Today the Cowboys backed up the Brinks truck for CeeDee Lamb. The All Pro receiver just got a record signing bonus while becoming the second highest paid non-QB in NFL history
The #Cowboys and All-Pro WR CeeDee Lamb agreed on a massive 4-year extension worth $136M, per me and @TomPelissero.
Lamb gets $100M guaranteed and a WR-record $38M signing bonus in a deal done by Tory Dandy of CAA. He’s the 2nd highest paid non-QB in NFL history. pic.twitter.com/QhfMpSErLd
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 26, 2024
Lamb is coming off an All Pro season and his third Pro Bowl season. He caught 135 passes for 1749 yards last season and has improved his receiving numbers each of his seasons in the NFL.
When Lamb came out of Oklahoma in 2020, he was easily the best receiver in that draft. The team with the highest draft position and a need at wide receiver was the Raiders. For that reason, I had him as the pick by the Raiders in my mock draft that year. But Jon Gruden was smarter. He took Alabama’s Henry Ruggs III at 12 overall. Yeah, Mike Mayock was the GM, but we all know Gruden was calling the shots on those top picks.
Now, we know the cautionary tale that Ruggs’s life became. He’s in prison for killing a woman and her dog while driving drunk. But this isn’t about Ruggs. This is about Lamb. And how much of a no-brainer pick he was at the time and has proven to be ever since.
To be fair, the Broncos also overthought this. They chose Ruggs’s Alabama teammate Jerry Jeudy three picks later at 15 overall. Leaving Lamb to fall right into the laps of the Cowboys at 17 overall. A gift from the overthinking brainiacs ahead of them in the draft.