Cowboys once had “ugliest holdout in NFL history”

The Dallas Cowboys are in the middle of training camp following an uneventful and highly criticized offseason. The team has some of the same highly talented players from last season, but less talent in general as they lost some top players and did not replace them. They now expect the team to do more (after an ugly loss to the Packers in the Wild Card round of the playoffs last season) with less.

And as for the remaining talent, the top three are currently twiddling their thumbs waiting on contract extensions while the Cowboys take their merry time. While quarterback Dak Prescott and edge rusher Micah Parsons ride it out rather patiently (for now), the same cannot be said for wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, who’s skipped out on all offseason workouts and has yet to report to training camp.

Even still, negotiations are reportedly moving along between Lamb and the Cowboys, while COO Stephen Jones calls the contract talks “upbeat” and “cordial”. This is not always the case with holdouts, which are by nature somewhat hostile. In fact, the first Cowboys player to ever hold out in hopes of a getting a new contract, ended up losing that battle big time.

The Cowboys’ “ugliest holdout in NFL history” - Duane Thomas

Zack Martin and Ezekiel Elliott both held out and won

CeeDee Lamb is actually the fifth Cowboys player to hold out from practice in hopes of a contract extension. The most recent were guard Zack Martin in 2023 and running back Ezekiel Elliott in 2019. Martin, for his part, was given a contract extension and an $8 million annual raise by mid-August. Elliott also ended up getting his way. Despite having two years left on his rookie contract, the Cowboys agreed to a deal worth $90 million after he held out from the entire training camp and preseason. That proved to be a big mistake on the Cowboys’ part as his performance went on a steady decline from then until 2023, when he was traded to the New England Patriots, with the Cowboys still indebted to him.

Even Emmitt Smith had to fight for a pay raise

Before Martin and Zeke, there was Hall of Fame running back Emmitt Smith in 1993. Smith was just coming off a season in which he led the league in rushing yards and helped bring the Cowboys to Super Bowl victory. The Cowboys did not find that reason enough to rush into a pay raise for him, so Smith held out of the entirety of training camp and the first two games of the 1993 regular season. After the Cowboys lost those two games, Jerry Jones finally gave Smith a new contract. They won the next 12 games in a row and then went on to win the Super Bowl that season, with Smith named Super Bowl MVP. You could say that both parties won in this case.

Duane Thomas - not so lucky

Running back Duane Thomas was drafted by the Cowboys in 1970 and by the next season, he wanted a new contract and a raise. Back in the ‘70s, holding out and demanding a pay raise was not so common as it is now in the NFL. But after winning Rookie of the Year and leading the team in rushing, plus helping take the Cowboys to their first-ever Super Bowl appearance (loss to the Colts), Thomas thought he deserved more.

At the time, the Cowboys’ general manager was Tex Schramm, who was not at all on board with player demands such as his and he refused to even humor a negotiation. Thomas called Schramm “deceitful” and head coach Tom Landry “a plastic man...no man at all”. He then sat out of training camp and the Cowboys’ response was to trade him to the New England Patriots.

It somehow got even uglier after that! Just one week later, in an unprecedented move, the Patriots asked the league to reverse the trade and the league agreed. It seems Thomas didn’t get along well with Pats coach John Mazur either. They sent Thomas back to the Cowboys after all that drama. Thomas played for the Cowboys without the pay raise he sought, and even helped take them to their first Super Bowl victory. But the whole season long, Thomas refused to speak to anyone - not the players, nor the coaches, nor the media. By the time the next offseason rolled around, he was even more isolated from the team and they traded him to the San Diego Chargers. CBS Sports ranked it as the “ugliest holdout in NFL history”, and I must say, I agree.

Duane Thomas passed away on Tuesday, August 6, 2024 at the age of 77.

Back to CeeDee...

Thankfully, I don’t believe any of those things would happen in today’s NFL (besides the holdout itself obviously), and Lamb is likely to get his way. After finishing his best season yet in 2023, Lamb is up there with the best receivers in the league and deserves the pay he’s demanding. The market has been set by the likes of Justin Jefferson, A.J. Brown, Amon-Ra St. Brown, and Tyreek Hill, and Lamb is already amongst them in rank - now he wants to be amongst them in salary.