As the Dallas Cowboys sprint full-speed ahead into the thicket of the summer offseason program, they have several orders of business to address. Three of their most prominent players are up for big contracts, and the ensuing negotiations are sure to be highly publicized and capture national headlines. Quarterback Dak Prescott is entering his ninth season as the team’s starting quarterback and looking for his second major contract with Dallas. Meanwhile, CeeDee Lamb is playing on his fifth-year option and has earned what he has coming to him after setting franchise records in yards and receptions in 2023. Micah Parsons is away from the team during this round of OTAs, but the premier defender is sure to command top dollar. While those contracts are significant and are at the forefront for Jerry Jones, a few other contracts are expiring this season that bear monitoring, and one that the Cowboys should address now before it’s too late. Here are three contracts to consider aside from Lamb, Prescott, and Parsons.

KaVontae Turpin

Turpin could earn himself a substantial pay raise after the 2024 season. You expect the Cowboys will work out a new contract with CeeDee Lamb sooner than later, and he’ll remain atop the team’s depth chart at wide receiver for years to come. Yet, when you look at the depth behind him, there is a path for Turpin to occupy a more prominent role in the offense and, thus, a larger payday. Brandin Cooks will be an unrestricted free agent after this year, and Jalen Tolbert is coming into his third season but still hasn’t secured anything yet. Turpin is surprisingly good at making contested catches for someone of his stature, in addition to his explosive speed in the open field.

If Turpin can work himself into the team’s third receiver at some point this season, it’ll bode well for his contract talks. Furthermore, Turpin can also work in some capacity out of the backfield in specific packages and elevate him into more of an offensive weapon than merely a receiver and return specialist. Since Turpin was signed as an undrafted free agent in 2022, his path to a more substantial contract is more layered than most. Turpin will be a restricted free agent after this season.

Osa Odighizuwa

This is a situation where the Cowboys can get a head start and avoid being hit by the money train if they wait much longer to sign Odighizuwa. The fourth-year defender hasn’t made a Pro Bowl just yet but has already demonstrated his quickness as an under-tackle to penetrate the defensive backfield. He has been touted as the next breakout star of the Cowboys’ defense. He’s only 25 years old and has exceptional traits. The Cowboys can avoid having to learn the hard way.

Take the Baltimore Ravens for example. Justin Madubuike always had the talent to be a disruptive interior rush but had yet to put it all together. That is, until he did last year in the final year of his contract, erupting for 13 sacks. Baltimore had to break the bank and pay Madubuike his due, a whopping $98M over four seasons. However, Dallas can avoid letting Odighizuwa price himself out of their market by opening negotiations now rather than waiting. You’d have to go back in Cowboys history, but Dallas had done this before with a defensive tackle when they signed Jay Ratliff early before his costs became too high. Ratliff was pretty good under his first extension with the Cowboys, and Dallas should take this opportunity to spin some straw into a potential goldmine.

DeMarcus Lawrence

DeMarcus Lawrence is entering his eleventh season in the NFL, all with the Dallas Cowboys. For years, Lawrence has been underappreciated for his contributions as a disruptive player, rushing the passer and stopping the run. Since teaming with Parsons, Lawrence has provided more flexibility, sometimes playing the 3-tech defensive tackle on passing downs. He and the team agreed to a reworked three-year, $40M contract in 2022.

In the final year of his deal, it’s possible it’s the end of an era for Lawrence and the team. 2014 was Lawrence’s rookie season, which coincided with Tony Romo’s final playoff, and the Prescott era was ushered in shortly after that with Lawrence as one of the team’s leaders. With a looming contract for Parsons, the awaited emergence of Sam Williams in his third season, and the Cowboys drafting Marshawn Kneeland in the second round of this year’s draft, 2024 could be his last ride with the Cowboys unless a new team-friendly contract is reached.

After a rainy week, we could see a few more storms in North Texas on Saturday, but they won’t be for everyone.

Storms developed out to the west of our area in the early morning hours, but those all but died out by the time they made it DFW.

There will be a nice break for the morning, with temperatures climbing.

As we get into the midday hours and our temperatures warm up, we can see a few showers and storms pop, mainly east of I-35.

From noon through sunset, you have about 30% coverage in our area.

The strongest storms could produce gusty winds and lightning, but the overall risk of severe weather is low. There will be lightning and some heavy rain.

Temperatures are expected to be in the mid to upper 80s ,and it will be humid.

DFW Live Radar

7-Day Forecast

Things will get a bit hotter on Sunday as we should be able to heat in the morning through the mid afternoon. Highs will get up close to 90.

There’s a chance for about 30 to 40% coverage of storms in the evening hours on Sunday.

There are also low chances of storms on Monday and Tuesday.

Temperatures could reach the mid 90s by the middle of the week!

DALLAS (AP) — By the time Wyatt Johnston ended the longest scoring drought of the playoffs for the top-seeded Dallas Stars, there wasn’t much time left to avoid facing elimination on the road in the Western Conference Final.

Bring it on, Tyler Seguin said after a 3-1 home loss to Edmonton on Friday night that gave the Oilers a 3-2 lead as they headed home with a chance to move on to the Stanley Cup Final.

“This is the fun part,” Seguin said of Game 6 on Sunday night. “Heck of a challenge in front of you. The whole season, going to that rink. We’ve taken pride in how we’ve been on the road all year, so let’s do it.”

Johnston’s goal ended Stuart Skinner’s shutout bid with 5:51 remaining. It was the first score in nearly 109 minutes for Dallas since taking an early 2-0 lead in Game 4 in Edmonton.

In between, the Oilers scored eight times and now have control of the series when it appeared the Stars might bring a 3-1 lead back home after the quick start in Canada two nights earlier.

“At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter what’s happened up until this point,” said Johnston, who scored his team-leading 10th goal of the postseason. “They’ve done a good job these last two games. I don’t think we’ve done our best. All that matters is making sure we’re ready to go next game.”

There are things to fix for one the NHL’s best offenses in the regular season.

Matt Duchene had a clear shot on a rush but decided to pass, which was intercepted. Captain Jamie Benn tried to corral a puck for what could have been a good scoring chance, only to have it slide off his blade.

Jason Robertson, who had his first career playoff hat trick in a Game 3 win at Edmonton, had just one shot Friday night. Seven of the two-time 40-goal scorer’s shot attempts were blocked.

Even standout defenseman Miro Heiskanen had a rare costly error, sending a puck over the glass for a delay of game penalty that led to Edmonton’s 2-0 lead on the second quick power-play goal from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.

“We haven’t had our best other than probably Game 3 in this series,” Duchene said. “The nice thing is we’re still in the series and we’ve just got to win one at a time here.”

The Oilers answered the quick 2-0 Dallas lead in Game 4 and were even before the first intermission.

When the Stars fell behind by the same score barely a minute into the second period in Game 5, they gave up their first even-strength goal four minutes later.

After two periods, Dallas had 10 shots, its fewest through 40 minutes in these playoffs.

The Stars doubled that total in the final period and had several great scoring chances that Skinner stopped. But just like Johnston’s goal, it was too late.

“First two periods weren’t good enough,” Duchene said. “We have to generate more. Third period, we had some looks, but you’re down three by then. There’s no time to sit on it.”

Not with the Stars at risk of losing in the West final for the second year in a row.

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AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL