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Thursday was all about the awards waiting to be handed out later that night. But the spotlight didn’t come for a Cowboys legend; we’ve got Darren Woodson’s heartbreakingly honest reaction to being passed over for the Hall of Fame yet again. A couple Cowboys luminaries had things to say on the red carpet at NFL Honors; we’ll tell you why Jerry Jones believes the team is primed to win right now… and why Micah Parsons is on a similar timeline for getting a new contract done. And the Cowboys’ long Super Bowl drought gave show host Snopp Dogg the setup for the best one-liner of the night.

Meanwhile, Ashton Jeanty talks about what it would mean to come home to play in Dallas, but Emmitt Smith weighs in with why he doesn’t think the Cowboys should bother drafting him. All that, plus we’ll reveal who gave Brian Schottenheimer some surprise coaching before his job interview last month, we’ll look at two recent free agency signings that worked out well for the Cowboys, we’ll get into what could be a fight over adding an 18th game to the schedule, and we’ll wonder if America’s Team could be heading down under in 2026.

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Source: https://cowboyswire.usatoday.com/li...025-darren-woodson-jerry-jones-micah-parsons/
 
Not all prospective players work out in the NFL. For every success story, there’s roughly a dozen sad endings to offset it. Undrafted free agents (UDFAs) typically fall in that latter, less desirable category. It’s often an uphill battle every step of the way. Players with draft status typically get preference and proven veterans typically act as roadblocks.

As a third-year safety for the Dallas Cowboys, Juanyeh Thomas has faced both obstacles in his quest for playing time. The 24-year-old from Georgia Tech, has been a nice player since joining Dallas. In that time, he’s logged 883 snaps, playing on defense as well as special teams. His versatility to play multiple safety roles has made him one of the top alternates in his position group. Unfortunately, he’s never been able to surpass fellow safeties Donovan Wilson or Malik Hooker on the depth chart, essentially relegating him to a rotational and specialist role on defense.

Playing in both Dan Quinn and Mike Zimmer’s defense in Dallas, Thomas has been required to be versatile. He’s played in the box and back in centerfield over the years but probably fits best in a 2-high role. A 2-high defense is what new Cowboys coordinator Matt Eberflus brings to Dallas in 2025.

Split safety looks are typically less demanding on safeties since the field is divided evenly amongst two safeties. For as good as Thomas has been in spot duty, he’s not blessed with elite range so a transition to a 2-high heavy coverage scheme benefits him considerably.

With Eberflus’ scheme a better fit than Quinn’s, Thomas finds himself in an ideal situation in the upcoming season. As an exclusive rights free agent, his return to the Cowboys is not automatic but generally expected.

2025 figures to be another contract year for Thomas and the Cowboys are big fans of making players play for their supper in contract years. Under the right motivation and in the right scheme, the stage is set for Thomas to have a big season this year. The only problem is the former draft pick and costly veteran in front of him.

Both Wilson and Hooker are signed for the 2025 season. Wilson, a former sixth-round draft pick of the Cowboys, and Hooker, a former first-round pick of the Colts, have the inside track on the two starting positions.

They say money plays in the NFL and that seems especially true on the Cowboys. But this may be a situation where money becomes the poison pill, and the Cowboys could see value in letting one of their costly veterans go this offseason and replacing him with a low cost and eager-to-prove Thomas. Hooker will be 29 when the new season kicks off and Wilson 30. The Cowboys could get younger and cheaper by replacing either one with Thomas.

Whether Thomas is brought back to be a starter or the top alternate, 2025 figures to be a big season for the young safety and there’s plenty of reason to believe he’ll rise to the challenge.

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Source: https://cowboyswire.usatoday.com/2025/02/07/cowboys-safety-juanyeh-thomas-bigger-role-2025/
 
With the Pro Football Hall of Fame shutting out Cowboys legend Darren Woodson once again, it’s time to look ahead to the Class of 2026. And several Cowboys could well be in the mix for legitimate gold jacket talk next year.

Players who played their last snap during the 2020 season will be eligible for nomination in 2026, and it’s a stacked class of superstars. Drew Brees, Larry Fitzgerald, Frank Gore, LeSean McCoy, Geno Atkins, Maurkice Pouncey, Stephen Gostkowski, Greg Olsen, Todd Gurley, Julian Edelman, and Philip Rivers are just some of the men who’ll be in their first year of eligibility.

It will mean tough competition for the three Cowboys who can now make the ballot. (Actually, Dontari Poe and Alfred Morris are also included in the first-year-eligible group, but their short Dallas stints are not what they’ll be best remembered for.) They’ll all be up against Woodson and the other finalists who didn’t quite make the Canton cut in 2025. And don’t forget the larger field of nominees who will be hoping that the committee reviews their careers in a more flattering light next time around.

Here’s a look at the Cowboys who could join the sport’s immortal heroes in 2026, starting with the three in their first year of eligibility and followed by those who were among the original 167 under Hall of Fame consideration this year.

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Source: https://cowboyswire.usatoday.com/li...igible-2026-jason-witten-sean-lee-dez-bryant/
 
It’s funny how certain things can catch one’s attention. While editing a piece on the safety position from a colleague, the age difference between Malik Hooker and Donovan Wilson stood out. Despite being in the league since 2017, and Wilson not until 2019, Hooker is younger than Wilson by a considerable margin. The Cowboys are in a full-on youth movement heading into this offseason.

Going down a rabbit hole, it’s interesting to see the Cowboys in the middle of the pack in the NFL going into 2024. Their roster was the 14th oldest of the 32 teams in the league, averaging 26 years, 11months and 15 days. And while their 2025 rank will be determined by free agency, the number of draft picks who make the roster and other mechanisms, for now it’s still an interesting look to see the ages of the players who are currently under contract.
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Source: https://cowboyswire.usatoday.com/li...wboy-under-contract-for-2025-screams-rebuild/
 
Once upon a time, a hardly known undrafted free agent named Markquese Bell saved the Dallas Cowboys season. It was early 2023 and the Cowboys endured a rash of injuries to their linebacker group. Starters, back-ups, even practice squad call-ups fell to injury that season. It put Dan Quinn’s defense in quite the predicament.

Coming off two consecutive 12-win seasons, expectations were high in Dallas. The Cowboys were considered to be among the cream of the crop and couldn’t afford to fall flat at any position, especially the all-encompassing linebacker position. Quinn did what most coaches would do at that point; He stole from a position of strength.

Bell, a safety by trade, just wanted to get on the field. And since there’s considerable overlap between Quinn’s LBs and his safeties, moving Bell into the new role wasn’t that crazy of an idea. So, the 6-foot-3, 205-pound defensive back from Florida A&M made the move inside, playing 608 of his 701 defensive snaps (per PFF snap tracking) from inside the box.

Despite the slender build, Bell held up well that season. The Cowboys run-stopping issues were team wide and ongoing, but Bell did his best to fall onto on the asset side of the ledger rather than the liability side. His contributions were critical to the Cowboys’ success that season, and his presence allowed Dallas to post their third 12-win season in as many years.

Pro Football Focus graded Bell’s play as 16th among the 60 qualifying LBs (50 percent of total snaps) that year. His 83.5 coverage grade was good enough to rank fourth in the NFL in 2023. He played well, not just given the circumstances, but overall and without qualifiers.

Then 2024 came. Bell moved back to his natural position of safety and was effectively buried on the depth chart. He played just 34 defensive snaps in 2024. He was a bit player in a forgettable season.

Now with the 2025 season approaching, the Cowboys and Bell have decisions to make. The 26-year-old is a restricted free agent and eager to hit unrestricted free agency on a high note. If free agency would have happened after his 2023 campaign, he’d probably be playing on a hefty deal somewhere right now. But coming off a lackluster 2024 season his market is trending in the wrong direction.

2025 is a big year for Bell. The man who saved the Cowboys season two years ago is determined to reclaim his game in Dallas. Can he bump one of the veteran starters who are both coming off down seasons? Can he fight off fellow reserve safety Juanyeh Thomas for snaps?

Bell is a player the Cowboys should want to re-sign this offseason. He’s a proven player with versatility and the motivation to succeed this year.

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Cowboys roster skewing extremely young heading into 2025​
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Source: https://cowboyswire.usatoday.com/2025/02/07/markquese-bell-rebound-season-cowboys-2025/
 
The Dallas Cowboys have many holes to fill before they kick off the 2025 season, and while most fans worry about how the team will approach free agency, they could instead look to trade for upgrades.

The last few significant trades that Jerry Jones have only recently been eclipsed in Dallas-area fandom ire by Nico Harrison jettisoning Luka Doncic, but there are some moves the Cowboys could make that would please the base in 2025.

CeeDee Lamb needs a running mate. Jalen Tolbert hasn’t shown signs of being that guy, and Jonathan Mingo is a long shot to develop into one. New head coach Brian Schottenheimer has a history with a couple of players for whom the Cowboys could try to acquire.

DK Metcalf had some of his best seasons with Schottenheimer as his offensive coordinator, including his second-highest receptions total (83), most ever receiving yards (1,303), and both of his top two touchdown receptions in a single season totals.

Tyler Lockett also had his best Seattle seasons with Schottenheimer. His only 1000-catch campaign, as well as his highest receiving yards mark (1,175) tooks place with Schotty calling the shots. In addition, his top-four touchdown totals all came in that stretch.

On the defensive end, new defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus and defensive line coach Aaron Whitecotton are familiar with a few options that the Cowboys could look to trade for.

Andrew Billings is a 6-foot-1, 311-pound one-technique who signed with the Chicago Bears in 2023. Under Eberflus, Billings had his most tackles in a season, 39, and his lowest missed tackle percentage, at 4.9%. He also had the most pressures since his rookie season.

The Cowboys could be losing Osa Odighizuwa to an enormous payday elsewhere.

Sheldon Rankins is a defensive tackle who played one season under Whitecotton while on the New York Jets. He had his highest total tackles and lowest missed tackle percentage in that season. Defensive end John Franklin-Myers might have had his most productive season in 2024 with the Denver Broncos, but he developed under Whitecotton. He started all 50 games he played under him, averaging 35 tackles, five tackles for a loss, 24 pressures, 16 QB hits, and five sacks in three seasons.

Dallas could sign cheap free agents with connections to their new coaching staff, like Leki Fotu, Javon Kinlaw, or Carl Lawson, but impactful trades could be the better way for the Cowboys to build a contending team.
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Source: https://cowboyswire.usatoday.com/2025/02/07/cowboys-trade-candidates-coordinators-coaches-2025/
 
The Dallas Cowboys have completed the majority of their coaching hires, but the vacant offensive line coach position has remained a mystery. That is until now as a leading candidate has now been hired.

Conor Riley has been the offensive line coach at Kansas State University for the past six seasons and is regarded as one of the best assets in the country. ESPN’s Bruce Feldman was first to identify Riley is who Brian Schottenheimer identified to be in charge of the big uglies, and now the deal has been made.

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The Cowboys have made it a point to improve their running game and Riley, along with new offensive coordinator Klayton Adams, certainly fit the criteria.

Under Riley, the Wildcats recorded three consecutive seasons in which they averaged 200 rushing yards per game.

Before his time in Manhattan, Riley coached for six seasons at North Dakota State, where he helped the Bison to five straight National Championships. The team averaged an astounding 235 rush yards per game during his tenure including the 2018 season where the team averaged 286.2 yards a contest.

Riley will get to coach his former K-State pupil Cooper Beebe, who the Cowboys drafted last season in the third round. He also gets to reunite with running back Deuce Vaughn, who played three seasons with the Wildcats, all under Riley leading the big boys up front.

This will be a big jump for the 22-year college veteran as Riley has never coached in the NFL before. Those concerns may be put to rest as Riley has spent the majority of his coaching career leading the offensive line which began as a graduate assistant in 2003.

He also played on the offensive line for Omaha from 1999 through the 2002 season.

Dallas still has a few open positions to round out their staff, including receivers coach, but the expected arrival of Riley will go a long way to curing what ailed Dallas in 2024.
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Source: https://cowboyswire.usatoday.com/2025/02/07/cowboys-conor-riley-offensive-line-coach/
 
On one hand, there’s no more hated franchise than the Philadelphia Eagles. During the 1980s and 1990s, the Eagles were the NFC East afterthought. While the Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants and Washington franchise were winning up all the championships, the Eagles were the one competitor unable to cash in.

That all changed as the millennium set to change, and since that point it’s been the Eagles’ world in the division. While the Giants have won two more Lombardis, it’s been Philadelphia that has maintained dominance year after year after year, winning one chip and now appearing in their third Super Bowl in eight seasons.

And in that time, Dallas has been the not-quite-good enough franchise. The Cowboys have won plenty of divisions, but they haven’t done anything with those wins. It’s been 30 years since they sniffed an NFC Championship game, much less The Big Game.

So that brings the other hand forward.

Dallas fans are as frustrated as ever at owner and general manager Jerry Jones. Jones is no longer the maverick owner, willing to make daring moves in talent acquisition. He’d rather play it safe then invest in stars from other teams, or make boom-or-bust trades for superstars.

Jones has gotten relatively boring but he doesn’t know it, still telling anyone who will listen they are wrong about his daring ways and refusing to take blame for the lackluster performance as he continues to roll in the dough.

Will anything convince him to change directions?

Maybe having to watch Jeffrey Lurie hoist another Lombardi from the celebratory platform would do the trick.

All of the falsehoods the Cowboys have convinced themselves are reasonable explanations would turn into hollow excuses. The Eagles have a quarterback on a $255 million contract. They have a wide receiver making over $30 million a season, with another making $25 million per year.

They’ve invested big money, yet they don’t whine about not having enough pieces of pie to go around that force them to cry they’re cap poor year after year after year. They just go out and acquire talent that helps their quest, like signing running back Saquon Barkley to form their Triplets with Jalen Hurts and AJ Brown.

A Super Bowl win with all those stars making huge money would remove the one final cover that the Jones hide under, so in that vein it would make a ton of sense for Cowboys fans to pull for a Philadelphia victory.

But then they’d have to live in a world where Eagles fans, the most smug, annoying awareness lacking people to jump in Cowboys’ fans social media mentions would be unbearable.

So which reality could Cowboys fans stand the least?
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Source: https://cowboyswire.usatoday.com/2025/02/08/cowboys-fans-rooting-interest-super-bowl/
 
With the 2024 NFL season concluding Sunday, it’s now time for all 32 teams to turn their attention to the 2025 season. There is approximately just one month’s time for teams to finalize their game plans of how they want to attack the offseason and for the Dallas Cowboys, there’s a lot of work to be done.

The team has configured the majority of their new coaching staff, led by new head coach Brian Schottenheimer and his new coordinators Klayton Adams and Matt Eberflus. Personnel director Will McClay has been extended for five more seasons and now the attention needs to turn to fixing the roster that resulted in a 7-10 regular season record. Everything starts at the top, and in the NFL that’s the quarterback position.

Rostered: $90.9 million in cap space​


The Cowboys have two players under contract for 2025, starter Dak Prescott and backup Will Grier.

Prescott enters the first year of his four-year extension signed at the beginning of last season worth $240 million. Currently he is set to take up $89.9 million of cap space, with the salary cap expected to come in around $272.5 million in 2025. Clearly the Cowboys aren’t going to allow one player to eat up one-third of their cap space and the team will restructure the deal, as was intended when it was signed.

Restructuring Prescott’s base salary ($47.75 million) can be done all at once, or as cap space is needed. The minimum base salary for a player with Prescott’s experience (7+ years) is $1.255 million. Up to $46.5 million of salary can be spread evenly over five years (four contract years and the first of four void years already built in) meaning the club could shave up to $37.2 million off of Prescott’s 2025 cap hit.

Grier is a placeholder, signed well after Prescott was lost for the year, and is no guarantee to make the club, or even training camp for that matter. He’s currently on the books for the league minimum of $1.17 million and has a cap hit of $1.03 million.

Prediction: Restructure Prescott, Grier is a camp body with a shot.

Pending Free Agents​


Prescott’s primary backups for the last two seasons, Cooper Rush and Trey Lance, are both pending free agents. Dallas traded for Lance, giving up a 2024 fourth-round pick in 2023, and gave him no opportunity to prove he could be a viable backup whatsoever, giving them little game evidence to decide on.

Rush was given plenty of opportunity and again proved to be a capable bus driver who is mistake prone but able to win some games. Rush has a career 9-5 record with a 2:1 TD:INT ratio, going 4-4 last year with a career worst 40.8 QBR.

There will likely be some team interested in bringing Lance in to give the young guy a shot and likely some team interested in having Rush around while they groom a young QB out of the draft. There’s arguments for either or neither to be back in Dallas, but not both.

Prediction: Both sign elsewhere.

External Free Agents​


There’s a limited amount of intriguing QBs in free agency this year, and the Cowboys aren’t going to be looking to spend significant space on a backup with so many other needs. Failures elsewhere, such as Justin Fields, Mac Jones and Daniel Jones, will probably have a market that prices the Cowboys out.

Prediction: Sign Jameis Winston, two-year, $7.5 million (void years), $2 million cap hit

2025 NFL Draft​


The Cowboys could have gone in multiple directions with their head coaching hire, but clearly were looking for stability with the staff that has worked with Prescott. Any idea the club would be looking to escape Prescott’s contract soon and draft an heir apparent to groom went out the window with Schotty’s hire.

That doesn’t mean the club will be out on QB in the draft though, as it makes sense to draft and develop a future backup.

Prediction: Use one of their four fifth-round picks to draft a QB, such as Louisville’s Tyler Shough.
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Source: https://cowboyswire.usatoday.com/2025/02/09/2025-cowboys-roster-building-qb-review/
 
The 2024 NFL season comes to a close on Sunday evening, once the final whistle is blown on Super Bowl LIX. For the Dallas Cowboys, who missed the playoffs for the first time in four years, it was a disappointing campaign to say the least. Part of the issue with the Cowboys is that they haven’t gotten the kinds of contributions from their recent draft classes that they are used to.

Both the 2023 and 2024 classes failed to contribute impact players, with the club not getting much of any traction with either classes first or second-round picks. DT Mazi Smith is on the precipice of the club designating him as a bust after two years and redrafting the position, and LT Tyler Guyton was oft-injured and oft-benched in his rookie season. TE Luke Schoonmaker hasn’t done much and DE Marshawn Kneeland missed a chunk of time with a knee injury. But what if things went a different way?

ESPN conducted a 2024 redraft recently, going through 64 picks and giving teams chances at do-overs based on the performance of the rookie class. Instead of picking Guyton in a first-round trade down, Dallas stayed put and took an explosive rookie, and then circled back on the OT position instead of drafting Kneeland.

24. Dallas Cowboys​


Original pick: Terrion Arnold, CB, Alabama (DET traded up)
New pick: Xavier Worthy, WR, Texas

I contemplated Olu Fashanu and Troy Fautanu at this spot to keep with the offensive line theme, but I kept coming back to the lack of explosive plays on offense. With CeeDee Lamb and Worthy, the Dak Prescott-led offense could get back to the playmaking it had in 2023, even if Worthy might not fit the size profile the Cowboys like in receivers. Worth had 59 catches for 638 yards and 9 total touchdowns with the Chiefs. — Todd Archer
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Worthy, the University of Texas product, is of course a starting wideout for the Super Bowl participating Kansas City Chiefs. He’s started 13 of 17 games in the regular season and his dazzling speed would’ve been exactly what Dallas wanted to get out of Brandin Cooks and Kavontae Turpin.

56. Dallas Cowboys​


Original pick: Marshawn Kneeland, EDGE, Western Michigan
New pick: Kingsley Suamataia, OT, BYU

The Cowboys had Suamataia in for a visit before the draft, and he was in the mix when they took Tyler Guyton in the first round. Guyton would have been the pick had he lasted to this spot. Suamataia started the first two games at left tackle for the Chiefs, but he did not answer their issues. Still, the potential remains as he’s just 22 years old. — Todd Archer
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Source: https://cowboyswire.usatoday.com/20...avier-worthy-kingsley-suamataia-tyler-guyton/
 
WATCH: Did Cowboys legend Jimmy Johnson just retire from TV in weird A.I. segment before Super Bowl?

Jimmy Johnson has seen quite a few of his biggest life moments unfold on live television.

The former coach who took over the doormat Cowboys in 1989 and then turned them into one of the most dominant teams in NFL history with back-to-back Super Bowl wins learned he was going to the Pro Football Hall of Fame while on the air at Fox Sports. Then he found out he was finally being put into the Cowboys’ Ring of Honor in the same way.

On Sunday, a lengthy video tribute to Johnson that recapped his entire football life in emotional detail had viewers of Super Bowl LIX’s pregame show thinking another big reveal was coming from the 81-year-old.

So… did Johnson just retire… or not???

The NFL on Fox crew set up the piece as “a one-of-a-kind look back” at Johnson’s legendary career, using artificial intelligence. Then, using computer-generated effects, a CGI Johnson strode onto the field at a virtual AT&T Stadium.

With Johnson’s digitally-altered voice providing the narration, the next four and a half minutes took viewers back in time to Johnson’s days as an defensive lineman at Arkansas in 1964. A young-looking Johnson avatar told his own story of his college days, including his friendship with teammate Jerry Jones and the national championship their team won.

LEGEND.

An incredible look at the career of @JimmyJohnson from his time as a player to now
🏈
🤩
pic.twitter.com/QGd3QmJxzi

— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) February 9, 2025
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A tour through his college coaching stops followed, foreshadowing his later pairing with Terry Bradshaw (then a Johnson recruit at Louisiana Tech) and recalling the famous “Hail Flutie” play that shocked the world while Johnson was on staff at Miami.

His AI self sporting a touch of grey in his perfectly-coifed hair (not to mention that sweet Apex jacket, for those that remember), Johnson next walked viewers through the dramatic turnaround he engineered as Cowboys head coach in the early 1990s.

His Dolphins stint earned a mention, but the piece ended with the real Johnson in footage that looked to be shot at the real AT&T Stadium, being welcomed back to the set by his real deskmates. After a quick moment between the modern-day Johnson and his 21-year-old self, it was back to the live Super Bowl set in New Orleans, where an emotional Johnson was in tears.

What followed was strange, to say the least, The coach, in a shaky voice, went on to thank a long list of people for his career in the game, including his family and the players and coaches he’s worked with along the way.

Johnson’s co-hosts were gathered around the set and took turns practically eulogizing the legendary coach and waxing very poetic about his life, his character, and how much they all loved him.

It sounded for all the world like a big farewell was coming. Curt Menefee even asked after all the gushing, “Was that goodbye?”

“One day at a time, Curt. One day at a time,” was Johnson’s reply.

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Social media was divided about what they had just seen.

Was Fox trying to force Jimmy Johnson to announce his retirement on the spot without him knowing? I can’t get over how weird that was.

— Freedom & Football Guy (@NashNewport2) February 9, 2025
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That piece that @FOXSports did on Jimmy Johnson gave me chills. Nice job. Who’s crying? Not me.
😥


— Dan Austin (@danaustink105) February 9, 2025
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I need to know who at Fox Sports was responsible for this AI sludge.

Children are going to have nightmares about Jimmy Johnson.#SuperBowlLIX pic.twitter.com/MffvhmQyf3

— Jeff Michael (@ZeoVGM) February 9, 2025
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Anyone else watch that Polar Express version of Jimmy Johnson “football life” and believe he was supposed to announce his retirement at the end and called an audible and didn’t/couldn’t do it?
Maybe Postgame later?

— Chris Dimino (@chrisdimino) February 9, 2025
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The idea behind that tribute to Jimmy Johnson was cool, but what was the AI crap lmao

— Otto Von Pissmarck (@pissmarck) February 9, 2025
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The story on Jimmy Johnson, the tears, the comment of one day at a time…

Is Jimmy quitting TV to come back to the Cowboys as some sort of consultant?#DallasCowboys #Cowboys

— CowboysFan’89 (@TouzurhonTy) February 9, 2025
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So @FOXSports wants Jimmy Johnson to retire. He’s not having it.
🤣


— Brian O’Leary (@BrianDOLeary) February 9, 2025
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So, is Jimmy Johnson dying?
🤔
🤔
It seems he isn’t retiring.

— Not Heraclitus (@NotHeraclitus) February 9, 2025
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Johnson has recently hinted at hanging up his microphone. He told Awful Announcing just this week, “I used to say ‘One more year,’ and then it got to be, ‘Well, I don’t know,’ and now it’s ‘One more day at a time.’ I never know. I’ll just see how I feel here going into next year.”

So was it just high-tech filler for the pregame show or was it a retirement announcement?

No one seems to know. Maybe not even Johnson.

Whether you found Johnson’s AI video tribute incredibly moving and heartfelt or incredibly creepy and weird, nearly everybody found the whole thing at least a little confusing.

More 2024 Season!​

Tunnel of Darkness: Nightmarish Cowboys season is about to come to a close​


WATCH: Cowboys return ace KaVontae Turpin dominates Pro Bowl... on defense?!?​


Schottenheimer hire essentially Cowboys’ version of Schrodinger’s Cat​
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Source: https://cowboyswire.usatoday.com/2025/02/09/cowboys-jimmy-johnson-ai-tribute-retirement/
 
Cowboys dead last in NFC spending at this position, just $3 million before free agency, draft

The Cowboys have completed the mission. After heavily investing in the running back position in both draft and financial capital, things have bottomed out. In 2016, Dallas invested the No. 4 overall pick on the position, drafting Ezekiel Elliott. Three years later they invested financially making him the highest paid player in the history of the position.

Four years after that, while still carrying $just under $6 million in dead money after releasing Elliott, they slapped a $10 million franchise tag on Tony Pollard. Still, even in 2024, they still had $6.4 million in space being used by Elliott’s old contract. So it is just now that they’ve landed on the less invested side of things in that regard.

And landed their with authority, it might be added. The Cowboys churned out another 1,000 yard rusher, but he is a free agent, leaving just three players with under 100 total carries amongst them remaining on the roster.

So what comes next?

Rostered: $3.09 million in cap space​


The Cowboys have three players under contract for 2025, Deuce Vaughn, Malik Davis and Hunter Luepke, who count for only $3.09 million in cap space. That’s the lowest total among all NFC teams and 30th overall.

None of the three backs have proven much, with only Luepke feeling like he has a great chance to stick.

Pending Free Agents​


Rico Dowdle, the team’s starter the majority of the season and bell cow the last half of it, hits free agency for the first time. Undrafted in 2020, an injury stole his 2021 season and it took him until this year to become a consistent contributor. He’s seen as the fourth or fifth-best back available in free agency after averaging 4.6 yards a carry on his way to 1.079 rushing yards with another 249 through the air.

Dowdle’s average is a true representation of what to expect on any given carry, as his longest run was just 27 yards and he rarely broke off big gains.

The Cowboys are likely looking for someone with more juice to lead the way in their new play-action based system.

Prediction: Dowdle signs elsewhere.

External Free Agents​


The Cowboys are likely going to want to meet all types of runners on their offseason roster before making their way to the draft. Luepke is the short-yardage guy, and he’s expected to make the 2025 roster regardless. Davis has the all-around label and Vaughn… well Vaughn has a touching story.

The Cowboys will likely be looking for a speed merchant style of back, but more than likely at a discount.

Prediction: Jordan Mason could see free agency this year. He’s a restricted free agent but was undrafted and it would be a big ask for the 49ers to offer him a second-round tender while also paying Christian McCaffrey big money. If he comes free, he’s the guy that would make a ton of sense to spend the NFL version of the mid-level exception on. A two year, $7 million deal with two void yearsbmay get him in the fold.

2025 NFL Draft​


The Cowboys are expected to be players in the market for a top running back in a deep class. Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty may slide down to No. 12 and make the decision very hard on Will McClay and company.

If not, Omarion Hampton (UNC) and Treyveon Henderson (OSU) could be second and third-round targets who offer breakaway speed at any given moment.

Prediction: The Cowboys go elsewhere with their top pick, Hampton is snatched before they hit the clock in Round 2 and Henderson is the pick in Round 3.
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Source: https://cowboyswire.usatoday.com/2025/02/09/cowboys-rb-spending-2025-outlook-free-agency-draft/
 
Dallas Cowboys aspire to build an elite Eagles-level offensive line

The Philadelphia Eagles just won the Super Bowl after winning the conference two of the last three seasons . They laid claim to the NFL’s highest honor on the backs of their offensive line.

The Eagles O-line made things easy for the plethora of playmakers wearing midnight green on Sunday night in New Orleans. Saquon Barkley might get most of the credit for the Eagles’ dominant ground game, but those who’ve been paying attention know the offensive line is the real hero in Philadelphia this season.

The Eagles success has given the Dallas Cowboys something to aspire to in 2025.

Not only is Klayton Adams, Dallas’ new offensive coordinator, one of the NFL’s best offensive line coaches, but the Cowboys new actual offensive line coach, Conor Riley, is also highly regarded in his role. As if that wasn’t enough, the Cowboys holdover tight end coach, Lunda Wells, is a respected offensive line mind as well.The Cowboys have a clear focus on their offensive line this offseason and they have all the money-backed moves to prove it.

Whether the Cowboys can bridge that gap between them and the Eagles in a single offseason remains to be seen. Philadelphia won Pro Football Focus’ honors for being the top offensive line in the NFL in 2024 while the Cowboys finished ranked just 25th. The Eagles also finished in the top 10 in both pass block win rate and run block win rate, while the Cowboys only cracked the top 10 in run block win rate. To the surprise of no one, the Cowboys’ pass protection rated just 24th in this ESPN metric.

It should be no surprise Jalen Hurts had the longest time to throw (TTT) in the NFL last season, averaging 3.23 seconds per drop back. Cooper Rush (2.36 seconds) and Dak Prescott (2.64 seconds) finished in the NFL’s bottom seven (of those playing at least 20 percent of the snaps) in 2024.

When kept clean, Hurts posted a 92.8 offensive grade, good for top five in the NFL. When under pressure he was third worst.

Hurts was just a hair above Daniel Jones when playing under pressure, company no self-respecting quarterback wants to find themselves amongst. All Hurts did in the Super Bowl was win MVP, being one of the most OL-dependent players in the NFL.

Hurts still had to perform, but it’s a similar ask to that of the Kyle Shanahan QBs in San Francisco.

Barkley dominated the NFL in yards before contact behind his elite offensive line; it was them who deserve the bulk of the credit for his historic season, opening holes and keeping him clean and untouched for so long, down after down.

Barkley was still a beast as a runner, finishing No. 6 in yards after contact/attempt in 2024, but Rico Dowdle also finished in the top 10 in this RB specific performance stat and he’s hardly considered elite .

There’s a lesson the Eagles have taught Dallas this season and a blueprint for success the new coaching staff seems particularly qualified to follow. It’s all about the offensive line and the Cowboys seem to finally understand that.

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Source: https://cowboyswire.usatoday.com/2025/02/09/cowboys-eagles-offensive-line-2025-aspirations/
 
Report: Cowboys to hire college WR coach who Cooper Kupp calls 'the best there is'

The Cowboys obviously weren’t playing in Super Bowl LIX on Sunday, relegated to watching from home as the two top teams in the NFL battled for football’s ultimate prize.

Even so, the team was at work, zeroing in on a key hire over the weekend. It’s an encouraging move that could bring the Cowboys a step or two closer to the big stage one year from now.

Dallas is expected to name Junior Adams as the team’s new wide receivers coach. The news was first reported by ESPN’s Todd Archer and later confirmed by other outlets.

Adams has been the wide receivers coach and co-offensive coordinator for the Oregon Ducks since 2022. This will be the 45-year-old’s first job at the pro level.

The Cowboys are expected to sign Oregon co-offensive coordinator/WRs coach Junior Adams as their new WRs coach, according to a source. Second college coach to join staff with K-State’s Conor Riley coming on board as OL coach.

— Todd Archer (@toddarcher) February 9, 2025
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A California native, Adams played wide receiver in college at both Oregon State and Montana State. He remained at Montana State to begin his coaching career in 2004. After three seasons on staff with the Bobcats, he went back to high school, spending a year at Washington’s Prosser High. There, under longtime head coach Tom Moore (Kellen Moore’s father), he helped lead the school to a state title in 2007.

Adams went on to stints at Chattanooga, Eastern Washington, Boise State, Western Kentucky, and Washington before ending up at Oregon.

While at Eastern Washington for five seasons, Adams played a key role in the development of an undersized and seldom-used pass-catcher named Cooper Kupp into a premier NFL-caliber talent.

Kupp has called Adams “the best there is” and said that no coach has ever had a greater impact on him than Adams.

“As hard as he can be on you, I think he sees more in people than they see in themselves a lot of the time,” Kupp once told Mike Vorel of the Seattle Times. “I think he sees the best in people as well, and he wants to bring that out. He definitely pushed me and really forced me to accept the fact that I could be greater than what my own thoughts were.

“I really credit a lot of my mindset and the way that I’ve gone about my whole career – the mindset I’ve taken into my training, into my preparation – I credit a lot of that to Coach Adams.”

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The addition of Adams to Brian Schottenheimer’s staff has already led some to wonder if the Cowboys may try to maximize his success with Kupp by also bringing the All-Pro receiver to Dallas. The Rams have reportedly told the MVP of Super Bowl LVI that they are seeking to trade him.

Adams has also had a hand in the ascension of current NFL receivers Jalen McMillan, Rome Odunze, and Puka Nacua. And while serving as offensive coordinator at Western Kentucky, he was a mentor to Hilltoppers quarterback Mike White, who went on to be a fifth-round draft pick of the Cowboys in 2018 and has since gone on to play for the Jets, Dolphins, and Bills.

In Dallas, Adams will replace wide receivers coach Robert Prince, who was on staff for three seasons and is now with Miami.

More 2025 Season!​

Dallas Cowboys aspire to build an elite Eagles-level offensive line​


Cowboys dead last in NFC spending at this position, just $3 million before free agency, draft​


Cowboys $91 million position predicted to be addressed in both draft, free agency​
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Source: https://cowboyswire.usatoday.com/2025/02/10/cowboys-junior-adams-wr-coach-cooper-kupp/
 
Report: Cowboys to bring back former player, assistant coach for third stint with team

The Cowboys continue to round out their coaching staff for first-year head coach Brian Schottenheimer. Their latest hire will be donning the star for a third time, both as a player and a coach.

Carlos Polk will reportedly be tabbed as the team’s assistant special teams coach, according to ESPN’s Todd Archer. Polk has spent the past three seasons in that same role with the Bears.

Polk had previously interviewed for the Cowboys’ special teams coordinator position. That job ultimately went to the 49ers’ Nick Sorensen on Jan. 28; Polk will now work directly under Sorensen…. for the second time in his career.

Told Carlos Polk will be the Cowboys’ assistant special teams coach. He interviewed for the special teams coordinator job. He was the Cowboys’ assistant special teams coach in 2019. Has been with Jacksonville, Chicago since then.

— Todd Archer (@toddarcher) February 10, 2025
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Polk, who will turn 48 later this month, has been with five NFL teams- all as a special teams assistant- since 2010. He was with Dallas in 2019, the final year of the Jason Garrett regime. Prior to that, he served on staff with the Chargers and Buccaneers; after not being retained by Mike McCarthy in 2020, Polk was out of the game for year.

He returned to the sidelines in 2021 in Jacksonville, where he was Sorensen’s special teams assistant coordinator the first time, for the Jaguars’ 2021 season, before finally landing in Chicago in 2022.

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As a player, Polk was listed as a linebacker but made the majority of his impact on special teams over eight NFL seasons. Drafted by San Diego in the fourth round out of Nebraska in 2001, Polk was named Special Teams Player of the Year by his Chargers teammates the following season.

In 2006, a four-game stretch where he filled in for Shawne Merriman helped him earn the team’s Ed Block Courage Award. The next year, he shared the club’s Most Inspirational Player Award with quarterback Philip Rivers. But Polk did not make the Chargers roster in 2008, and he found himself on the free agency market.

That’s when the Cowboys came calling, reuniting him with head coach Wade Phillips, who had been his defensive coordinator in San Diego. A depth signing by Dallas, Polk did contribute on special teams but was not re-signed after the 2008 campaign, spelling the end of his playing career.

Now back in Dallas in a familiar role and under a coordinator he knows well, Polk will help head up a unit that includes Pro Bowl kicker Brandon Aubrey and All-Pro returner KaVontae Turpin as well as special teams standouts C.J. Goodwin, Israel Mukuamu, Nick Vigil, Juanyeh Thomas, and Markquese Bell.

More 2025 Season!​

Report: Cowboys to hire college WR coach who Cooper Kupp calls 'the best there is'​


Dallas Cowboys aspire to build an elite Eagles-level offensive line​


Cowboys dead last in NFC spending at this position, just $3 million before free agency, draft​
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Source: https://cowboyswire.usatoday.com/2025/02/10/cowboys-carlos-polk-special-teams-assistant-2025/
 
Cowboys Headlines: Dorsey to join staff, multiple assistants added, Lamb sounds off on Parsons trade rumor

The Cowboys have their work cut out for them, chasing the defending Super Bowl champs in 2025. The club made several moves they hope will bring them closer to that end on the Monday after the confetti fell in New Orleans, filling a handful of roles on their coaching staff. We’ve got the details on who’s doing what, from the twice-fired OC taking on new duties in Dallas to a pair of college coaches who’ll be making the leap to the pros, a former Cowboys player and assistant now coming back for a third stint, and a current staffer getting a promotion. We’ll also look to Philadelphia as a blueprint for the Cowboys to follow when it comes to one particular position group, just as the Eagles prepare to lose a coordinator. And could the Cowboys be there in Week 1 when the Eagles unfurl their championship banner?

Meanwhile, the 88s are speaking out. CeeDee Lamb has thoughts regarding the recent rumor that the Cowboys are considering trading Micah Parsons, and Dez Bryant has thoughts about the way the front office is handling their business of late. All that, plus an under-the-radar linebacker to look out for in Round 1 of the draft, the dollars and cents of the Cowboys’ backfield, and what in the world was that A.I. Jimmy Johnson segment about during the Super Bowl pregame?

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Source: https://cowboyswire.usatoday.com/li...-dorsey-assistants-ceedee-lamb-micah-parsons/
 
Should Cowboys release 2 starters just to keep this FA on a $100 million deal?

Assume for a second the Dallas Cowboys are indeed limited by the amount of financial pie there is to go around, that Stephen Jones’ annual decree stating the salary cap is a zero-sum game are true, and the accounting methods used by 31 other teams are just a mirage and not feasible workarounds. For every dollar given to Player A, that’s one less dollar available for Player B. Let’s play “would you rather.”

The Cowboys have a tough decision to make regarding one of their upcoming free agents. Osa Odighizuwa is coming off a career season where he created a whopping 60 pressures from the interior, top five in his position group. He was also credited with 4.5 sacks (Pro Football Focus tracked seven sacks) with the majority coming in the second half of the season.

This dispels the criticism ] Odighizuwa can’t hold up through a full season, and makes the fifth-year defensive tackle the top interior pressure player on the market.

The Super Bowl-winning Eagles just showed the effectiveness of a great defensive interior. They dominated the Chiefs in the trenches and did so without blitzing. It’s a defensive strategy the Cowboys are expected to employ under Matt Eberflus in 2025. Without the use of blitzing, the Dallas front four will have to generate consistent pressure by themselves. High-end playmakers up front are a must under this scheme, making Odighizuwa an important player to retain.

Re-signing Odighizuwa will be a very tough task since the Cowboys still have to work out a deal for Micah Parsons. But if the Cowboys can free up extra spending cash to re-sign both players simply by cutting a couple middle-tier players, shouldn’t they consider it?

What if the franchise released their two underachieving starting safeties and moved that cash to Odighizuwa’s pocket? Would such a tit-for-tat be worth it?

Malik Hooker and Donovan Wilson are both coming off forgettable seasons for Dallas. Wilson finished off the season strong but only after playing extremely poorly early on. His feast or famine playing style was susceptible to the big play, and all too often the veteran looked like a weak link rather than high-priced team leader.

Hooker similarly struggled in 2024. The Cowboys free safety played a more diverse role in Mike Zimmer’s defense last season and things didn’t go all that well.

Of PFF’s 99 graded safeties last season, Wilson finished 61st while Hooker came in at 44th. These were disappointing rankings considering the two safeties counted a combined $11,385,294 against the cap. In 2025 those cap numbers balloon to $16,400,000, not far below the annual amount Odighizuwa is expected to command in a free agency deal some have forecasted as high as $105 million total.

Cutting the two safeties will unavoidably result in dead money, therefore will not serve as a clean cash swap between the safety duo and Dallas’ top interior player, but it will provide the cap relief needed to justify the re-signing.

If Odighizuwa is not retained, it would leave the Cowboys’ weakest position even weaker going into 2025. With no starting quality DTs on the roster, Dallas would have to break the bank for a high-end free agent and use an early round draft pick just to feasibly compete next year.

It stands to reason if both Hooker and Wilson are let go it would similarly leave a hole in the secondary. Yet depth players like Juanyeh Thomas and Markquese Bell have flashed in the past and could realistically be up to the challenge. It would be a much bigger longshot to expect Mazi Smith and Justin Rodgers to competently handle starting roles at DT.

It’s something to think about as the Cowboys look for ways to manage needs and simultaneously stay under budget.

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Report: Cowboys to bring back former player, assistant coach for third stint with team​


Report: Cowboys to hire college WR coach who Cooper Kupp calls 'the best there is'​


Dallas Cowboys aspire to build an elite Eagles-level offensive line​
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Source: https://cowboyswire.usatoday.com/20...s-osa-odighizuwa-donovan-wilson-malik-hooker/
 
Cowboys must improve talent at this position to compete with Eagles

The Philadelphia Eagles just won the Super Bowl. As disgusting as those words all strung together may sound for Dallas Cowboys fans, it’s important to give credit where credit is due as the Eagles’ front office certainly deserves for the all-star roster they put together this year.

One area in particular where Philadelphia thrived was at receiver. They not only have one top-flight option in A.J. Brown but they a second elite WR in DeVonta Smith. They relied on the pair heavily in 2024 proving a team can never have too many playmakers on an offense.

As an exercise in self-reflection the Cowboys could learn something from their division rivals. The Cowboys have their version of Brown in CeeDee Lamb, but no one even remotely resembling Smith.

Jalen Tolbert, the closest thing Dallas has to a WR2, is nowhere close to Smith as a WR.

Now the good news is Tolbert has improved every season he’s been in the NFL. The bad news is he hasn’t been good enough for the Cowboys to confidently hand him the WR2 role in 2025. With last season’s No. 2 Brandin Cooks set to hit free agency this March, it puts the Cowboys in a bit of a predicament this offseason. Aside from Lamb, Dallas is left with nothing but projections in the WR ranks.

Jalen Brooks, Jonathan Mingo and Ryan Flournoy are all developmental projects for the Cowboys. All of them have the ceiling to rise to WR2 someday, but none of them have remotely shown enough to be projected as that at this point. It’s clear the Cowboys have to do something to address the position this offseason but with so many other roster needs finding the resources to adequately do so isn’t going to be easy.

2024 highlighted the need quite vividly. Hit by early injuries, Cooks only played in 10 games in 2025, catching 26 balls for 259 yards. Injuries were partially to blame but even when healthy his contributions were paltry. The season before was better, but even then, the Cowboys WR2 posted just 54 receptions for 657 yards.

The reality is the Cowboys haven’t had a solid receiving corps since they traded Amari Cooper to the Browns for a bag of nickels (actually a fifth-round draft pick) back in 2022. They banked on Michael Gallup to bounce back from injury that season and prayed Tolbert would develop quickly but neither solution worked out for them. Gallup is out of the league entirely and Tolbert hasn’t been consistent enough to rise anywhere above WR3.

What the Cowboys can’t do is bring in another type of WR they already have. Adding an undeveloped WR in free agency or drafting a midround prospect would be too redundant to be helpful. The Cowboys already have plenty of projects, what they need is a plug-and-play solution .

Whether that’s a player picked early in the 2025 NFL draft or a proven veteran free agent is unknown but it’s fairly clear at least one of those avenues have to be explored. Even with Brian Schottenheimer’s commitment to the running game, the offense needs a secondary option alongside Lamb to keep defenses honest.

It’s no mystery the teams who found the most success this season were the teams than ran two, three, even four players deep in the playmaker department. They were the offenses defenses couldn’t shut down because they were the offenses that had a pick-your-poison design to their offense.

WR is a major need for the Cowboys this season, not just because of the enormous hole that has to get filled but because there’s no inexpensive shortcut to achieve that goal. Some sort of major investment must be made.

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More 2025 Season!​

Should Cowboys release 2 starters just to keep this FA on a $100 million deal?​


Report: Cowboys to bring back former player, assistant coach for third stint with team​


Report: Cowboys to hire college WR coach who Cooper Kupp calls 'the best there is'​
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Source: https://cowboyswire.usatoday.com/2025/02/11/cowboys-wr2-position-desperate-need-2025/
 
Pro Football Focus grades Cowboys rookies among league's worst in 2024

The final grades are in for the Cowboys’ 2024 rookie class, and the report card is not one that will get taped up on the refrigerator.

Pro Football Focus has released its grades for the first-year contributors across all 32 teams, and the seven Cowboys who qualified for marks mostly underwhelmed. None did better than the middle of the pack when compared to their rookie positionmates leaguewide, and most actually placed near the bottom (or even dead last).

The learning curve is brutal for rookies, and limited gameday reps only make it harder. So the PFF folks have also listed snap counts for the rookies, allowing their grades to be viewed in a somewhat larger context. We’ve taken the liberty of also noting how those individual snap counts stack up against the Cowboys’ total offensive and defensive play counts for the season and where each rookie ranks comparative to others on the team.

It’s not a pretty picture for last year’s freshmen, with no one grading out above a 66. But here’s a breakdown of how the rookie Cowboys did.

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Source: https://cowboyswire.usatoday.com/lists/cowboys-pro-football-focus-rookie-grades-2024/
 
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