Frisco, Texas – After listening to a 28-minute interview with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones on Tuesday at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama, the more he talked, the more I began to remember: .
And this has nothing to do with what he specifically had to say. From retaining head coach, quarterback and defensive coordinator to finally “laying an egg” in his first game, he had a lot to say. -Lost to Green Bay 48-32 in the playoff round.
Heck, the Cowboys have a lot of work in the 2024 offseason over the next six months, with training camp once again set to likely begin the last week of July.
You see, there's been a lot of speculation about what the Cowboys will likely do or have to do regarding quarterback Dak Prescott's huge contract. We've heard a lot about Dak and head coach Mike McCarthy being in the final year of their contracts.
But the more Jerry talked, the more my mind wandered and I started thinking about what I needed to accomplish in the coming months. That's not even close to a quarter of Thursday's annual Scouting East-West Shrine Bowl, held right here in the Cowboys' backyard at the Ford Center. Saturday's Senior Bowl. NFL Scouting Combine February 27th. Free agency begins March 13th, and of course the NFL Draft is April 25th.
So let me make a list.
- Consider what to do with Dak's looming $59.45 million cap. Either keep, rebuild or extend the Pro Bowl quarterback.
- Try signing Pro Bowl wide receiver CeeDee Lamb to an extension, at least reducing his fifth-year, $17 million contract option under the 2024 salary cap.
- As defensive coordinator Dan Quinn's position is closely watched, will he stay or go? Washington, as of Wednesday at 5 p.m., the only NFL head coaching spot remaining — because , a sheet on who will take his place as the top defenseman if he leaves. And the Cowboys may consider replacing him with one of several former defensive-minded head coaches who are currently out of work.
- How many of the 16 unrestricted free agents can you economically re-sign within the very restrictive salary cap, or for that matter, how many do you really want to sign? That group includes starters Tryon Smith, Tony Pollard, Tyler Biadasz, Jonathan Hankins, Stephon Gilmore, Jaylon Kearse, Jordan Lewis and Trent Zeke, as well as a rotational guard who ranks second on the team with seven and a half sacks. That includes defensive end Dorrance Armstrong.
- They have as many true linebackers on the active 53-man roster, Damone Clark and rookie Tyrus Wheat (playing all 31) and on injured reserve, Leighton Vander Esch and DeMarvion Overshawn. The linebacker position needs to be filled, as they finished the season with . Defensive snaps this season.
- So a decision needs to be made about what to do with Micah Parsons. Is your three-time sack leader a defensive end or a linebacker? And they have until May 2nd to decide whether to pick up his very expensive fifth-year option for 2025.
- Speaking of 2025, Dak isn't the only important player entering the final year of his contract. The same goes for Pro Bowlers DeMarcus Lawrence, Zach Martin and Lamb (if they don't sign extensions), as well as starters Osa Odighizuwa and Vander Esch, depending on whether they decide to continue their NFL careers.
- They have to fill the cornerback position. Sure, we're hoping Trevon Diggs comes back and does well with his repaired ACL, but there are still only two surefire cornerbacks today: Diggs and Pro Bowler Daron Brand. Yes, because they had no confidence in either. Gilmore, who played in a harness on a shoulder that required surgery, will be replaced by either Nashon Wright or sixth-round draft pick Eric Scott Jr. (who missed all 17 games). Remember, Gilmore and Lewis have no limits.
- They have to answer questions about Tyron Smith. Has he re-signed? If so, will he be a left tackle or a swing tackle heading into his 14th season? And if he's a swing tackle, would the Cowboys move Pro Bowler Tyler Smith from left guard to left tackle? Or do they find a starting-caliber left tackle who won't fall out of the tree in free agency, or do they find an immediate left tackle in the first or second round of the draft?
- Either way, they have to find a way to run the ball better. Pollard and reserve Rico Doodle are unrestricted, allowing them to start at the running back position, which requires some attention. Will they re-sign? Could they re-sign? Or what pick in the draft would you pick a rookie running back? And in 2023, two teams, Atlanta (Bijan Robinson, 8th) and Detroit (Jermar Gibbs, 12th), will draft a running back with a top-12 pick. Remember, you were brave enough (smart enough?) to choose Buck. The Cowboys' 4.1 yards per carry was their lowest since 2012, when they averaged just 3.6 yards per carry.
- Either way, with or without Quinn, the Cowboys have to find a way to play better against the run. They gave up 100+ yards rushing in 11 of 18 games and 100+ yards rushing in 5 of 6 losses, including 222 yards against Arizona, 170 yards against San Francisco, and 100 yards rushing against Buffalo. He had 266 yards and 143 yards against Green Bay.
- And finally, rush the quarterback. Their 46 sacks were tied for 13th in the NFL, and the lack of a sack in Game 18 certainly didn't improve their stats. He finished with more than one sack just once in his last seven games (four sacks against Washington) and went 4-3 in those games.
There's a lot of tinkering to be done, which is one reason Jerry and Stephen Jones didn't have all the definitive answers most people were looking for when it came to the many big-ticket items at the Senior Bowl. They're working hard to find that answer, but they know there's only so much salary cap money available and so much time to get all these ducks in a row.
- Oops: Lions head coach Dan Campbell, a former tight end with the Cowboys from 2003 to 2005, said he had no intention of reversing the two fourth-down decisions he made late in the game, but it was a mistake in the NFC. In the championship game, they ran the ball at the 1-yard line with 1:05 left, trailing 34-24 but with three timeouts remaining, resulting in a 34-31 loss to San Francisco. He didn't consider the downside of making that call, which is that if the Lions didn't score, he would have to use a timeout before the fourth-down play. This means that if the Lions fail to recover the onside kick with less than a minute left, there are only two timeouts left, and the Niners could essentially take a timeout. Campbell explained that the correct play was called, but a missed block cost him two yards. Sure enough, the Lions needed to use up that timeout, threw a fourth down for a TD, couldn't recover the onside kick, and if a third timeout wasn't available, they'd actually run out of time. It will be put away.
- Dan the Man: Two big questions remain surrounding Quinn's candidacy for Washington's head coaching job after Seattle decided to hire Baltimore defensive coordinator Mike McDonald on Wednesday. If an offer is made and he takes the job, the managers will use some of their plentiful salary cap money to sign a veteran quarterback in free agency instead of sticking with Sam Howell. Will it happen? And secondly, it's always a risk when a defensive player is appointed as a head coach who is the offensive coordinator. Remember, when Jerry hired defenseman Jimmie Johnson as head coach in 1989, he was at the mercy of his offensive coordinator. The first selection didn't work out very well, and Dave Shula was fired after two seasons, and despite bringing in rookie quarterback Troy Aikman in 1989 and rookie running back Emmitt Smith the following year, the offense had a tough time. However, Jimmy solved his offense's problems in 1991 when he hired a Rams wide receiver coach named Norval Turner as his OC. You all know the rest of the story.
- How the NFL will change: Now, a year later, former Cowboys backup quarterback, quarterbacks coach, offensive coordinator and Dak Prescott favorite Kellen Moore has been called up for the 2024 game against the Cowboys, and the Eagles are hiring him as their offensive coordinator. will be hired. Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said of Moore's one-year hire with the Chargers: “We're bringing new ideas and bringing in players to do what he's done in the past.'' But that would be crazy.'' Why not add some of the things we've done in the past here too? I don't know if it's going to be 95 percent this or 95 percent that, but we're not there yet. We need the best person for the job here, the person with the vision, the person who makes the play decisions, the person who can coach the quarterback in the same way. All that matters is getting the right guy and deciding where it goes, but I'm hiring him to do the job and to run the offense. ”
- Shorties: Houston offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik, who withdrew his name after preliminary interviews for the head coaching job to stay in Houston, is the son of former Cowboys defensive assistant Bob Slowik (1992)…Detroit OC. Ben Johnson was reportedly demanding a large amount of money from Houston. Managers were on their way to Detroit to interview him when they learned he was leaving to stay with the Lions, but maybe he realized the job wasn't for him. , he might have given himself up… As you know, in 2005, the Raiders tried. He was scheduled to hire Cowboys assistant head coach and passing game coordinator Sean Payton as head coach, but Payton backed out and didn't really like the quarterback situation with the Raiders. For good reason, he ended up heading to New Orleans the very next year. Find out how it turned out… See where his 20-row low-level seats on the 30-yard line at Super Bowl LVIII are on sale for $19,166 on SeatGeek …seriously.
And while Cowboys owner Jerry Jones remains on the court for about 28 minutes, there are plenty of options for the final word this week, after he and head coach Mike McCarthy decided to restart the season. If you're asking me what's going to change for the 2024 season, here's my answer. Despite winning 12 games for three straight seasons, the Cowboys went just 1-3 in the playoffs.
“What I'm saying is, I hope it's no different than getting the No. 2 seed and going into the first game of the playoffs. I hope it's no different than at that point when you get the No. 2 seed. OK, let me tell you what's going to happen.'' When you're playing that game, you might do something different and win. Specifically, he needs to stop the run better, he needs to be more physical, and he needs to run better.
“We need to do more of that kind of thing. So what I would say is, if you look at it and look at it — when we hired Mike McCarthy four years ago, we were pretty good. I thought he made the move, and he was a great talent — a successful season. Now he's narrowly lost three times and made the playoffs three times, okay, but I thought he was a great talent. I like the fact that we're hanging around the rim, and I like what the team has done to hang around the rim.What answer I get is, we're hanging around the rim. I know you're hanging around, you're not putting the ball in, but you're hanging around the rim.
“Let's not discount the effort around the rim and the players we have right now. I think about it from a holistic perspective.”
That means he's looking for a slam dunk right now.
