Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images This is going to be an interesting offseason for the Cowboys with how they handle their tackle situation. 2024 wasn’t a good season for plenty of position groups in Dallas, but offensive tackle may have had some of the greatest struggles. Growing pains for some, physical pain for others, and a general lack of cohesion led to inconsistent play, lots of penalties, and plenty of questions about what the Cowboys should do with their tackles going forward. Under Contract Tyler Guyton, Terence Steele, Matt WaletzkoNathan Thomas, Earl Bostick Jr. Potential Departures Terence Steele, Chuma Edoga Terence Steele fits the profile of a potential salary cap casualty. He’s not performing up to his contract, counting $18.6 million in 2025. But as we broke down recently, Dallas’ overall landscape at OT adds some challenges to cutting Steele. You’d get some cap room, but you’d lose a starter without any clear way of replacing him. Dallas would likely have to spend more than the potential cap relief to sign an adequate replacement, let alone an upgrade. Additionally, Guyton presents uncertainty in the other starting spot. Many left tackles struggle in their rookie seasons, and Guyton was considered a raw prospect when he was drafted. Dallas took some assumed lumps by putting him out there with the hope that it would speed his development for the future. The hope is that Guyton’s first full offseason and that valuable experience will produce a much-improved player in 2025, but it’s going to be a while until we see the results. One potentially helpful factor for both of them, and all of the offensive line, are the changes to Dallas’ coaching staff. We’ll see how new OL coach Conor Riley does working with pros, but one thing we can expect is a renewed focus on the run game in Brian Schottenheimer and Klayton Adams’ offense. That’d be great news for Steele, who’s always been much stronger blocking for runs than passes, and should reduce the pressure on Guyton as well. Even if Dallas keeps riding with Guyton and Steele in 2025, they’ll still want to give attention to the backups. Chuma Edoga will be a free agent and would likely be an easy re-sign, but his value as a swing tackle is pretty limited. Guard Asim Richards should be able to offer what Edoga has as a versatile backup. And while there’s always the option to play Tyler Smith at left tackle in a pinch, the Cowboys could consider adding someone who provides depth now and potentially replaces Steele in 2026. Free Agency Sure, the Cowboys could open up their wallets for a new starter like Morgan Moses or Ronnie Stanley. Moses would be an instant upgrade at right tackle over Steele, and Stanley could take over on the left side and let you move Guyton right. But these guys should be looking for at least $25 million per year based on the current market, which would be a huge leap from what Steele makes. Dallas’ more likely free agent expense at OT, if any, will be signing a new swing. They could just bring Edoga back, but the new coaches may have tackles they’ve worked with at past stops or just different views on the type of player they want. Maybe a veteran like Kelvin Beachum, who new OC Klayton Adams had in Arizona, would get some interest. 2025 NFL Draft Drafting a future starter at offensive tackle would make lots of sense. It’s obviously a big deal if Steele does get released. But unless he returns and has a huge season, Dallas will still be looking to shed his contract within the next few years. Not only does a strong OT prospect give you some immediate depth a ready replacement, but he would also provide insurance against any lack of development from Guyton. It’s an interesting thought in the first round because a couple of options should be there at the 12th pick. LSU’s Will Campbell could fall out of the top 10 and either OSU’s Josh Simmons or Texas’ Kelvin Banks could be a BPA candidate when Dallas is on the clock. It would mean consecutive drafts with the first pick going to offensive tackle, but would that be the worst thing? Dallas spent three firsts on Tyron Smith, Travis Frederick, and Zack Martin from 2011-2014 and it carried the offense for several seasons. If not in the early rounds, more opportunities should be there on Saturday. Given the poor returns Dallas got from recent Day 3 picks like Josh Ball and Matt Waletzko, it may make new developmental projects a little scary. But again, there’s a new OL coach in town who will hopefully do a better job of maximizing their potential. Final Thoughts There’s no question that Tyler Guyton and Terence Steele held the offense back in 2024. But Guyton’s issues were not surprising given his inexperience, and Steele’s struggles coincided with Mike McCarthy’s increased influence on offense. Guyton should be better in his second season, and Steele could be salvageable with a more run-focused offense and new coaches in his year. Steele presents a major question mark to the coaches and front office. He’s a sixth-year veteran who’s done very well for an undrafted player, but has never been a great pass protector and only stood out for a couple of years in his run blocking. But he’s making top-10 money for his position, so are you willing to keep paying that for “just okay” performance or is it time to invest in an upgrade? This also comes down to what opportunities present themselves in March and April. If there’s a free agent they love and are willing to pay, maybe they dump Steele for him. If something comes along in the draft, maybe you release Steele on June 1st and use that money on the next big contract for Micah Parsons or DaRon Bland. The decision doesn’t have to be made before March

Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images Zack Martin did it the right way for the Dallas Cowboys. The end has come for 11-year veteran and future Hall of Famer Zack Martin. After much speculation, Tom Pelissero announced today that Zack Martin is officially going to be retiring from the NFL. Seven-time All-Pro guard Zack Martin has informed the #Cowboys that he plans to retire, sources tell The Insiders. One of the greatest linemen of his era and a probable Pro Football Hall of Famer, Martin walks away at age 34. pic.twitter.com/M4RqV7VoB8 — Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) February 20, 2025 Martin, a seven-time All-Pro is one of the best offensive linemen to ever wear the star and is widely regarded as one of the best offensive lineman in the NFL over the course of his career. Martin battled through multiple injuries over the final year of his contract and in an interview at the Super Bowl was contemplating retirement entering free agency. With Martin officially retired, the Cowboys will be searching for a new starting right guard, but more importantly a leader in the locker room in Brian Schottenheimer’s first year as head coach. Martin and DeMarcus Lawrence, who also has a questionable future with the team, were the longest-tenured members of the club. All the best to Zack in life after football.

Photo by Perry Knotts/Getty Images ESPN said what we are all thinking relative to a pending Micah Parsons extension for the Cowboys. Promptness has not exactly been a thing for the Dallas Cowboys as of late. Think back on all of the major, big-time extensions that they have brokered in recent memory. While there are examples of them getting ahead of the curve (Trevon Diggs is the most recent), the 2024 calendar year served as almost a daily reminder of their unwillingness to do so again as they took things down to the eleventh hour with both CeeDee Lamb and Dak Prescott. Remember that the former held out through training camp and that the latter had his deal done on literally the day that the season began. Dragging feet cost the Cowboys an opportunity to be aggressive in free agency last year and what’s more is they dragged some of it into this year as well. Last year should have been when the Cowboys jumped on an extension for Micah Parsons as it was the first offseason in which he was eligible for one, but the team barely got over the finish line with Lamb and Prescott and decided to put off work on Parsons as a problem for their future selves. Welcome to the future. The problem is here. There is absolutely no reason for the Cowboys to not get a Micah Parsons extension done ASAP Whether or not you were a proponent for extending Lamb and/or Prescott last year, the logic behind advocating for it to happen as soon as possible was what mattered the most. If you know/believe you are going to extend a player, then history overwhelmingly tells us that the sooner you get it done the better. Last year saw several other wide receivers and quarterbacks get paid before Lamb and Prescott which drove the market price higher than it was when the offseason began. Understanding this basic principle and living within the confines of it is a necessary thing for NFL teams or people who operate in the world at large. This is why it would have made sense for the Cowboys to get an extension done with Parsons last year. In not doing so, the Cowboys allowed for the market to rise in a general sense, but if they wait even longer they could see extensions happen for Myles Garrett, Maxx Crosby and/or Trey Hendrickson which would have the same impact on Parsons as other deals had on Lamb and Prescott. What’s more, there is enormous incentive for the Cowboys to get something done with Parsons – as there was with Lamb and Prescott – as it will lower his cap number for this year and therefore allow the team more financial flexibility to add to the roster (something Parsons wants to see the Cowboys do in aggressive fashion). ESPN put it well recently in noting that there is literally no reason why this should not happen as soon as possible (even though the team did burn last year as noted). Dallas Cowboys Do the Cowboys have the ability to extend Micah Parsons right now, or are other dominoes going to fall first? Let’s be clear: The Cowboys absolutely have the ability to extend Parsons whenever they want. There’s no salary cap reason they can’t do this. Parsons is heading into his fifth-year option season, which means his salary and cap number for 2025 are both $24.007 million. An extension — which will likely come with a massive signing bonus and drop his 2025 salary to the veteran minimum — will actually create a ton of cap room for Dallas, which is going to have to restructure the Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb contracts for cap space whether they get a Parsons deal done or not. Parsons — who has at least a dozen sacks in each of his four seasons — might end up being the highest-paid defensive player in the league. But as you might have noticed from reading this, that can be said about two or three other players, too. So the Cowboys would be wise to do this deal as soon as possible. That’s just not the way they’ve managed these things in recent years. It is important to keep this entire blurb in mind in the coming weeks, especially if the Cowboys do not get a Parsons deal done. As noted: They have the ability to do it whenever they want Doing so will create salary cap space in the now This is the lowest the price will conceivably/practically be relative to the market As with Lamb and Prescott (which the blurb notes), it will become a fountain they can draw salary cap space from in the future We could go even further here and note that getting an extension done with Parsons also establishes goodwill with the best player on the team, and serves as a point of encouragement for other players on the roster that playing well leads to a big payday with the team. Establishing that level of trust in the organization from the players is never a bad thing, but this point is a bit less objective than the ones we listed out. Ultimately, once again, the point remains that assuming the Dallas Cowboys plan on giving Micah Parsons an extension at any point in the future then doing so immediately is the best way to go about it. You can argue that there should even be a point of no return where you establish that you are willing to live with the consequences of not getting a deal done, maybe the team should have had this with Lamb or Prescott as doing their deals at the last second was quite literally the most inefficient way of doing so, but players of Parsons’ caliber don’t just come around all of the time. Get it done, Cowboys. Enough with the silly games.

Photo by Brandon Sloter/Getty Images Deuce Vaughn is another option at running back for the Cowboys. Other than being a fun “Draft Day” story, Deuce Vaughn has made little to no impact in his two seasons with the Dallas Cowboys. Considering he’s only rushed for a total of 110 yards on 40 carries it’s difficult to imagine him suddenly having a breakout season in 2025, and yet, there’s a possibility that’s exactly what happens. As things stand right now, Vaughn is basically the only option at running back on the Cowboys roster. While that’s true right now, once free agency and the 2025 NFL Draft gets underway, it’s safe to assume there will be several new faces joining him on the RB depth chart. Because of that, No. 42 has become somewhat of an afterthought. No one is really expecting Vaughn to suddenly emerge out of nowhere to become a key fixture in the Cowboys rushing attack next season. Everybody is more excited about the new flashy toy that could be joining them via the draft, such as Ashton Jeanty or one of the other RBs in a deep and impressive draft class this year. Write him off if you want, but don’t be surprised if Vaughn sees a significant boost in playing time in 2025 because changes to the coaching staff, particularly the hire of Conor Riley and his ability to influence the scheme to highlight Vaughn. They were rather successful together at Kansas State after all. Riley, the Cowboys new offensive line coach, was the offensive line coach at Kansas State when Vaughn was there, as well as Cooper Beebe. He is highly regarded as one of the top offensive minds and coaches in the country. With him in the mix, there is hope we see both of his former players take their games to another level. Beebe will surely benefit from having Riley as his position coach once again, but Vaughn could be the one most impacted by his reunion with Vaughn in Dallas on the Cowboys coaching staff. Riley had a first row seat to watch the diminutive 5’6″, 176-pound RB become a dominating offensive weapon when they were together at Kansas State. Vaughn put up mind blowing numbers as a pure running back in 37 games with Riley’s linemen leading the way. He rushed for a total of 4,884 yards from scrimmage and 43 touchdowns, averaging 109.7 rushing yards per game and 31.3 receiving yards per game in his final two seasons. If anyone can help clear a path for No. 42 to be more impactful, Riley can. We mention all of this not to suggest that Vaughn will suddenly become a key fixture in the Cowboys rushing attack, but instead to show why there’s a chance he could see more playing time in 2025. Only time will tell though how all of this ends up getting pieced together.

Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images Do you think the Cowboys should consider bringing Brandin Cooks back? The Dallas Cowboys have plenty of holes on their roster to fill this spring. One of the most significant things they’ll need to address is finding capable wide receivers to work with All-Pro CeeDee Lamb. Dallas’ offense lacked firepower in a big way last season, and it showed in their on-field performance. The Cowboys’ offense finished the year with the third-worst (30.1%) first-down percentage in the league and finished in the bottom ten in NY/A (5.7) and Y/P (5.0). The lack of separation and explosiveness from receivers outside of Lamb was a significant factor in Dallas’ struggles on offense. This spring, the Cowboys will need to find offensive playmakers who can make Dak Prescott’s job easier and help get their offense back to one of the better overall units in the entire league. One way to get off to a good start in achieving this goal may be by reuniting with a player who had a very disappointing 2024 season: wide receiver Brandin Cooks. The 31-year-old had a nightmare 2024 campaign as injuries limited him to playing in just 10 regular season games. When he was on the field, it was evident Cooks did not look like the player we saw in Dallas during the 2023 season. Cooks’ biggest issue during the season was lack of separation, as the 31-year-old finished the season with the fourth-worst average separation rate (2.2 yards) among qualified receivers. He also failed to surpass 55 or more receiving yards in a single game and posted career lows in receptions (26), receiving yards (259), receiving success rate (48.1%), and catch percentage (48.15). The veteran never looked healthy throughout the entire season, and it’s fair to question if he ever was able to fully recover from the early-season knee injury that forced him to miss significant time. All of this may lead you to believe Dallas should look elsewhere at the receiver spot this spring, but they may be able to find some value in potentially retaining the veteran wideout. After the year he had, it’s hard to see any team giving Cooks a multi-year deal on the open market. The 31-year-old is about to enter his 12th season in the league and has earned $116M during this span. In what may be one of the final seasons of his career, Cooks may prefer to play somewhere he is comfortable and knows the offensive system, which would help Dallas if they want to retain his services. Spotrac projects Cooks to earn a one-year, $5M deal in free agency this spring. That number seems like fair value for the veteran, and it would be an affordable option for the Cowboys to retain some depth at the receiver spot before adding a legit number two option in the draft. Consider this: If the Cowboys were to retain Cooks and add a receiver in the first round of the draft, like Luther Burden III or Emeka Egbuka, you would feel good about the position group entering the season. In this scenario, you would have Lamb + Egbuka/Burden as your top two options and Cooks/Jalen Tolbert as your three and four. That’s a pretty solid group, not to mention wildcards KaVontae Turpin and Jonathan Mingo serving as depth pieces. Cooks may never be the guy we saw during the 2023 season again, but Dallas does not need him to be. What the Cowboys would need from him is 40 or so receptions totaling 400-450 yards to take some pressure off Jalen Tolbert and whatever receiver they select early in the 2025 draft. The Cowboys and Brandin Cooks could both benefit from a reunion. Bringing the veteran wideout back to Dallas on a one-year deal would be an excellent start to a critical offseason for America’s Team.

Photo by Jack Gorman/Getty Images The latest news surrounding the Dallas Cowboys. Conor Riley on reunion with Beebe, Vaughn; blueprint for Cowboys’ offensive line – Patrik Walker, DallasCowboys.com Multiple reunions are being had among the Cowboys’ assistant coaches. FRISCO, Texas — Reunited and it feels so good? Considering just how prevalent reunions are becoming within the Dallas Cowboys organization, to a level that would make the legendary musical duo of Peaches and Herb proud, it felt only right they figured out a way to deliver on a different angle of it — with the help of newly-signed offensive line coach Conor Riley. This is of course because not only is it Riley’s first-ever go at the NFL level, but landing in Dallas by way of Kansas State puts him back in the same room as Cooper Beebe, a former third-round pick of the 2024 NFL Draft who was groomed for professional dominance by none other than Riley in Manhattan, Kansas. And, interestingly enough, it was also Riley who moved Beebe to offense in the first place. “It was a unique situation in that Cooper was in high school when I took the Kansas State job, and he was initially going to be a defensive lineman,” Riley said of the young Cowboys’ starting center. “His dad joked to the staff [about the offensive line] in one of my home visits while recruiting. His transition to the offensive line and just how he attacks everything, every single day — and you guys know this. “It’s well-documented since his first year truly playing at center, and how well he was able to do. That’s just who he is. He continues to attack things.” “I think one of the best things about Cooper Beebe is his versatility,” Riley explained. “Yes, he was a two-time all American at guard for Kansas State, but he started games at tackle and at right guard or rather, excuse me, at right guard, right tackle, left guard and left tackle. So that versatility that he has really gives us a great opportunity to find the best fit for everybody up front.” Agent’s Take: Cowboys should call Micah Parsons’ bluff with new deal soon before star seeks full market value – Joel Corry, CBS Sports The Cowboys should be on the ball with Parsons’ new deal. How Cowboys should approach Parsons deal The Cowboys’ plan should be to call Parsons’ bluff so he can put his money where his mouth is with a contract extension coming as soon as possible. Dallas should try to get Parsons to follow in the footsteps of DeMarcus Lawrence although he is better than the 11-year veteran was in his prime. Parsons has 52.5 sacks in four NFL seasons, making him one of just two players to ever record at least 12 sacks in each of his first four campaigns. The other person in this exclusive club is Hall of Fame defensive lineman Reggie White, who is widely regarded as the greatest defensive player in NFL history. Cowboys need to act fast this time around This would require a big departure from the Cowboys’ typical negotiation time frame. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones dragged his feet on signing wide receiver CeeDee Lamb and quarterback Dak Prescott to new deals in 2024. The delayed Lamb and Prescott’s extensions freed up $9.251 million and $10,516,867 of 2024 salary cap room respectively. The Cowboys could gain $12.3 million in 2025 cap space with this type of Parsons extension where he receives a $52.5 million signing bonus that’s prorated at $10.5 million annually from 2025 through 2029 and his $24.007 million option year salary is lowered to a $1.207 million 2025 base salary to make his 2025 cap number $11.707 million. Parsons would be getting a non-quarterback record signing bonus eclipsing Bosa’s $50 million, which is the current benchmark. The old saying, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks” is probably going to be applicable to Parsons’ situation although it would behoove the Cowboys to get a deal done quickly. Odds are the Cowboys will squander the opportunity to create goodwill with Parsons because there still won’t be a resolution as the start of training camp is approaching in the latter part of July. Matt Eberflus turns back the clock with Cowboys after losing Bears job – Schuyler Dixon, NBCDFW Eberflus is one of the other coaches having their own reunion on Schottenheimer’s staff. New Dallas defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus never really stopped to consider a year away from coaching after getting fired by the Chicago Bears. Not that his wife, Kelly, would have let him. “She said she wanted me to go to work now,” Eberflus said Tuesday in his first meeting with reporters since getting hired by the Cowboys. “And I did, too.” The 57-year-old Eberflus is back where his career took off. He had a seven-year stint on the Dallas defensive staff — from 2011-17 — that led to the defensive coordinator’s job with Indianapolis. Four years later, Eberflus took over the Bears, getting fired 12 games into his third season, the day after his poor clock management in the final seconds cost Chicago in a sixth consecutive loss. He was 14-32 with Chicago. “I was excited after a couple of days, a couple of weeks, taking that break,” Eberflus said. “I was excited about looking at different opportunities, and this was the best opportunity, that I felt was really cool for me to come back to Dallas. I have a lot of familiar faces here, starting from the top all the way to everybody in the building.” A first-time NFL head coach with the Bears, Eberflus is now under someone in the same situation, with longtime assistant Brian Schottenheimer taking over for Mike McCarthy. Latest NFL news leaves Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys with even less of an excuse ahead of free agency – Mauricio Rodriguez, AtoZSports.com Turns out the pie will be bigger than expected for Dallas’ front office this year. NFL