CeeDee Lamb’s extension answers the easier question for the Cowboys. But Dak Prescott presents a trickier problem.

Stephen Jones knew his position weeks ago, during training camp.

The Cowboys’ executive vice president quoted his father, team owner Jerry Jones, in what he called “an old Jerryism.”

“Santa doesn’t put the bike under the tree every year,” Jones told Yahoo Sports in an Aug. 13 interview. “You have to accept that you’re going to have to pay for it.”

On Monday, the Cowboys “came to an agreement,” in Jones’ words, by paying their 2020 first-round draft pick a nice contract.

The Cowboys and CeeDee Lamb have agreed to a four-year contract extension worth $136 million, with $100 million guaranteed, multiple sources with knowledge of the negotiations confirmed to Yahoo Sports.

The deal is easily the Cowboys’ biggest offseason move for those who still consider the day before final roster cuts to be the offseason. It brings Dallas one step closer to the urgency many fans hoped the franchise would show in breaking a decades-long drought of deep postseason play.

And yet the Cowboys know that Lamb’s contract is just one of the proverbial Christmas presents on their wish list.

Quarterback Dak Prescott and edge rusher Micah Parsons are also likely to get mega deals from Dallas or elsewhere soon, with Prescott’s expiring contract the most pressing.

Jones said on Aug. 13 that Parsons is “not pushing for anything at this point,” though his salary will increase from $2.99 ​​million to $21.32 million for his fifth-year option even if a more lucrative deal isn’t reached for the 2025 season.

Now that the Cowboys have one contractual win on Monday, they also find themselves on a path that raises many more questions.

Lamb is celebrating landing the most expensive receiver contract for a team that also pays a quarterback big money, while the franchise is happy that Lamb’s contract extension falls short of Justin Jefferson’s market-defining four-year, $140 million deal, $110 million of which is guaranteed.

“Obviously you plan for Dak and you plan for CeeDee,” Jones said on Aug. 13. “The negotiations remain very cordial and the goal for everyone is to be a Cowboy going forward and figure out solutions to the challenges of their contracts — figure out solutions that allow us to 1) have all three of them and 2) put a good team around them.”

By signing Lamb, the Cowboys are 33 percent of the way to that goal. The deal should also give Prescott more confidence in the targets he’ll have if he reaches an extension.

But will he do so, and if so, when?

Who and what’s next on the agenda for the Cowboys?

What could stand in the way of negotiations between Prescott and the Cowboys?

Jones said it was “our goal” to extend Prescott “before the start of the season.”

However, there are two important factors that can hinder this outcome.

The first: Teams often say they want to extend star players without confirming that they want to extend the player at the financial level that the player demands and sometimes the market dictates. There’s little doubt that the Cowboys want their current $40 million quarterback for a similar price, plus the ability to invest in a talented and well-paid supporting cast. But do the Cowboys want to pay Prescott the $55-60 million per year that the sky-high quarterback market dictates?

Thirteen quarterbacks have reached an extension since his 2020 extension that averages a higher annual value than Prescott?

While the Cowboys will point to Prescott’s lackluster playoff performance during negotiations, Dallas won 12 games last year. Prescott led the league with 36 touchdowns and finished second in the race for the MVP award.

The Cowboys would almost certainly have to compensate Prescott well over $50 million a year, if not $60 million. Are they willing to do that?

The second delay is more atypical. In most quarterback negotiations, the leverage is heavily in the club’s favor. Teams often negotiate with years of control over a player’s existing contract, not to mention additional control tools like franchise and transition tags. Some teams even threaten to trade a player.

The Cowboys have surprisingly little leverage in negotiations with Prescott.

Their ninth-year starter is entering the final year of his contract, which eliminates the opportunity to offset a costly next contract with a reasonable current deal. Prescott already won his last negotiating battle for a four-year extension instead of the five-year deal the Cowboys wanted. He will likely push again to return to the market in a desired time frame, which erodes the Cowboys’ flexibility in salary cap management.

And then there’s the biggest leverage Prescott has: His contract includes a no-trade and no-tag clause.

In other words, if the Cowboys don’t reach a contract extension with Prescott this year, they can’t “control” him – they can’t force him to play for them.

Would Prescott prefer that?

Expect Cowboys to show a lot of Dak to CeeDee

Prescott has no plans to leave the Cowboys anytime soon.

Just as Mark Twain once said, “Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated,” so too are the indisputable reports of a split between Prescott and the Cowboys.

But it is a possibility.

And maybe there is a world where it’s best for everyone.

The Cowboys and Prescott must ask themselves in negotiations: Can we win a Super Bowl together after eight years of trying and failing? Year 9 was a lucky one for Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts, and also for Washington and Joe Theismann (his seventh starting team). John Elway and the Broncos went ringless for 14 seasons before winning in 15 and 16.

And yet Elway and the Broncos had reached the Super Bowl three times in their first eight years. Manning won the conference championship on his sixth try. Theismann was technically in his seventh season when he won it all.

The Cowboys and Prescott have yet to reach an NFC title game or Super Bowl together. Things could change. Will they keep trying?

Prescott thinks about this as he considers his next contract.

“I deserve it,” he told Yahoo Sports. But also, “this game is judged on winning the Super Bowl and I understand people’s fear, maybe their fear and that I didn’t do that. Hey, if these people want to move on, it’s a business.

“It’s a two-way street. It has to go well from my side too.”

Simply put, Prescott could choose not to push for, or even accept, an extension in the coming weeks and months. He could choose not to sign with Dallas again in the spring to test free agency.

Will he find stronger teams than the Cowboys? The New York Giants, Las Vegas Raiders, New Orleans Saints, New York Jets and Pittsburgh Steelers are among the possible suitors.

Prescott is in no hurry to make a decision.

“The best way to say it is I’m free,” Prescott said. “When I say I’m free, it means I’m not in a rush — whether that’s before camp, during the season or at the end of the season when other people have a chance.”

For now, there’s at least another year of opportunity for a Cowboys offense led by Prescott and Lamb. Lamb posted videos this week of himself practicing his entry and exit routes in the dirt and working on body contortion catches in the gym. Dallas expects a smooth return thanks to his workout routine and existing chemistry with Prescott.

The Cowboys also expect Lamb to stay busy on the field. The Joneses didn’t want to overcompensate a receiver without that security.

“I think he’s going to touch the ball a lot,” Stephen Jones said. “For what we’re paying him, he should do it. I told (head coach) Mike (McCarthy) nothing can change. He’s got to be targeted 12 to 15 times a game, you’ve got to give him the ball a couple more times. So I don’t see that changing at all.

“When you pay receivers that much money, they get to catch the ball eight to 12 times a game, 15 times, occasionally 15 times.

“He’s our number one.”