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• Lamb has support of Cowboys team-mates as contract holdout continues

  CeeDee Lamb has the sympathy of some Dallas Cowboys team-mates as he continues his training camp holdout in a bid to earn a blockbuster new contract.

  Fifth-year receiver Lamb is set to make just under $18million in 2024 but is seeking a deal that would put him among the NFL's highest-paid WRs, with an annual salary of around $32m.

  With no progress made in negotiations, he is yet to report to the team's preseason training camp, which began on Wednesday.

  Guard Zack Martin and running back Ezekiel Elliott have both staged holdouts of their own in the past, the former missing three weeks of training last year before getting an adjustment to his contract and the latter missing the entirety of preseason in 2019.

  That stand-off ultimately ended with Elliott landing a six-year, $90m contract that included $50m in guaranteed money, and he sympathises with Lamb's position.

  "It's really tough because you go through your first three or four years and you guys are on the same side, and this is the first time that now you're going against each other," Elliott said on the dynamics of holding out.

  "So, you've got to have a little thick skin. There's some little extra stuff that comes with it, but at the end of the day, we all have the same goal.

  "The team understands that CeeDee needs to handle his business and CeeDee understands that he has the support of the team behind him. 

  "Just stay in shape, which it looks like he's doing, and be ready to go once the deal gets done."

  Martin agrees Lamb will have no problems with getting up to speed when he does return, saying: "He's just got to know that everyone in that locker room has got his back.

  "We know hopefully he'll be out here sooner rather than later."

  Lamb had 135 receptions from 181 targets through the 2023 season, which ended with the Cowboys suffering a stunning wild-card defeat to the Green Bay Packers.

  Both of those figures were league highs, while only the Miami Dolphins' Tyreek Hill (1,799 yards, 13 TDs) bettered his 1,749 regular-season receiving yards and 12 touchdowns.

• Packers, QB Love agree to 4-year, $220 million contract

  Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers have agreed to a four-year extension worth $220 million, tying him as the highest-paid quarterback in NFL history, according to multiple sources.

  Love, who has only had one full season as an NFL starter, will earn $55 million annually with $155 million guaranteed and a $75 million signing bonus, also the largest in league history.

  His yearly salary ties him with Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow and Jacksonville’s Trevor Lawrence for highest in NFL history.

  After finally trading Aaron Rodgers in April 2023, Love, 25, became the Packers’ undisputed starter. He struggled through the first seven games last season and Green Bay was 2-5 but he took off and the Packers finished 9-8 and earned a wild card spot.

  In the Packers’ final eight games of the regular season, Love had 16 touchdowns and one interception. In a 48-32 playoff win over the Dallas Cowboys, he had a near-perfect 157.2 passer rating with 16 of 21 completions for 272 yards, three touchdowns and no picks.

  Love completed 372 of 579 passes (64.2 percent) for 4,159 yards last season with 32 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.

  His 32 TD passes ranked second in the NFL behind Dallas’ Dak Prescott (36).

  All that production came while Love was throwing to the most productive, young group of receivers since at least 1970. The Packers’ 302 receptions, 3,642 receiving yards and 31 receiving touchdowns are the most by a team’s group of first-or second-year pass catchers since the AFL/NFL merger.

  Green Bay also became the youngest team in that same span to win a playoff game with an average age of 25 years and 214 days.

• Dolphins extend Tua Tagovailoa on 4-year, $212M deal

  The Miami Dolphins and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa have agreed to a four-year, $212.4million contract extension, multiple media outlets reported Friday.

  The contract, which is the largest in franchise history, reportedly includes $167million in guarantees, which ranks eighth among NFL quarterbacks.

  With a long-term deal in place, Tagovailoa can focus on preparing for the upcoming season. He had been a minimal participant in Miami’s initial training camp sessions.

  Drafted fifth overall out of Alabama, Tagovailoa has had a passer rating over 100 in each of the last two seasons and answered durability concerns by starting all 17 games last year.

  While some pundits had been hesitant to endorse a large extension for Tagovailoa, but Dolphins general manager Chris Grier was determined to keep the left-hander in Miami.

  "We're strong believers in him. And you guys all feel [coach Mike McDaniel's] passion about him when he talks about him," Grier said in February.

  "Just in the two years of what he's done, he's grown in areas to where he led the league in passing and did some great things this year. And we all feel there's still another level he can take it.

  "The way he's attacked this and wants to be great, and the combination of Mike and working with that and that trust and belief in each other, we do think there's still another level which he could go."

  Tagovailoa completed 69.3 percent of his passes last season for 4,624 yards, 29 touchdowns and 14 interceptions while leading the Dolphins to an 11-6 record. The Dolphins’ play-off appearance was brief, ending in a 26-7 loss in frigid Kansas City in the wild-card round.

  Since McDaniel took over as head coach, Tagovailoa ranks fourth in the NFL in passing yards (8,172), fifth in passing touchdowns (54) and second in passer rating (102.9).