Frisco, Texas – Owner Jerry Jones said after a very disappointing 48-32 loss to the Green Bay Packers in the first round of the playoffs that it was the worst result since he bought the team in 1989.
If only I had known in the end how disappointing that loss really would be. Well, again, perhaps he already suspected the final nuance when he said that.
Amazingly, his team, the Cowboys, finished the regular season with a record of 12 wins and 5 losses for the third consecutive year. They won the NFC East for the second time in three seasons and for the third time in six seasons. On the squeamish strength of Detroit, 20-19, in the 16th round.th In the final game of the season with a tiebreaker against the Lions, the Cowboys clinched the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs and had home-field advantage in the first two rounds, defeating the No. 7 seeded 9-8 Packers in the final round. secured the right to compete against. That first round team.
But that's only part of it. Even more dire consequences await.
If “all in” has a definition, the Cowboys have defined that two-word statement in 2023. First, they re-signed several of their own unrestricted free agents, safeties Malik Hooker and Donovan Wilson, and defensive tackle Jonathan. Hankins, quarterback Cooper Rush, defensive end Dante Fowler Jr. and, crucially, linebacker Leighton Vander Esch.
They signed cornerback Trevon Diggs to a long-term extension, added running back Ronald Jones and linebacker Rashaan Evans as insurance, and added former starting offensive tackle La'el Collins as playoff insurance. I let it happen. They signed restricted free agent Terrence Steele to a long-term extension. They spent $10 million on the franchise acquisition of running back Tony Pollard.
They struck gold when they boldly decided to use 28-year-old unknown rookie kicker Brandon Aubrey, a former soccer player with only two years of kicking experience in the USFL.
They also restructured the contracts of Dak Prescott, Zach Martin, DeMarcus Lawrence, and Tyron Smith, lowering their base salaries to include signing bonuses and prorating those amounts into future years to create salary cap space.
They handed over the offensive coordinator position to head coach Mike McCarthy to strengthen their offense, appointed consultant Brian Schottenheimer to be McCarthy's right-hand man on offense, and hired defensive coordinator Dan Quinn for another season. We decided that we had done everything we could financially to try our best. .
Oh, and perhaps most beneficially, they traded wide receiver Brandin Cooks and veteran cornerback Stephon Gilmore, making the move even more promising since Diggs tore his ACL in Week 3 of the season. The light grew brighter.
Yeah, all that, and then using a 2024 fourth-round draft pick to buy quarterback term insurance, bringing in Trey Lance as a third, not playing a single down in 2023, and more. They sent this year's fifth-round pick to Kansas City with a shot at the top. He drafted developmental cornerback Eric Scott in the sixth round, but the rookie has never taken a down.
good. Talk about “all in.”
Over the next 17 games, Dak led the NFL with 36 touchdown passes and finished second in the AP NFL MVP voting. Receiver CeeDee Lamb also leads the NFL with a franchise single-season record 135 receptions, ranks second with a franchise single-season record 1,749 receiving yards, and is just one receiver off of his 12 receiving touchdowns. Ta. He finished third in the AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year voting.
Hybrid “Lionbacker” Micah Parsons recorded a career-high 14 sacks and finished third in AP Defensive MVP voting. Additionally, second-year corner Daron Brand set NFL single-season records with five touchdown returns and nine total interceptions, finishing fifth in the AP Defensive MVP voting.
In fact, the Cowboys sometimes send 10 players to the Pro Bowl, have four first-team All-Pros (Brand, Martin, Lamb, and sudden kicker Aubrey), and are named NFC Player of the World. There was a time when they were so overwhelmingly strong that they had 12 players. Weekly/Monthly Awards by Performance.
However, despite putting in so many chips, they were unable to win a single game in the playoffs. They once again missed out on advancing to the NFC Championship Game, something they haven't had since 1995. Furthermore, they fell one step short of Carpe Omnia's 2023 team motto of “grasp everything,'' and the season ended with a bad aftertaste. .
And now they are paying an even higher price for their eventual empty seat in the playoffs, and are currently suffering the fallout over the past 10 days.
Why is the salary cap swallowing them up, considering they only have about $5 million in cap space to match the $12.25 million salary cap the Jets committed to in order to lure Tyron Smith to New Jersey? It's not enough and I can't promise it. Even if they want to keep Pollard, Armstrong, Biadasz, Fowler, Hankins and Neville Gallimore, the big caps will spend a lot of money.
They didn't have enough cap space to re-sign and bring back enough unrestricted free agents, let alone make a “splash” by signing released players from other teams. So far, as of late afternoon Friday, March 22, the Cowboys' only outside free agent acquisition was veteran linebacker Eric Kendricks. But hey, it's not even Easter yet.
And when it comes to next month's NFL Draft, there really isn't too much excess draft capital to move around, with just seven picks starting at a pedestrian 24.th A first-round pick will compensate for the 2024 draft pick they spent last season. If your needs are high, trade-in transactions are always an option to collect more items.
Now, I know the Cowboys are one player away from solving this dilemma, but you might think they could just trade some of next year's picks and move up. It would be great if they could land a veteran like Cooks or Gilmore last year, but they'll be in the same predicament in the 2025 draft. On top of that, the massive restructuring bonuses crammed into the gap over the years are scheduled to start being paid out in 2025. Additionally, there will be a break from negotiating long-term contract extensions for Dak, CeeDee, and Micah.
It always sounds great to think about going “all in” for a season, like when the Rams cashed in their bets by winning Super Bowl LVI in 2021. But they paid the price over the next few seasons, going 15-19 the past two years and not even winning a playoff game.
But if you put all your chips in and come up empty, like the Cowboys did last year, there's no consolation prize to ease the pain. The effects will be very difficult. Show the last 10 days.
That playoff loss still haunts me.
