In the latter half of last week, it was reported that the Dallas Cowboys are offering CeeDee Lamb less than $33 million per year as part of recent contract extension talks. That’s obviously a pretty high amount, but it’s not the absolute maximum on the market for the position.

As for the market, Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson pegged the amount at $35 million per year last offseason. However, it seems that APY isn’t necessarily the only issue for Lamb right now, at least according to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, who discussed the matter on Saturday.

“You’ve seen the numbers that are out there. About 33. I’ve seen more than 33. I’ve seen less than 33. My understanding is it’s around 33 and for Lamb, that’s still not good enough. The top of the market is 35 with Justin Jefferson, so he wants it to go higher. And the structure, as sources familiar with Lamb’s thinking tell me, needs to be worked on as well. Cash flow, guarantees, how that will be structured in the first half of the deal. So there’s a lot of work to be done here.”

Garafolo notes that the APY needs to get closer to the upper market levels, but that cash flow and guarantees also need to be taken care of (among other things, it seems). Unfortunately, he notes, there is still “a lot of work” to be done.

You would think that the template was already there after the Jefferson deal was done. But while you or someone else might think that Lamb is being unreasonable in wanting to meet or surpass that established line, it shows that the Cowboys generally waiting for the market to be set is part of the problem. Had they been willing to set the market, himself Previously with Lamb they wouldn’t necessarily have been in this position.