Ranking the Cowboys' 3 most important extension candidates by desperation

What are the Dallas Cowboys doing with all of their money? Is it tied up in real estate, the stock market, or is it collecting minimal interest in a money market account? Even if they smartly put their cash they will need to use soon into an HYSA, they are simply running out of time to extend a few of their key players. CeeDee Lamb and Dak Prescott are in contract years. Micah Parsons is about to be.

For various Jerry Jones reasons I would assume, the Cowboys are doing a deplorable job of selling hope to their loyal fan base beyond this season. Not only are Lamb and Prescott on expiring contracts, but Zack Martin is in the final year of his contract, as is head coach Mike McCarthy. Martin may retire after this season, but leaving McCarthy out to dry like this is simply terrible business, man.

So what I want to do today is to take a look at three players of note who have earned massive extensions from the Cowboys but still have not gotten one. Some may be more pressing than others, but losing any one of them to another team would put a damper into the Cowboys' overall viability beyond this year. This is really starting to feel like an off-brand version of the 1998 Chicago Bulls...

Let's start with the guy who should have been paid first, but is the one of the three I would let walk.

3. Dallas Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb

Even if CeeDee Lamb is not my favorite wide receiver in the league, I still view him as a top-10 player at his position group. No, I am never going to pay him more than what Justin Jefferson just got from the Minnesota Vikings, but the Cowboys are now going to have to pay him $10 million in annual surplus to keep him on the team beyond this season. He is a great player, but he is not an all-timer.

Therefore, if I had to move on from any of these three Cowboys stars, it would unfortunately be Lamb. While I do trust the Cowboys' abilities to draft well, I am not sure they will be able to land a wide receiver of Lamb's caliber this soon. They would need to get someone of his ilk or Dez Bryant prior. Does Oklahoma or Oklahoma State have someone worthy of going all in on in the 2025 NFL Draft?

While Dallas could be in the market for Tee Higgins, the Cowboys only cost them money being slow.

2. Dallas Cowboys LB Micah Parsons

Just because the Cowboys have more time to get this deal done does not mean they are going to. They let CeeDee Lamb, Dak Prescott, Zack Martin and even head coach Mike McCarthy play and coach on expiring deals, so what makes you think things will go any different for Micah Parsons? There are two reasons I prioritized him more then Lamb: He is freaking awesome and there is time.

One of the last things the Cowboys will want to do is infuriate their best defensive player since DeMarcus Ware over something dumb like this and so easily remedied. Like, what are we doing? Parsons is a game-changing talent in the front-seven. He has been as good as advertised coming out of Penn State, and then some. Even if the Cowboys lost Dan Quinn to Washington, so what? Pay him!

If all else fails, prioritize extending Parsons ahead of time before it is too late. He is not Ezekiel Elliott.

1. Dallas Cowboys QB Dak Prescott

I feel like I am taking crazy pills. Did we not do this four offseasons ago? It was the Summer of Dak, and everybody in the NFL knew about it. Eventually, Dak Prescott did get his deal done, but that was four years ago! He is in the final year of his four-year contract, slated to make $40 million once again. He may not be worth $60 million, but the man is certainly worth $52 million annually. Just figure it out!

The reason why Prescott is by far and away the most important Cowboys player to pay is the position he plays. If the Cowboys do not have competent quarterback, they will stink to high heaven. Dallas has not really hit rock bottom in my lifetime, but the Cowboys could be post-Danny White, pre-Troy Aikman bad if they do not get it together. They need to either re-sign Prescott or draft his successor.

For so many reasons, this might be the last year the Cowboys are halfway decent for a good while.