Do Cowboys players have all the leverage over Jerry Jones?

The news surrounding the Dallas Cowboys all offseason has been about the lack of contract extensions for their top three players - quarterback Dak Prescott, wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, and defensive end Micah Parsons. The latter is a matter that can be put off until next season, but Prescott and Lamb are more urgent matters, as both are entering their final contract year, and Lamb has been stubbornly holding out until a deal is done.

The drama has extended into the preseason as the Cowboys still have not managed to get a deal done with Prescott or Lamb. We are two preseason games down and only one week remains in training camp. The regular season is just two and a half weeks away. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has been reassuring fans that they are “optimistic” and there are “positive talks”. Yet, nothing is done, still. Until something is done, it seems we’ll all continue to be weary, including Lamb himself.

Do the Cowboys players hold the leverage?

One NFL Insider seems to think so. On Tuesday, NFL analyst Matt Mosley spoke on Maggie & Perloff and gave his thoughts on the Cowboys players’ contract negotiations.

“Every player on this roster has Jerry over the barrel,” said Mosley. “It’s amazing. No owner, no billionaire owner, like all these owners, has less leverage with his players than Jerry Jones.”

“In the end, there’s a 95% chance that Dak gets what he’s searching for, which is $60 million a year.”

At the beginning of training camp, Jones went on a rant comparing himself to an option quarterback like Patrick Mahomes, holding onto the ball until the right moment. At some point though, you do have to let that ball go and if you don’t, there are consequences. In this case, that means prices going up and the Cowboys struggling to afford their best players. “Buying time” is expensive.

Prescott is coming off of a year in which he finished second in MVP voting and led the league in touchdown passes. Lamb finished first in receptions (135), second in receiving yards (1,749), and third in touchdown catches (12). Since then, the quarterback and wide receiver markets have exploded.

At this point, simply due to the markets rising, the Cowboys are already looking at having to pay close to $100 million just for Prescott and Lamb. And that’s thanks to all this thumb-twiddling they’ve been doing on getting deals done. The Cowboys are currently dead last in player spending, having spent nearly $10 million less than any other team. Even if Jones does want to go with a rookie quarterback in 2025 rather than give Prescott a $60 million extension, he will still need Lamb on the roster. And yet, his contract is not done either, and he’s missed all of training camp so far. Indeed, it seems the players have the leverage.