FIRST TAKE | CeeDee Lamb & Dak Prescott have no contract extensions before season starts- Stephen A.

L still unsigned and holding out meanwhile Dak continues to show up without a long-term deal here's our Jeremy Fowler with the latest the situation is talks have been ongoing but they're really every couple days the stage is set for Dallas to place the urgency on CD lamb the wide receiver to get that deal done it's going to cost them well above $30 million per year CD Lamb's trying to get as close as he can to that Justin Jefferson Market of that 35 million a year so they're trying to find a sweet spot on all those points I expect lamb to be done first they're going to try to get Prescott done before week one as well and double down on both these guys and spend a ton of money so it's still unclear whether they can pull this off and look Prescott and you talk to people in and around the situation he's well aware of how well he can do in free agency if he were just let this ride out play well again put up a huge qbr and then be there in March for 60 million a year whatever it's going to cost it's going to cost a lot so I don't think both sides want that they want to try to shake this out with the deal but it's going to take a lot of leg work over the next two weeks right Steph should the Cowboys want to sign Dak before the season starts no I don't think they should um not unless you going to get him at a discounted price which you're not going to get um Dak Prescott hasn't proven he's earned over the $60 million he inevitably is going to get um the man has two playoff victories in eight years and so my mentality is at some point in time results should matter and the fact is that when they count most Dak Prescott has been a virtual nosh show now I will say this you can't franchise tag him and you know he obviously has a no trade clause for my understanding so you're stuck and the likelihood of you having to capitulate to his demands uh they favor his chances more so than it does Dallas so I understand it from a business standpoint Shannon I'm strictly speaking about the player on the field the player on the field is is big time during the regular season and he plummets to Virtual no show status in the postseason that person does not deserve over 60 million a year and to be one of the top two or three highest paid quarterbacks if not number one overall in the game I know that Jordan love Trevor Lawrence and those guys have gotten their $55 million so obviously you're going to have to pay him around that as well I get that part but for him to be in a position where he gets to say you should pay me top dollar above everybody else with his postseason credentials I think is egregious yeah I mean that's asking an awful lot that's a big ask that's a big leap because think about it Stephen if you give him 60 that's 20 million more per year than what he's currently playing on because remember he signed a 4year $160 million deal so he's going to basically want probably a fiveyear $300 million deal with 150 160 maybe even 170 in fully guaranteed money that's is crazy to think and you mentioned a guy that's only won two playoff games and what he's won one playoff game since he's got that big contract man that's a steep ask I'm a roll I'm a roll the dice Stephen I got to I'm a roll the dice I I got to I can't I I I want I I want that pressure to be on him and there's pressure always on when you pressure a professional sport but I can't just BL I couldn't blindly go in and give this man you know two quarter of a bill or $300 million and then all of a sudden we don't even make the playoffs or we want and done in the playoffs again don't even want a playoff game no I'm rolling the dice Stephen I'm roll I know I got to pay him I know I got to pay him eventually considering the situation uh because I certainly don't want to put my franchise in the hands of Cooper Rush even though Cooper Rush is proven he could play and he's a five and he's five- one as a star place in play Don't say Trey LS not after those five interceptions he thre this this week No Sa tra lands we ain't doing that we ain't doing that we a we ain't doing that n that brother need that another that brother need to sit down and read the Playbook and master The Playbook a little bit more and what have you a five interceptions I don't give a damn that he threw over 300 yards five interceptions hell no but Cooper Rush is five in one as a starter uh in place of Dak Prescott he can play but I know I can't hand my franchise to him but I want to put Dak under the pressure cooker I want to see if you're going to perform under that pressure because you have yet to do so and keep in mind I've had numerous players say this to me about the quarterback position they think the salaries these players are receiving are hurting the NFL because there's too many dudes that are not quarterbacks that are being hurt because they don't have the money to pay these dudes because they got to give so much of it to the quarterback who said that the quarterback should mandate such a chunk of salary and such a chunk of the salary cap at the expense of so many other important positions on the football field I I tend to agree with them we got we got a roll we got to get a break but that's a great point and we need to have a conversation about that at some point because I know Shannon will have a lot to say coming up with Samson into the fold less than two weeks before the start of the regular season and Dallas has to take on the Cleveland Browns we're talking about a million dollars if you're the Dallas Cowboys puff up the last few years inflate the average salary get the guy in Camp and get it done they're not that far apart like I would have thought this deal would have been done weeks ago weeks ago and here we are August 26 it's still not done most people believe it's going to get done but it's hard to think that they have allowed it to linger both sides to this spot to this time and again assuming it does get done because they're only roughly a million dollars apart then you got to worry about him getting back in getting up to condition level soft tissue injury like what are we doing listen that that and I've been bringing this up for weeks and you you lived it right through the derell Rivas thing and and it's just the example that I bring up all the time but when these players hold out until right before the season starts especially the skill position guys they want to be out there because they they want to be good teammates they want to earn the money when they get the deal they come in there and then they grab a hamstring the first or second game and the entire season winds up being defined by that saw it firsthand saw it with derell Rivas derell Rivers held out got his money glad for it you know as a former player and then we played New England Patriots here's the play there it is right there bam hamstring done was you know is defined by that then he going to miss two weeks now you're going to try and bring him back then oh he's still not now it's another three weeks it it winds up being the entire season that you're dealing with that's that's usually the nerded because we always talk about you know when you miss time in training camp you're not in football shape there's a difference between running around and conditioning and running around with pads on you know doing all the things that it that you need to do you know on the football field so it should be a a this should be a fair warning to every all parties involved like boy you are jeopardizing your season by not getting having this guy in the training camp I believe last week in my absence L rck on this show described it as sabotaging their own season the way this thing is playing out Dan orlovski what are your thoughts so the Cowboys have put their whole season the future of Dak Prescott as a cowboy and the future of Mike McCarthy as their head coach at legit risk over a million dollar roughly I mean I you know we're not we're not talking about that much that's one of the dumbest things I have heard this whole offseason if that's the case Chey somewhere in that world and we have no reason to doubt Dan I'm close that is absolutely ridiculous how much worth organization billion billion okay yeah go ahead Dan sorry they've put all of that at risk over a million bucks this isn't over three four5 million a year this isn't over the the multiple years length of the contract City wants three they want five or V something roughly a million dollars and you're putting your season at risk you're putting the the future of having Dak as your quarterback at risk and then you're putting the future of having Mike McCarthy as the head coach at risk over that that's one of the dumbest things this offseason it's very difficult to figure out when you consider and I almost mean this literally that Jerry Jones probably could find a million dollar in the cushions of his couch and and I say that you know only mostly jokingly but to DW's point the franchise is worth1 billion the season has absolutely everything in the world riding on it they used the term Allin and I finally figured out that what Jerry meant by that was he's putting everyone on notice it's now or never this seemed like overwhelmingly the easy one to get done of the deals that they needed to get done I I really do find this impossible to understand and Justin Jefferson is at $35 million a year so okay let's say CD isn't worth what Justin Jefferson is he's a notch below okay what is it so is it 34 is it 33 is it between those two numbers is it 33 and a half it's not that hard to get done my understanding is there's not an issue with the years in the deal I think in the end ultimately it's probably going to be just like the Jefferson deal Jefferson was four years plus one that was left five years in total one and four and I would think that that'll be the case that's not the issue the issue is over the value of the deal and the value should not be hard to figure out and even if they can't figure it out just sit down at a table and don't get up until that deal is done and this player is back and he's getting ready for the start of the regular season look if I was his agent I would be asking for every penny that Justin Jefferson got because whether think or you think or you think Justin Jefferson might be a little bit better CD lme has been just as productive he is just as important he's on a team that desperately needs him he is part of the future of that franchise regardless of whether the quarterback is there for the next five years or not the building blocks of that team going forward are going to be CD lamb and Micah Parsons no matter what you're going to have to get Parson's deal done next year so so let me let me re reframe this very quickly I get you and and Dan in very quickly on this if they don't have him what are they if if they go to week one against Cleveland without him what are the Cowboys toast toast they're toast I mean you're talking about a guy who led the league in targets led the league in receptions second in the league in in in yards receiving yards he is their offense like he is their he is their offense I don't have the percentage of you know how much of how much of the offense he accounted for but I guarantee there you go 35 35% of their offense came around CD lamb and and the other 65% happened because the defense was focused on CD lamb he is the entire offense Chef I mean uh Dan all kidding aside like if you're Dak Prescott in a private moment what are you thinking as you're seeing this thing playing out in for e e wait for spe fore fore spee yeah I I what ni foree speee fore fore spee fore goodee fore fore speech spee for e J