Jerry Jones provides latest on CeeDee Lamb contract negotiations: 'We're having the same kind of talks we've been having'

The ongoing contract saga involving the Dallas Cowboys and star receiver CeeDee Lamb is not seemingly any closer — or further — from getting resolved, based on what owner Jerry Jones said on a radio interview before a preseason game on Saturday.

Lamb has been holding out of training camp as he enters the final year of his rookie deal as he seeks a new contract. Jones and Co. have seemingly not been a rush to get the deal done, but the Cowboys owner expressed confidence a deal would get done while on 105.3 The Fan before a preseason game against the Raiders.

“We’re having the same kind of talks we’ve been having. … (I’m) not worried about a target date (for the contract), not worried about his shape. Glad he’s not out here risking some injury tonight,” Jones said, according to The Athletic’s Jon Machota.

Lamb, naturally, is not playing or practicing with the team as he’s holding out.

Jones had previously said that the Cowboys didn’t feel urgency in getting a deal for Lamb done. While he didn’t specifically walk back those comments, Jones did come back and do some damage control a few days later, expressing to Lamb that he was missed with the Cowboys heading into what is likely a pivotal year for the current coaching regime.

It was recently reported the two parties were ‘not close’ on a deal

Lamb continues his holdout during contract talks, there’s still plenty of work to do. The star wide receiver and the Dallas Cowboys are “not close,” according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s Clarence Hill on Wednesday.

The Cowboys’ best offer was just just south of $33 million per year, Hill reported, which would be $2 million less than Justin Jefferson is making as the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL. This latest update comes as Dallas continues preparations for its second preseason game of the year against the Las Vegas Raiders later this week.

Lamb’s contract is just one of the storylines for the Cowboys through training camp as Dak Prescott looks at potential free agency. But the talks with Lamb could impact this coming season if his holdout continues, and franchise legend Emmitt Smith called them “unacceptable” so far.

“Without (Lamb) on the football field, they’re putting all the pressure on Dak Prescott now and that is unacceptable because everybody of his caliber should have quality people to throw the ball to,” Smith said on the Blogging with the Boys podcast. “Not no Plan B, Plan C, Plan D guy. He should be in a position, as your franchise quarterback, to be successful.

“Right now, you’re putting him behind the eight ball and that is not right. That’s how I see it.”