Cowboys, CeeDee Lamb agree to massive extension; College Football Playoff predictions

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💰 Good morning to everybody, however particularly to …

CEEDEE LAMB AND THE DALLAS COWBOYS, AT LONG LAST

It is about time. The Cowboys signed CeeDee Lamb to a four-year, $136 million extension, lastly ending the star large receiver’s months-long maintain out slightly below two weeks earlier than the common season begins.

• Lamb, 25, will get $34 million per 12 months, second-most amongst large receivers and solely behind Justin Jefferson ($35 million per 12 months). Lamb is the fifth wide receiver to eclipse $30 million annually; all 5 signed these contracts this offseason.
• Lamb’s deal consists of $100 million assured and a $38 million signing bonus, the biggest ever for a large receiver.
• Lamb completely deserves it, coming off an NFL-high and Cowboys-record 135 catches for 1,749 yards (additionally a franchise report) and 12 touchdowns. He was a first-team All Professional and completed third in Offensive Participant of the 12 months voting.
• Micah Parsons, who can also be due for an extension, congratulated Lamb.

It was an angsty offseason from each Lamb and Jerry Jones (who made more headlines Monday), however the vital factor is that forward of a crucial year, Dak Prescott‘s famous person high goal is locked in. Now, Garrett Podell writes, Jones can focus on Prescott.

• Podell: “Prescott has each a no-trade clause and a no-franchise-tag clause, which means he has the ability to stroll into unrestricted free company in March 2025 unencumbered. Nevertheless, the one means this deal will get carried out is that if the Jones boys alter their perspective on the quarterback contract market.”

With soccer season right here, we all know you have received a lot on the road this season. So we’re right here to assist: CBSSports.com has full breakdowns, grades and rankings of every sports book and a look at all the best offers for new signups.

👍 Honorable mentions

🏈 And never such an excellent morning for …

HUNDREDS OF NFL PLAYERS

Minimize day is the worst day on the NFL calendar, and tons of of gamers are about to expertise it first-hand. NFL groups should get their roster right down to 53 by 4 p.m. ET, and whereas many teams have gotten started, there is a lengthy, lengthy option to go, and an extended, lengthy watch for gamers on roster bubbles.

For most of the gamers who do not make rosters, this would be the closest they’re going to ever get. Many desires will finish as we speak. It is a harsh reminder that as enjoyable because the NFL is, it is also a enterprise, and enterprise might be merciless.

Lots of the names on the chopping block as we speak are unfamiliar ones. However there will likely be extra notable departures, too, and that could include a former Super Bowl hero, Cody Benjamin writes.

• Benjamin: “Kadarius Toney — Hampered by accidents in between a splashy secondary function as a receiver and returner, Toney has ‘battled to make the group’ based on coach Andy Reid, suggesting he is effectively behind fellow wideouts like Rashee Rice, Marquise Brown and Xavier Worthy on the pecking order. The Chiefs have by no means been hesitant to nurse a reclamation challenge, however the former Giants prospect has struggled to remain on the sphere.”

We’re tracking every single cut here.

👎 Not so honorable mentions

🏈 2024 School Soccer Playoff predictions, Heisman picks, extra

FOUR. MORE. DAYS. We’re virtually to Week 1, school soccer followers, and our consultants are right here with College Football Playoff predictions and individual award picks.

Let’s begin with the favourite: Georgia acquired 4 of the eight votes to earn the No. 1 seed within the new 12-team playoff, and the Bulldogs additionally earned 5 votes to win all of it. Each have been most of any group. Chip Patterson explained his pick.

• Patterson: “Whereas Georgia doesn’t have all the identical sort of items that it had throughout its back-to-back title run, the Bulldogs have elevated at quarterback with Carson Beck. That, plus the chip on the shoulder that has develop into evident from lacking out on the playoff final 12 months, has me giving the Dawgs the nod to get again to the highest of the mountain.”

Whereas Beck is nice, one among our consultants’ hottest Heisman Trophy picks is another SEC quarterback. Shehan explains …

• Jeyarajah: “Jalen Milroe, QB, Alabama — Trying again on the checklist of Heisman Trophy winners within the School Soccer Playoff period, two tendencies emerge. The winner tends to be a statistical freak and usually on a group contending for the School Soccer Playoff. Merely put, there isn’t any participant on a group within the preseason high 10 positioned to be freakier statistically than Milroe. The junior was barely inconsistent in his first season as a starter however nonetheless cleared 3,000 whole yards and 35 touchdowns. Kalen DeBoer is a quarterback wizard and may really unlock Milroe’s huge potential … “

You can see all of the picks — including projected playoff fields, overrated and underrated squads and more — right here.

🏈 What we discovered from the NFL preseason

Week 3 of the preseason normally would not function a ton of starters, however the Panthers reversed that development by placing Bryce Younger in recreation motion for the primary time. It turned out to be best-case state of affairs. The second-year quarterback led a landing drive and was one among Jeff Kerr’s preseason Week 3 winners and “the nice” for Carolina in Garrett’s “Good, bad and ugly for every team.”

• Podell: “Younger confirmed the poise within the pocket to hold in there and make throws. New Carolina head coach Dave Canales has revived each Geno Smith‘s profession with the Seahawks, and Baker Mayfield‘s profession with the Buccaneers. Let’s examine if he can pull the rabbit out of the hat yet one more time in 2024.”

Cody has 10 things we learned from the preseason.

The preseason as an entire additionally gave us a sneak peak at a very thrilling draft class, headlined by six quarterbacks picked within the high 12. Caleb Williams leads Josh Edwards’ preseason All-Rookie Team, and all 5 first-round quarterbacks who’re wholesome — sorry, J.J. McCarthy — earned robust grades in Chris Trapasso’s first-round rookie preseason grades.

🏀 When will there be a lady head coach in D-I males’s school basketball?

Matt Norlander and Gary Parrish’s wonderful Candid Coaches sequence continued Monday with a thought-provoking query: “Will a woman be the head coach of a Division I men’s basketball team by 2030?”

I will not share the outcomes, however here is a quote that stood out:

• Coach who stated “no”: “Whereas I do not imagine there will likely be a lady head males’s basketball coach by 2030, I do assume the likelihood is larger than ever. With the elevated visibility of ladies’s basketball, I imagine an elite ladies’s coach comparable to a Daybreak Staley might get a males’s head teaching job if she actively pursued it. Nevertheless, with the compensation for ladies’s jobs steadily growing, notably on the highest ranges, I do not know if the motivation is nice sufficient for somebody of Daybreak Staley’s stature to take such a threat.”

📺 What we’re watching Tuesday

🎾 We’re watching the US Open. Here’s how.
⚾ Astros at Phillies, 6:40 p.m. on TBS
🏀 Aces at Wings, 8 p.m. on NBA TV