Jets have had Reddick on the roster since early April, but he still doesn’t have the new deal he want. Getting him into the squad and making him happy would mean everything to the squad, especially considering they are a bit thin on the defensive line without him. It’s a little confusing how they got to this moment without a happy Reddick putting pen to paper.

Love and Tagovailoa will be paid, with Love’s deal likely to come first and set a new benchmark for quarterback pay in the league. It appears that Tagovailoa will not receive a market-rate extension, as the Dolphins look to compensate him with something a little friendlier than what he is asking for.

This is all money talk, everyone’s favorite thing – but these guys are worth keeping an eye on as the regular season gets underway.

During Sean Payton’s reign as head coach in New Orleans, the Saints always had screeching, nasty offensive lines that could overwhelm virtually any opposing defense. This helped keep Drew Brees’ career thriving as he aged and really helped the Saints transition into the post-Brees era by allowing them to hit the rock while figuring out which combination of Taysom Hill and his ilk worked best.

However, times seem to be changing and the Saints offensive line is looking a little scary. They don’t have much promise or enthusiasm behind this unit as they haven’t been able to match the player talent acquisition they have had in the past. Rugged right-back Ryan Ramcyzk is out for the season with a likely career-ending injury. Trevor Penning has been a complete failure as a former first-round power forward to this point. First-round pick Taliese Fuaga, a right tackle many considered a potential NFL guard, will slide to left tackle for the Saints during his rookie year.

This spells disaster. Especially for a team that has an immobile quarterback who really struggles when the heat turns up and the hitting starts. Derek Carr has always needed a strong offensive line in front of him to be the best version of himself and this doesn’t seem to be it. Which begs the question – what really is the ceiling of this Saints team? Star running back Alvin Kamara is hanging on as he tries to get a new contract or an adjustment to his current one. They have a star wide receiver in Chris Olave, but this situation isn’t necessarily set up for them to take full advantage of Olave’s explosive downfield ability. If they can’t block the way they want, it’s hard to see how the Saints will create enough opportunities for their point guards.

New offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak has his work cut out for him as he brings in everyone’s favorite offensive play tree: the Shanahan system. This scheme could be the cover these people need to be a productive unit, but at the moment it seems a little unstable.

To be fair to the Saints, they have Erik McCoy at center and point guard Cesar Ruiz still has untapped potential. The rest of the group is still a work in progress and it could will lead to the year the Saints finally hit rock bottom – which is probably the best thing for this franchise right now.

Enough talking about the Saints. The rest of the NFC South appears to have taken some steps forward. While the Saints are still dealing with the mountain of hell that has prevented them from truly improving the team, the other teams have made at least marginal improvements to their squad that should create watchable football for fans. It wasn’t always like this last year! I knew it! I watched every Atlanta Falcons game last year! I’m fine, I really am!

The Falcons at least have some reason to hope for a successful or more entertaining 2024 season. Kirk Cousins ​​​​is a huge upgrade from what they had at quarterback last season, and head coach Raheem Morris and offensive coordinator Zac Robinson could be the fresh faces this organization needed to get the most out of the talented point guards. that they gathered throughout the game. Last years. Cousins’ health is still a question mark, but even so, they should be able to make big improvements on offense with Cousins ​​not at full strength like he was a season ago.

Tampa Bay hasn’t changed much, but they should have a strong offensive line. Rookie center Graham Barton solidifying an offensive line that already features All-Pro tackle Tristan Wirfs will be a huge asset to what the Buccaneers hope to accomplish — getting back to the playoffs and potentially making a run to the NFC title game. They were a little close to that point last year, but continuity at quarterback with the return of Baker Mayfield combined with improvements on the offensive line and a solid defense should put them in familiar territory with around nine wins.

Carolina is the enigma here. They started then so far behind the 8-ball that it’s hard to see them making the playoffs or even very close, but it’s fair to recognize the improvements they’ve made. Robert Hunt and Damien Lewis are huge upgrades at offensive guard, while Dionate Johnson and Xavier Leggette will help stabilize one of last year’s worst receiving rooms. The defense will likely be in bad shape again, but the offensive improvements are important. Five wins should be within the range of what this team is capable of.

All of this is a huge improvement over what this division was doing last year. It wasn’t football – but now they have a chance to join the rest of the NFL as a real division with some teams potentially capable of making the playoffs.



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