Your Sunday morning Cowboys news.
Group Chat: Interior O-line saw addition and subtraction – Nick Eatman, DallasCowboys.com
The Cowboys need to replace a legend.
What’s Up: Replacing Martin is certainly going to be a task and for now, it looks as if it’s the only one of the three interior positions with a question mark. At left guard, Tyler Smith has become one of the NFL’s best guard – earning two straight Pro Bowl selections. The next question for him will be “how much” the Cowboys pay him as he is now eligible for a new contract and Smith will likely be one of the next players on the roster to get an extension.
At center, Cooper Beebe is coming off a solid rookie season and from the sounds of things, Schottenheimer and the coaching staff are looking to keep him at center and build off of last year’s success. So that leaves right guard up in the air. Jones, Charles and the combination of players such as Brock Hoffman and T.J. Bass will all get the chance to compete for the job.
What’s Next: One way to try and replace one of the best guards of all time – a guard that was drafted 16th overall in the first round back in 2014 – is to repeat the process. The Cowboys have the 12th overall pick in the upcoming draft and offensive line could be an option yet again. The Cowboys drafted Tyler Guyton last year in the first round for an offensive tackle option but could go down that route again. There are plenty of options for college tackles that could actually slide inside to guard such as LSU’s Will Campbell, Missouri’s Armand Membou and Texas’ Kelvin Banks Jr. Just like Martin did back in 2014, these college tackles might convert better to the guard spot in the NFL. Maybe the Cowboys go down that route in the first round, or choose later rounds to add depth there. But the later they go in the draft to take a guard, the closer it could be talent-wise to the depth they already have. If they one an immediate impact and replacement for Martin, getting him at No. 12 or even at No. 44 in the second round could be the best option.
See which team former Cowboy Zack Martin hated the most – Staff, DMN
The Force remains strong in Zack Martin.
The recently retired All-Pro guard for the Dallas Cowboys appeared on Chris Long’s podcast ‘Green Light’ where he began by answering Long’s question about who his most hated team was throughout his career.
“Philly by far. Not even close,” Martin said.
When Long asked him why, Martin gave a caveat.
“I hate them, by far my least favorite team, but I also loved playing Philly. I loved playing in Philly, it’s my favorite away stadium by far, not even close. Great grass. And every time we played there it was a Sunday night or a primetime Sunday afternoon game. So, it was always a great atmosphere, we always had good games. When I was in Dallas that was by far our biggest rivalry,” Martin said.
He added that the thing that made him the angriest about the Eagles was that they had two Super Bowl wins during his time, yet Martin felt like they had Cowboys teams that were just as good.
Cowboys QB Dak Prescott expects to be ‘involved’ in OTAs, could ‘play game today’ – Nick Harris, Star-Telegram
The Cowboys – including Prescott – will report for in-house meetings on Monday before hitting the field for organized team activities (OTAs) in May.
“If I had to play a game today, I definitely could do that,” he said. “It’s about moving forward healthy to make sure I can play 17-20 times when the time is right.”
After two leg injuries, an outside dialogue has started about whether he will continue to be as mobile as he’s been throughout his career with his legs. For him, the rehab process is about making sure he can return to full mobility, where he sees his game at its peak.
“When I’m playing my best, I’m mobile,” Prescott said. “Whether it’s actually running past the line of scrimmage or scrambling and making plays with my arm, that’s vital for me and it’s a big part of this. I’ve been running more, obviously that’s part of it when you’re rehabbing a hamstring. I just want to stay on that trend of just getting better, staying mobile and doing it while getting healthy.”
Cowboys options at No. 12 – Saad Yousuf, The Athletic
Yousouf takes a deep look the top 12 players in Dane Brugler’s Draft Guide (aka “The Beast”) to figure out what the Cowboys could do with their No. 12 pick.
- Travis Hunter, CB, Colorado
- Abdul Carter, edge, Penn State
- Ashton Jeanty, RB, Boise State
- Mason Graham, DT, Michigan
- Jalon Walker, edge, Georgia
- Will Campbell, OT, LSU
- Armand Membou, OT, Missouri
- Tyler Warren, TE, Penn State
- Shemar Stewart, edge, Texas A&M
- Mike Green, edge, Marshall
- Colston Loveland, TE, Michigan
- Tetairoa McMillan, WR, Arizona
Under the assumption that [QB Cam] Ward, goes in the top 11 and that Carter and Hunter are elite talents who have virtually no chance of slipping out of the top five, let’s look at how things may shake out from there, leading to the Cowboys’ selection.
The next five players — Jeanty, Graham, Walker, Campbell and Membou — are most likely to be selected in the top 10. There’s always a chance for a dark horse pick, but even after leaving a couple slots open for something weird, those eight players would be considered long shots for Dallas at No. 12.
If that’s the case, there will be five first-round graded players left with three selections before the Cowboys go on the clock. Two of those five players are tight ends, which is not a big need, and at least one of them — most likely Warren — should be gone before Dallas’ pick. Let’s assume the Cowboys would not be interested in drafting the other top tight end (Loveland). That leaves two more selections ahead of Dallas, and three players from the above list.
That means the Cowboys could at least have one of [DE Shemar] Stewart, [DE Mike] Green and [WR Tetairoa] McMillan.
Let’s Peek Inside the Joe Milton Mystery Box – Rivers McCown, D-Magazine
McCown takes a long look at the Cowboys newest quarterback.
The standard of backup quarterback play in this league is poor and tends towards the predictable. We have a league where many coaches would rather embrace an older Case Keenum or Kyle Allen type who knows what he can’t do and will never attempt more than that. Milton’s arm talent allows him a chance to break that mold: to let him create in a way that is going to be agony and also utterly sublime. You’ll never know which one is going to happen, because if you did, Joe Milton would have been the first-round pick so many assumed he’d become ahead of his final year at Tennessee, when he and that preposterous arm stepped into the offense that made Hendon Hooker a dark-horse Heisman contender a year earlier (before Hooker tore his ACL).
Do I sit here watching the film confident that Milton has a chance to be something other than who he has been for five years? No. He’s slow to come off reads and did not diagnose the unpredictable very well; I don’t think that the Cowboys are suddenly going to get him processing at Dak Prescott’s level. And while the mobility is definitely there, l don’t think the way that Milton runs makes him some sort of upper-level dynamic threat. He’s going to deliver positive yardage in space, but you don’t want to design plays around Milton trying to make guys miss in the open field.
What I do think has happened is that the Cowboys managed to pay a fair price for a backup who provides them the ability to win a game here or there. Randomness can come with good outcomes, after all, and if Jameis Winston’s career arc has taught us anything, it’s that unpredictability can be tough to game plan against. Dallas needed to pay up to get someone with more upside than Will Grier, and the best young quarterback left on the market might be Desmond Ridder. Something else had to be done.
The low acquisition cost means Milton doesn’t have to be the next Tony Romo for the Cowboys to come out ahead. He just needs to be solid depth, and the Buffalo game is proof of concept that he can be at least that. Better still, he might be the perfect Cowboys backup quarterback, someone whose process won’t always be good but will always be entertaining.
And if you want to believe that Milton has the ability to be more than that—more than the low bar I want to clear—I can’t tell you you’re wrong.
Could the Cowboys draft a star tight end in the 1st round? – Mark Heaney, Inside the Star
Grab your pitchforks. Could Dallas draft another tight end?
For the Cowboys to consider a tight end this high in a draft, the prospect has to transcend the position. Penn State’s Tyler Warren does that.
An All-American and Mackey Award winner in 2024, this Nittany Lion lit college football on fire with his versatility, energy, and outright play-making. We’re talking about a guy who went from 34 catches in 2023 to 104 this past season.
Warren parlayed that catch increase to a staggering 1,233 receiving yards and eight touchdowns. Oh, and did I mention this 6’6″, 256-lb star rushed for over 200 yards?
His size, personality, and statistics (8.4 yards per carry and 77.1 receiving yards per game) make this kid one of the most fascinating draft prospects I have ever encountered. He is far from the traditional tight end.
It could upset the fanbase, and potentially rattle Ferguson’s feathers, but the best-player-available strategy only works if you actually stick to it.
Kellen Moore helps Cowboys pull off magical scenario in recent NFL mock draft – Jerry Trotta, The Landry Hat
A little help from an old friend in this mock draft scenario.
If Mel Kiper’s newest (and final) mock draft is any indication, Moore and the Saints could do Dallas a huge favor on draft night.
Kiper mocked Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders to the Saints. Why is that good news for Dallas? Well, the Cowboys obviously aren’t targeting a quarterback. New Orleans drafting Sanders would knock other top prospects down the board, which could give America’s Team its pick of the litter in round one.
“If Sanders doesn’t go to the Giants, there aren’t many clear landing spots for him in the top 10 … and he could slide,” Kiper writes. “I could see a team trading up for him — maybe even the Saints, who have nine picks — but most of these rosters are already set at quarterback. This is a great outcome for New Orleans, though. I like this match a lot.”
2025 NFL Draft: Day 3 could be the sweet spot for Cowboys to find DT help – Brian Martin, Blogging the Boys
Here’s where Dallas can beef up their D-line late in the draft.
According to The Athletic’s Dane Brugler’s recently released 2025 draft guide, The Beast, Day 3 might be a sweet spot for the Cowboys to add some DT help. Dallas currently has seven draft picks in rounds five through seven and fortunately for them there are several DTs in that range they could target.
Cam Horsley, Boston College (6’2”, 312), Fifth-round grade
Per Dane Brugler: “Overall, Horsley plays with size and power to reset the line of scrimmage when he stays leveraged, making it difficult for blockers to do their job. He has the talent to be a rotational nose for a long time in the NFL.”
Yahya Black, Iowa (6’5”, 336), Fifth-round grade
Per Dane Brugler: “Overall, Black looks every bit the part of a “do your job” defender who clogs running lanes and does the dirty work, although he will need to improve his disruptive skills to be a three-down player. He offers scheme versatility to become a role player in any system.”
Nazir Stackhouse, Georgia (6’3”, 327), Fifth/Sixth-round grade
Per Dane Brugler: “Overall, Stackhouse is a naturally powerful human who can two-gap, eat up double teams and make run stops at the line. He will add early-down nose tackle depth to an NFL defense.”
