CeeDee Lamb will not be at Cowboys training camp when it begins.
Multiple reports have indicated that Lamb will not show up to camp on Wednesday after he has been unable to land a contract extension that is on par with other receivers across the league, which comes as little surprise to those who have been following the saga.
The Dallas Morning News reported Tuesday morning that team officials didn’t anticipate he would be joining the team until a contract extension is reached.
NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported earlier in the day that Lamb would not be on the team flight headed for Oxnard, California, where the Cowboys would be hosting training camp.
Wednesday is the Cowboys’ official reporting day for training camp and every day that Lamb misses will be a mandatory $50,000 fine.
Cowboys team busses arrived in Oxnard right around 7 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday evening.
Lamb is entering the final year of his current contract and will make $17.99 million this season.
While Lamb won’t be there on Wednesday, two people with knowledge of the situation told the Dallas Morning News they were hopeful that a deal could get done this week to avoid a holdout or hold-in.
The stalemate between the star wide receiver and the Cowboys has been an ongoing story throughout the NFL offseason and ramped up when the 25-year-old skipped voluntary workouts and mandatory minicamp, which cost him more than $100,000 in fines for doing so.
“It’s a business, honestly,” Cowboys cornerback Jourdan Lewis told the Morning News about the situation. “You got to look at from that side of things and understand it. You got to take care of your family that comes first. I understand what they’re doing. You just got to go out there and try to prepare as best we can without them or how long we’ll be without them.”
Lamb and the Cowboys have had talks about a new deal in recent weeks, but they haven’t been able to come to an agreement that would make him the highest-paid receiver in team history.
Several big-name receivers have landed lucrative contracts this offseason, including Justin Jefferson, A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith and Amon-Ra St. Brown.
Jefferson’s four-year, $140 million deal, which included $110 million guaranteed, comes to an average of $35 million a year to make him the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL.