Jerry Jones has created ‘apathy’ for frustrated Dallas Cowboys fans, but CeeDee Lamb’s $136 million contract extension is a welcome breakthrough

Dallas Cowboys fans are more desperate than ever for another Super Bowl trophy.

Jerry Jones, who owns the most valuable sports franchise in the world, has created a salary-cap nightmare with the $10 billion Cowboys, who have one of the deepest rosters in the NFL but could be on the verge of breaking apart.

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Jerry Jones loves making money but isn’t fond of giving it to his best playersCredit: GettyJohn McClain, who’s covered the NFL for 48 years in Houston and is a Pro Football Hall of Fame voter, exclusively told talkSPORT that Cowboys fans have reached a level of “apathy” regarding the team not seen in more than 20 years.

“Jerry Jones didn’t do anything in the offseason,” McClain said. “He said he was all in, he didn’t do squat.

“While the (Houston) Texans were trading and signing players and doing everything they can to try to elevate the franchise while C.J. Stroud’s on his rookie contract, Jerry Jones wasn’t doing anything.

READ MORE ON NFL”He didn’t bolster his running game. Everybody’s wondering who’s going to carry the ball for the Cowboys — that puts even more pressure on Dak Prescott.

“All you hear about the Cowboys all offseason and now — contracts, contracts, contracts.

“Will Dak Prescott become the most expensive quarterback in history at $60 million a year? I believe he will, because they can’t keep him. If he wants to walk away and go on the open market after this season, he can do it.”

Prescott, 31, isn’t close to Patrick Mahomes when it comes to Super Bowl talent and the Cowboys QB is just 2-5 in the playoffs.

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But because Jones has kept passing on a real long-term extension for the three-time Pro Bowler, Prescott now has maximum leverage during a season when the Cowboys need a career year from a nine-year veteran who has had his share of injury issues.

“I’m not putting that much thought into hoping it gets done now, hoping it gets done in a couple of weeks, during the season or whenever it happens,” Prescott said. “I just know conversations are on the right way.”

CeeDee Lamb is coming off a career year with an NFL-best 135 catches for 1,749 yards and 12 touchdowns.

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Dak Prescott could soon become the NFL’s first $60 million a year QBCredit: Getty

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CeeDee Lamb is back in the fold for the Cowboys as Week 1 approachesCredit: GettyOn Monday, he received a reported four-year, $136 million contract extension at the same time that the Cowboys are uniting in the pursuit of their first world championship since 1995.

“Couldn’t be happier for the guy,” Micah Parsons said on his Edge podcast. “One of the best dudes in the locker room. One of the best players on our team.”

While Prescott could walk away and become the first $60-million-a-year QB in NFL history, Lamb became one of the highest paid offensive players in the sport.

Jones has a net worth of $14.1 billion and watched his Cowboys increase in value by more than $1 billion in the last year.

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But to McClain, the man who bought what was known as America’s Team in 1989 for $140 million now has a unique method of dealing with the Cowboys’ most expensive stars.

“CeeDee Lamb, will report before the first game,” McClain said. “That’s when they start paying them big game checks in the NFL. Right now, they don’t make their big game checks, and I think they’ll get it worked out.

“But Jerry Jones always has trouble with big contracts. He’s never lost a player that he’s really wanted over money, but they got a funny way of doing business.”

The Cowboys finished 12-5 the last three seasons, but have just one playoff win to show for it.

For all their billions of dollars, Dallas has annually underperformed between the lines and gone almost three decades since reaching the NFC Championship.

Fans wanted head coach Mike McCarthy fired following a stunning NFC Wild Card defeat to the Green Bay Packers.

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Jones paid Deion Sanders when Prime Time was in his primeCredit: AFPDallas trailed 27-0 before halftime and 41-16 after three quarters, despite playing inside AT&T Stadium, which is better known to NFL fans as Jerry World.

“It’s sad, man, that you lose the way you do,” Parsons previously said. “Especially at home. Talking about how much we played at home, how much it stood for us to be at home, and to go out like that at home was completely embarrassing and unacceptable.”

Jones stuck by McCarthy, yet Dallas has been shadowed by drama all offseason.

The Cowboys have the talent to represent the NFC in Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans.

The 81-year-old Jones is one of the most powerful and successful owners in NFL history.

But whether he can keep the Cowboys from fracturing in 2024 is a mounting question as Week 1 approaches.

“I’ve checked with three of my friends that cover the Cowboys, and then I checked with some of my friends and family members who are diehard Cowboy fans,” McClain said. “And they say they haven’t seen this much apathy toward the Cowboys since the Dave Campo era back in the early 2000s.”

Another 12-5 season won’t be enough in Dallas.

Read More on talkSPORTJones must figure out a way to pay his superstars — and get fans believing in the $10 billion Cowboys again.

“They better get off to a good start,” McClain said. “Because if they don’t, the criticism and the apathy are just gonna be magnified.”