Can Cowboys still count on elite production from $136 million star?
· Yahoo Sports
Cedarian Lamb is on pace to shatter several career wide receiver records for the Dallas Cowboys, an organization with a storied history of elite talent at the position. The 88 Club tells just a part of the story, with the best of the best donning the jersey number that was bestowed on the University of Oklahoma product when he miraculously fell in the 2020 draft. Somehow the best offensive weapon in the class made it to No. 17, and Dallas began what appears to be a Hall of Fame trajectory.
Lamb's 571 catches is already 3rd all time in club history. He catches Michael Irvin for second in 2027 if he has 2 healthy seasons. He already has 41 TDs, on pace to catch Dez Bryant for the Cowboys' all-time lead in his ninth season. Yardage wise,he's going to pass Bryant, Drew Pearson, and Tony Hill by Week 10 of this coming season. At a macro level, Lamb has been everything the Cowboys could've dreamed of.
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However zooming in, it feels like the team hasn't gotten their monies worth after extending him prior to the 2024 season.
Lamb held out the summer of 2024, entering his fifth-year option season. In 2024, he led the league in targets (181), receptions (135), first downs (87), had the longest recorded catch (92 yards) and led the NFL in Approximate Value with an astounding number of 20. He finished third in Offensive Player of the Year voting, and could've easily have won.
He won his stand off with the club, inking a four-year, $136 million extension to become the second-highest paid WR in the league. However Lamb's start to the season was below his standards, and his lack of summertime work was credited as the reason.
He still finished the year with 101 receptions, but only six scores and his numbers were far below his stellar 2023 season. In 2025, while sharing the spotlight with the newly-acquired George Pickens, Lamb battled more injuries and saw his stats tumble to levels more aligned with his rookie season than anything he had done since.
There are mitigating circumstances, but it's not an unreasonable ask to wonder if Lamb is living up to his huge contract. Is Lamb still capable of head-turning performances? In 2023 he had five different games with at least 140 receiving yards, including a 227-yard performance in a crucial, late-season matchup vs Detroit in a playoff run. He's had just one in the past two years.
Rundown
Position: Wide Receiver
Age: 26
Height: 6-foot-2
Weight: 200 pounds
Hometown: New Orleans, LA and Houston, TX
High School: Foster High (Richmond, TX)
College: University of Oklahoma (Highlight Video)
Draft: 2020, First-round pick No. 17
Acquired: 2020 Draft
Contract: Four-year extension (2024), $136 million includes signing bonus of $38 million
2025 Base Salary: $1.75 million (guaranteed) | $1M in roster bonuses guaranteed) | Cap Hit: $19.7M
Career Earnings: $80.8 million (per Over The Cap)
Profile
Lamb's talent has been undeniable as he's ascended from WR2, compliment to Amari Cooper, to WR1 to All-Pro and in the conversation for best wideout in the league. What had been questioned, his toughness and leadership, were answered in the lost season of 2024, where despite a down year for the club and losing his starting QB Dak Prescott to injury midway through the year, he powered through a badly-injured shoulder week after week.
Lamb's calling card is his run-after-the-catch ability, he's a threat to score on any route that has him working across the field or vertically. After not having a true compliment in 2024, the Cowboys front office went out and got him his own "him", adding Pickens from Pittsburgh to return the club to the days of dual-WR1 like they had in 2021 and 2022.
And it worked. Despite Lamb's injuries, the Cowboys' Dropback EPA ranking skyrocketed from 29th in 2024 to fifth. But was that a function of the dual-threat, or Pickens? Those are questions Lamb will look to answer in 2026.
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This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Cowboys player profile for No. 88 WR CeeDee Lamb