The absence of three of the NFL’s top wide receivers from training camp practices has been one of the league’s biggest summer storylines. The Dallas Cowboys’ CeeDee Lamb, Cincinnati Bengals’ Ja’Marr Chase and San Francisco 49ers’ Brandon Aiyuk have all skipped practices due to contract disputes.

Lamb, Aiyuk and Chase are all seeking new deals. And with the Minnesota Vikings’ Justin Jefferson, Miami Dolphins’ Tyreek Hill and Detroit Lions’ Amon-Ra St. Brown all recently signing contracts worth more than an average of $30 million per season, it’s easy to see why.

Here’s a look at where things stand with these holdouts and when they might end:

Where things stand with CeeDee Lamb

The Cowboys placed Lamb on the reserve/did not report list after the star receiver, who led the NFL with 135 catches last season, opted not to show up for training camp.

Lamb, who finished second in the league with 1,749 yards and 12 receiving touchdowns, is entering the final year of his rookie deal and is scheduled to make just under $18 million this season, according to Spotrac.com.

However, with receivers like Hill and St. Brown, who had similar production, landing new deals that pay them on average more than $30 million per season, Lamb logically is looking to secure a big payday. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has publicly stated he doesn’t have any urgency to get the deal done. — Saad Yousuf, Cowboys beat writer

Why is this holdout still going on?

That’s a great question because I’m not sure anyone understands outside of Dallas and Lamb’s camp. Jones talked about needing to see more leaves fall around the time of the draft, which was before OTAs or mandatory minicamps. Those workouts came and went, with Lamb not present.

Now, a full month of training camp is in the books, and Lamb never touched the field in Oxnard. When Jones spoke about leaves falling, the sense was he was referring to the pending new deals for Jefferson in Minnesota and Chase in Cincinnati.

Jefferson’s deal with the Vikings came down over two months ago, setting the framework for what a Lamb deal should look like. Whether the holdup is the total value of the contract or guaranteed money or something else, there’s no good explanation for it not to be done already. — Yousuf

How and when this holdout likely ends

In 2019, Ezekiel Elliott held out all of camp but eventually got the deal he was looking for just days before the start of the regular season. The situation with Lamb feels closer than Elliott’s did at this stage, so it would be surprising if it went down to the wire before Week 1.

Then again, the fact it’s gone on this long is surprising in its own right. The holdout won’t end until Lamb has an extension under his belt, so it’s up to the two sides to make that happen. — Yousuf

What to expect from Lamb this season

If the deal gets done sooner rather than later, and Lamb has more than a week to ramp up his game conditioning and get back into the groove of things, there’s a greater chance of him hitting the ground running.

But whenever Lamb does get back in the fold, the expectation would be for him to have another spectacular season. In each of his first four NFL seasons, Lamb has been on a consistent upward trajectory, steadily climbing in yards, targets, receptions and touchdowns.

He’s had Dak Prescott as his quarterback the entire time, and that’s not changing in 2024. Unlike 2023, when Dallas made the change from Kellen Moore’s system to Mike McCarthy’s, Lamb doesn’t have to learn an entirely different offense this season.

Lamb will need to grasp a few new wrinkles and get his body into game shape but he wasn’t going to play in the preseason, even if he was in camp the entire time. He has rapport with the quarterback, he’s been working out throughout his holdout and the system is the same. The expectations remain sky-high. — Yousuf

While Brandon Aiyuk has reported to camp, he has watched from the sidelines with contract discussions ongoing. (Christian Petersen / Getty Images)

Where things stand with Brandon Aiyuk

Aiyuk has been holding in. He reported to training camp and has attended practice but has not participated. The 26-year-old is entering the final year of his rookie deal and is scheduled to make roughly $14.1 million, according to Spotrac.com, after leading San Francisco with 1,342 receiving yards last season.

Aiyuk and the 49ers have been discussing a new deal throughout the offseason and training camp while also exploring potential trade options with multiple franchises, including the Pittsburgh Steelers, who have emerged as a potential destination for the standout pass catcher. — David Lombardi, 49ers beat writer

Why is this holdout still going on?

It’s a standoff, with Aiyuk wanting more money — he’s watched a significant uptick in the receiver market during negotiations — and San Francisco is in a tight spot. The 49ers paid Nick Bosa huge money, likely caving to many of his demands, and are in line to negotiate with Brock Purdy next offseason — and teams inherently don’t have much leverage in negotiations with good quarterbacks.

San Francisco feels major pressure to fit this contract into its larger financial framework to minimize the risk of hitting salary-cap hell once they presumably pay Purdy. And Aiyuk wants to squeeze the best deal possible out of the 49ers.

Teams with loaded rosters generally don’t have a lot of spending flexibility under the salary cap, and that’s left Aiyuk and the 49ers in between a rock and a hard place. — Lombardi

How and when this holdout likely ends

Deadline pressure tends to force action. Aiyuk is not incentivized to miss games, as he’d risk forfeiting not only money but also statistical production — and he’s technically in a contract year until he signs a new deal. San Francisco also isn’t incentivized to play without Aiyuk, since he’s an excellent X receiver who’s an integral part of its weaponry.

In a season with Super Bowl-or-bust vibes, it feels like Aiyuk’s presence is even more important to the team than it would normally be.

This entire saga has seemed rather unpredictable, so it’s hard to fully rule out a trade — the 49ers have indeed been shopping Aiyuk this month. But it seems both parties would prefer to reach an agreement that keeps Aiyuk with San Francisco and that would involve coming to a consensus on financial details.

Some compromise will probably be necessary to finish this in a timely fashion. The 49ers have the nuclear option of forcing Aiyuk to play on his current deal. Logic says the receiver would be incentivized to ultimately relent in that scenario.

But it would likely prolong the standoff — possibly into the regular season. And that would incur a cost to the 49ers that they would like to avoid.

San Francisco can theoretically up its offer of guaranteed money, the cap hits of which can be prorated over several years, to thread the needle of satisfying Aiyuk and maintaining cap flexibility here. That’s always seemed to be the most likely way to break this impasse. — Lombardi

What to expect from Aiyuk this season

Aiyuk was Purdy’s favorite target — especially deep target — last season and finished with a career-best 1,342 receiving yards. He achieved that while missing big chunks of Week 2, all of Week 3 and most of Week 18, a game in which the 49ers rested their starters. Can he match that total this season?

It’s worth noting not only was Aiyuk on hand for the spring and summer practices last year, but he was often the best player on the field during those sessions. He entered the 2023 season in excellent shape and often played all but one or two offensive snaps in a game.

This year? His most recent practice came at UNLV when San Francisco was preparing for the Super Bowl. He’s been staying in shape on his own, but it’s very hard to see him reaching the level he was in at this point last year, especially early in the season.

Meanwhile, teammate Deebo Samuel is having his best training camp since his rookie season. It’s not a stretch to think, even if Aiyuk and the 49ers end their impasse soon, Samuel at least begins the season as Purdy’s preferred target while Aiyuk rounds into form. — Matt Barrows, 49ers beat writer

Ja’Marr Chase is looking for an extension similar to the one given to the Vikings’ Justin Jefferson. (Sam Greene / The Enquirer / USA Today)

Chase has been present at training camp but has not participated in practice as he seeks a contract extension.

Unlike Lamb and Aiyuk, Chase still has two years remaining on his rookie deal after the Bengals picked up the fifth-year option on his contract.

Chase has been one of the NFL’s most productive receivers during his first three seasons. He’s tied with Stefon Diggs and Hill for the second most receiving touchdowns (29) and ranks seventh in receiving yards (3,717) since being selected with the fifth pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. — Paul Dehner Jr., Bengals beat writer

Why this holdout is still going on

Chase has two years remaining on his contract but is looking for an extension similar to the one given to Jefferson by the Vikings. Cincinnati has notoriously shied away from large guarantees (Joe Burrow is the exception to the rule) and that will be a problem if Jefferson is the template.

Bengals president Mike Brown pointed out last month this probably isn’t the best time to negotiate with Chase, suggesting the contract is more likely to be done next year before his fifth-year option. Brown added the team would “bend over backward” to sign him.

They’ve been in negotiations, but consequently, Chase has stood and watched every camp practice with a hat and T-shirt. — Dehner

How and when this holdout likely ends

The biggest question remaining is if Chase is willing to miss regular-season games. No one knows that answer for certain, likely not even Chase. It’s one thing to say you are willing to sit out and another to actually look your teammates — and quarterback — in the eye and do so.

It’s currently a game of chicken with ownership as the season draws closer. The Bengals’ biggest contracts have almost always come down to the final moments. A.J. Green was made the highest-paid wide receiver in football right before getting on the bus to fly to Oakland for the 2015 season opener (his fifth-year option season).

Burrow agreed to terms as the Kansas City Chiefs and Lions were kicking off the season last year. The best bet is this issue gets kicked down the road to 2025. — Dehner

What to expect from Chase this season

The personnel and scheme surrounding Chase set him up for a career year. The other skill position players are much more versatile, which should allow Cincinnati to move Chase around more than in years prior to find desirable matchups, including taking over a chunk of Tyler Boyd’s vacated slot snaps.

Burrow says he only needs one practice with Chase to pick up where they left off and if any QB-WR duo can make that claim, it’s these two. Maybe he starts a little slow early in the year or this opens him up to soft tissue injuries as he tries to quickly ramp up, but it’s hard to see this having a major effect on the big picture of his season. — Dehner

Required reading

(Top photo of Ja’Marr Chase, right: Dylan Buell / Getty Images)