Your Wednesday morning news about the Dallas Cowboys
Marist Liufau, DeMarvion Overshown on Cowboys’ LB upgrades, looming battle with Browns – Patrik Walker, DallasCowboys.com
The Dallas Cowboys linebacker room is eager for their Week 1 matchup.
“Coach Zim would just say, ‘Cut it loose. Let me do the thinking. Just go out there and have fun,” Liufau said of Zimmer’s message to the young linebackers and other defensive players.
This is a message that materialized often on the field in Oxnard and in the preseason, seeing how fast and free the linebackers were playing on any given rep.
It also works in Zimmer’s and the Cowboys’ favor that their top four linebackers aren’t easily shaken by hostile environments such as the one that’ll greet them at Cleveland Browns Stadium.
As noted, Clark hails from LSU (and he’s now played in many an unfriendly NFL stadium), Overshown arrived from Texas and Liufau suited up for Notre Dame; and the latter made it clear he’s accustomed to playing for a “team that everybody hates”, a sentiment that could mentally serve him well in adjusting to wearing the Star.
Overshown knows a little something about that as well, and while he’s turned up to take the field for his first-ever regular season game after an arduous journey back from a torn ACL suffered last August, he has no plans on letting his nerves get the best of him.
“Basically, I’m just going in there with a level-headed mind — knowing what we’re going into and knowing it’s the first game of the season.” he said. “Everybody’s amped up to play, but you can’t be too far in your head to where you’re making mental errors. Go in there grounded and knowing I’m there to take care of business. I love this.
Dallas Cowboys waive two players Tuesday, including 2023 fourth-round draftee – SportsDay Staff, Dallas Morning News
The Cowboys made a few moves, including the release of a 2023 draft pick.
As they prepare for their 2024 season opener, the Dallas Cowboys made some roster moves Tuesday.
According to The Dallas Morning News’ Calvin Watkins, the team waived defensive end Viliami Fehoko and wide receiver David Durden. Fehoko spent part of the offseason working at defensive tackle, but he was better suited to play defensive end.
The Cowboys drafted Fehoko in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL draft out of San Jose State. Dallas spent three of its first four draft picks on defensive players that year.
Durden, meanwhile, was looking to bounce back from an ACL injury that occurred last year. He bonded over his season-ending injury with linebacker DeMarvion Overshown and tight end John Stephens, who also sustained ACL tears in 2023.
Durden originally joined the team as an undrafted free agent out of West Florida, a Division II program.
Hold up between Dak Prescott, Cowboys reportedly the years the team is willing to commit to – RJ Ochoa, Blogging the Boys
The Cowboys and Dak Prescott negotiations could come down to the years, not the money.
Back in the early days of the summer it was thrown out by NFL Network that Dak Prescott could ultimately sign a deal of the shorter variety if and when it ultimately came to pass. The thought (generally) behind this is that doing so would allow him to hit a position of negotiation sooner and closer to the prime of his career as opposed to past it.
That may or may not have been what Dak wanted then, but if it was then that status quo has changed. On Tuesday’s “Scoop City” podcast, The Athletic’s Dianna Russini noted that the hold up at this moment in time is the years involved, but that Dak is the one who wants the longer deal.
“The hold up at this point from what I understand is about the years the Dallas Cowboys are willing to commit to. While, it’s assumed, that Dak is going to be paid at the top of the market, the Dallas Cowboys are aware of that. It’s… do they want to put themselves in a position, contractually, that will keep Dak in Dallas longer than two, three, four years. And that’s what Dak is looking for. He’s looking for a long-term commitment from Dallas. So the hold up here is really the belief from the Dallas Cowboys. This is a guy who’s won a lot of games. But is that enough? Winning’s not enough for Jerry Jones. We know this. They want to do more… they don’t want to just be the team that wins a lot of games. They want to be the team that can play in the Super Bowl.”
There are definitely benefits to a longer-term deal for the Cowboys as it would allow them to play around with the money and salary cap space involved to a different degree. Recently our own OCC explored that world relative to the recent CeeDee Lamb extension that Dallas did.
But a commitment is a commitment and locking yourself into a long-term one is always something that must be weighed carefully and with proper consideration. Maybe that is what the Cowboys are doing and have been doing for this entire time, but this presentation makes it seem like they have legitimate doubts about how long Dak will be the proper quarterback for them to get where they want to go.
NFL execs predict award winners for 2024: MVP, top rookies – Jeremy Fowler, ESPN
Prediction for Micah Parsons to win DPOY.
Defensive Player of the Year: Micah Parsons, DE, Dallas Cowboys
Parsons promised “It’s up” this year for opposing offenses after NFL scouts and executives surveyed by ESPN ranked him No. 3 among edge rushers this offseason. The players ahead of him, Myles Garrett and T.J. Watt, each has a Defensive Player of the Year award.
Parsons hasn’t peaked despite back-to-back-to-back seasons of at least 13 sacks while fighting through constant double-teams.
“The whole [Cowboys] defense is built around him, and they are going to move him all over the place to isolate matchups,” a veteran NFC scout said. “And he’s in a contract year of sorts, so the motivation will be there to really break out.”
With the Cowboys paying CeeDee Lamb and negotiating with Prescott, Parsons, who’s under contract for two more years, will wait until the offseason for his megadeal. Defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer plans to utilize him all over the front seven in his 4-3 defense, both as an edge rusher or a linebacker that can blitz from all angles.
Also receiving votes: Myles Garrett (Cleveland Browns), T.J. Watt (Pittsburgh Steelers), Maxx Crosby (Las Vegas Raiders), Justin Madubuike (Baltimore Ravens), Quinnen Williams (New York Jets)
