It feels like the Cowboys have a long way to go to catch the Eagles.
In a little over a week, the Philadelphia Eagles will face off against the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 59. This will mark the fourth time since the year 2005 that the Eagles have achieved the spectacular feat of making it to football’s biggest stage. During the same time span, America’s Team, our very own Dallas Cowboys, have failed to record a single appearance in an NFC Championship game.
Right now, the Cowboys and Eagles are opposite organizations in many ways. The Eagles are aggressive in player acquisition and willing to take financial risks to acquire outside talent. The Cowboys chose to virtually sit out free agency altogether, which was proved by Dallas being the only team in the NFL not to sign an outside free agent to a deal totaling $30M or more since 2013.
On the field, the Eagles resemble their fans with their ultra-aggressive playstyle and mentality. They are consistently up to the challenge and show up in big moments. The same can’t be said about the Cowboys, who in recent memory, seem to come up short when the lights shine the most bright.
Just making the Super Bowl once is an achievement in itself, but securing your spot four times in even a little over two decades is an extremely impressive feat. Even if things don’t go their way and the Eagles lose to Kansas City, as they did back in Super Bowl 57, they’ve given reasons to believe and be confident their organization has what it takes to make it back again rather quickly, just like they did this season.
The Eagles are currently run as well as any franchise in the NFL. Philadelphia has nailed their last four drafts and shown the willingness to lock up their star players early, refusing to let the market dictate what they will pay. The Eagles are also willing to spend out outside free agents as much as any team in the league, a huge advantage when looking to build a Super Bowl-caliber team. All these things have made the Eagles what they are and will continue to give them chances to win it all in the coming years.
Like it or not, the Eagles aren’t going anywhere. Defenders Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, Cooper DeJean, Quinyon Mitchell, and Nolan Smith Jr. are all 25 years or younger, and all but Davis are under contract for at least two more seasons.
On the offensive side of things, the Eagles have two budding starts on the offensive line in Landon Dickerson and Cam Jurgens, paired with veterans Jordan Mailata and Lane Johnson, who are both under contract for at least one more season. To make the future look even brighter for Philly, A.J. Brown, Jalen Hurts, and DeVonta Smith are all locked up until 2029, and All-Pro running back Saquon Barkley has two full seasons left on his deal with a cap number no greater than $9.3M.
Philadelphia’s offense is led by Kellen Moore, who many speculated may leave Philadelphia to become the next Cowboys’ head coach. As we all now know, Moore never got the job, meaning the Eagles’ league-leading offense might retain their offensive coordinator for at least one more season although the New Orleans Saints just might lure him away. Moore staying would be a big positive for an offense that had by far the best rushing attack in the league this season.
Looking down the line, the Eagles have plenty of cap flexibility to make outside acquisitions in free agency to improve their team. This offseason, Philadelphia has $18M in cap space that can easily be turned into $30-40M with some simple restructures. After this upcoming year, Philadelphia is projected to have $36M of cap space in 2026 and $102M in 2027.
It’s not just the financial ability to make aggressive moves to improve your team; it’s the willingness to do so that sets the Eagles apart from the Cowboys right now. Dallas could restructure some of their own contracts and have just as much, if not more, cap space than the Eagles this offseason, but with their current strategy, it wouldn’t mean much. Even with $45M in cap space, there’s zero reason to believe it would lead the Cowboys to spend on players at the top of the free-agent market.
Philadelphia signing Barkley last March is a perfect example of where both teams currently stand. Did the Eagles absolutely need to sign Barkley? No, but they recognized the potential to acquire a generational talent that could be a true difference-maker for their offense, and they went out and got it done.
Barkley was, and still is, a perfect fit for the Cowboys. Dallas could have easily afforded the three-year $37M deal he signed with Philadelphia and still locked up their stars. Still, once again, the Cowboys were too stubborn to change their own philosophy and let a franchise-changing player go to a division rival without even a thought of signing him.
During Brian Schottenheimer’s introductory press conference, Stephen Jones mentioned how the Cowboys are going to take a “long hard look” at how they’ve operated in free agency and change some things if needed. Getting back to the Super Bowl for the first time since 1996 may hinge on just how truthful Jones was with that statement.
It’s hard to look at a division rival’s success and marvel at it, but the Eagles are operating the way the Cowboys should be. If the Cowboys want to catch them in the coming years and not continue lagging in the rearview mirror, they’ll need to adopt Philadelphia’s organizational philosophy and start acting the way America’s Team should.
