All the Dallas Cowboys news that’s fit to print
Micah Parsons lays out powerful reason to keep playing winning football despite Cowboys’ low playoff chances – Mauricio Rodriguez, A to Z Sports
Micah Parsons has been the most vocal leader of the anti-tank team in Dallas, and after a two-sack game against the Panthers this message was clear.
For Micah Parsons, who picked up two sacks and two tackles for loss on Sunday’s 30-14 win over the Carolina Panthers, there are even more reasons to be all in, even if they don’t necessarily have to do with the Cowboys’ chances of making the playoffs.
“We’re not going to give up, as long as I’m part of this unit, as long as we believe in each other, at the end of the day I can look to my left and know I can count on them,” Parsons told reporters postgame. “We’re fighting for each other. There’s a lot of guys fighting for new contracts, guys fighting to take care of their families, so there’s still a lot of football to be played. You don’t want to put anything bad on film or things like that. We’re fighting for each other at this point.”
For fans, it’s easy to get caught up in playoff chances and even draft positioning when things aren’t going great. But for players, every game matters. That’s why tanking isn’t a thing in the NFL. These are grown men fighting for their livelihood week in and week out. And even for stars like Parsons, whose future appears to be more than safe with a looming contract extension, fighting for teammates is highly important.
Parsons says that’s enough to be motivated on gameday, calling it a “special feeling” to fight for the locker room.
“At the end of the day, the record is the record, the game is the game,” the Cowboys superstar said. “We’re going to lose some, we’re going to win some, but it’s a special feeling when you can fight for each other.”
Underrated Cowboys star prices himself out of Dallas with latest dominant game – Jerry Trotta, The Landry Hat
Osa Odighizuwa is putting together a very productive season, and it’s come in a contract year.
Osa Odighizuwa might be too expensive for the Cowboys to re-sign
Odighizuwa has been one of the most dominant interior defenders in the NFL this season. That continued on Sunday to the tune of six pressures, one sack, three quarterback hits, four defensive stops and a career-high 91.6 pass-rush grade, via Pro Football Focus.
Only Chiefs superstar Chris Jones (66) and Broncos standout Zach Allen (56) have more pressures this season than Odighizuwa (51) this year, per PFF (subscription required). The former third-round pick also ranks second in QB hits, third in pressure rate and top 10 in hurries.
No defensive player in football has more QB hits than Odighizuwa’s 16 over the last seven weeks. That list includes Myles Garrett, Micah Parsons and Defensive Player of the Year favorite T.J. Watt, who might just be the three best defenders in the league.
There’s been a lot of talk about the Cowboys signing the best defensive tackle in free agency this offseason. Make no mistake about it: That player is Odighizuwa.
Unfortunately, Stephen Jones has already announced Dallas’ intention to tighten its budget this spring.
Report: Cowboys could be without CB Trevon Diggs for quite some time – Todd Brock, The Cowboys Wire
The Cowboys secondary has played well without Trevon Diggs for long stretches this season, but the thought of starting 2025 without him is a very tough pill to swallow.
Diggs will undergo surgery to repair his left knee after suffering an injury in the team’s Week 14 loss to Cincinnati, the Cowboys announced over the weekend. The issue is reportedly with his articular cartilage, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, and apparently separate from the knee ailment that kept him out of Weeks 12 and 13.
“This is something that occurred during the [Week 14] game,” head coach Mike McCarthy confirmed in his postgame press conference after the team’s 30-14 win over the Panthers.
Cowboys EVP Stephen Jones elaborated on Dallas radio station 105.3 The Fan on Monday, saying he did not expect Diggs to be ready for training camp next summer and adding, “but I think his timeline will be right at the start of the season.”
Diggs had played every defensive snap of the Monday night meeting with the Bengals and then consulted with the Cowboys’ medical staff during the week. After missing multiple practices and some testing, the decision was made to keep Diggs home from the trip to Charlotte and proceed with plans for surgery.
“He was having to play with fluid in his knee. He was out there doing everything he can because he wants to play, he wants to compete, he wants to contribute,” Jones said of the 26-year-old Diggs.
“It’s certainly a very legitimate injury that’s gonna take him some time to recover from. We got a vision that we can get him ready to do next year.”
In his Monday post to X, Rapoport put the recovery time at “up to eight months.”
Cowboys DE DeMarcus Lawrence won’t return this week – Charean Williams, Pro Football Talk
Veteran defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence is running out of time to play again this season.
Lawrence, who has not played since Week 4, will not return this week.
“I don’t see DeMarcus being available this week,” head coach Mike McCarthy said, via Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News. “He wasn’t part of the conversation.”
The Cowboys have only three games remaining, and almost out of playoff contention, it makes no sense to bring back Lawrence, who becomes a free agent in March.
He is recovering from a Lisfranc injury in his right foot that was expected to keep him out 4-8 weeks.
