Team news: Dallas Cowboys | Page 10

Jerry Jones says he’s optimistic about Jake Ferguson (knee) playing Sunday vs Saints.

The news about Ferguson continues to be on an upward trend since his injury on Sunday. Ferguson is dealing with a bone bruise and a minor sprain to his MCL, but over the last 24 hours there is a lot of optimism he'll be a go in Week 2. The Cowboys do have an early game on Sunday so owners will have plenty of time to adjust lineups either way. It's hard to imagine Ferguson will be at 100% but stranger things have happened. Injury reports should tell us more as the week goes on.

Jake Ferguson could still play Sunday against the New Orleans Saints.

Ferguson was diagnosed with a bone bruise and a minor sprain of the medial collateral ligament in his left knee suffered Sunday in Week 1 vs. the Browns, according to Archer. It's great news for owners as things didn't look so great for Ferguson less than a day ago. Ferguson may not be 100% for Week 2 even if he does play, so owners may still want to have a backup plan in place. We likely won't know a whole lot more until later in the week.

Cowboys tight end Jake Ferguson is going to undergo an MRI on Monday to determine the extent of his left knee injury, but X-rays were negative.

Todd Archer of ESPN reports Ferguson’s ACL is intact.

“I think we dodged a big one,” Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott said, via Jon Machota of TheAthletic.com. “Talking to him, he gave me a lot of confidence that he’ll be OK.”

Related players: Luke Schoonmaker

Ferguson caught three passes for 15 yards in Sunday’s win over the Browns. It's not clear if Ferguson will miss time, but owners should probably prepare as if he will. With Ferguson possibly out, Schoonmaker could be next up. Given Ferguson's potential in this offense, Schoonmaker could make for a productive fantasy player at the position as well if Ferguson does have to miss time, and is at least worth a look in deeper leagues.

The Cowboys agreed to terms with quarterback Dak Prescott on a four-year extension worth $240 million.

Prescott becomes the first player to receive a contract averaging $60 million per year and shatters the previous record of $55 million that was shared by Joe Burrow and Trevor Lawrence. After an offseason full of speculation about Prescott’s future, the Cowboys get the deal done after all. They now have Prescott at $60 million per year and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb at $34 million per year. The next step is Micah Parsons. But for now, the quarterback saga is over in Dallas.

The Cowboys activated WR CeeDee Lamb from the exempt list Saturday, making him eligible to play Sunday against the Browns.

This was a formality for the Cowboys now that Lamb has his new contract as the second-highest-paid receiver in terms of average annual value, behind only Justin Jefferson. Jefferson is arguably the No. 1 fantasy option at wide receiver following his incredible 2023 season. Even against a strong defense such as Cleveland's, Lamb is matchup-proof.

The Cowboys cut RBs Royce Freeman and Malik Davis.

Related players: Ezekiel Elliott, Rico Dowdle, Deuce Vaughn

For about a week this summer, Freeman seemed to be the darling of the Cowboys backfield, but that quickly changed and those who follow the team pointed to Dowdle as the back who stood out the most at times in camp. Both Freeman and Davis could resign on the practice squad, however. While we don't know how the workload will be split, it looks like the Cowboys are going with Elliott and Dowdle. We do rank Elliott 34th and Dowdle 51st on our RB list.

A bit of a shocker: Panthers are releasing WR Terrace Marshall.

Related players: Diontae Johnson, Adam Thielen, Xavier Legette, Jonathan Mingo

Some who follow the team thought Marshall was having a good camp and potentially turning things around for himself. But, the Panthers paid a lot of attention to the WR position the last couple of years. They traded for Johnson this spring after signing Thielen the previous year. Also this spring, they drafted Legette at the end of the first round, after selecting Mingo the previous season, that left Marshall buried down the depth chart.

Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that the Panthers will leave Jonathon Brooks on the non-football injury list for the start of the regular season. That will remove him from the active roster and will leave him ineligible to play in the first four games of the regular season.

Related players: Miles Sanders, Chuba Hubbard, Mike Boone, Raheem Blackshear, Jaden Shirden

Brooks tore his ACL during his final season at Texas, but the Panthers still selected him in the second round in April, the story said. The story added the team was hoping to have Brooks back by Week 3 or 4, but are taking it slow with him. Hubbard should be the guy to own in terms of fantasy with Sanders also getting his work. Brooks is still expected to be back, and is very likely to take over the RB1 role at some point soon after his return.

The Broncos are expected to move on from respected 8-year veteran RB Samaje Perine, sources say.

Related players: Javonte Williams, Jaleel McLaughlin, Audric Estime

The team is engaged in a number of trade conversations around Perine and it could be a trade, rather than a release, the story went on to say. Williams is expected to be the team's RB1 but McLaughlin has flashed enough in the past that the Broncos seem pretty comfortable with him in a key RB role behind Williams. Factor in the team drafted Estime and the running back room was pretty crowded in Denver.

CeeDee Lamb will be back for the start of the season.

According to multiple reports, Lamb and the Cowboys have agreed to a four-year contract extension to end the receiver’s holdout.

The story went on to say initial reports indicate Lamb’s deal is worth $136 million, which includes $100 million guaranteed with a $38 million signing bonus. That means Lamb will get an average annual value of $34 million, which is just below the $35 million Justin Jefferson received earlier in the offseason, the story added. Lamb is often the top receiver off the boards in drafts this year, and as we point out, things are mostly unchanged in the Dallas offense. We project Lamb for a monster season with a line of 119-1,563-10.9.