Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images Rico Dowdle had quite the season for the Cowboys. The Dallas Cowboys have a long list of unrestricted free agents who will officially hit the open market in a little over two months. Of those, six or seven were significant contributors in 2024, meaning the Cowboys have some difficult decisions ahead of them in the next two months. Today, we take a look at a Dallas impending free agents coming off the best stretch of his career, running back Rico Dowdle. Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images 2024 Regular Season Stats: 16G, 235 Rushing Attempts, 1,079 Rushing Yards, 4.6 Y/A, 2 Rushing Touchdowns, 53 1st Downs, 45 Missed Tackles Forced, 26 10+ Yard Runs Year Review: 2024 was a tale of two halves for Cowboys’ running back Rico Dowdle. Coming into the regular season, many believed Dallas would lean on Dowdle as their primary running back right out of the gate. However, that ended up not being the case. Through Dallas’ first six regular season games, Dowdle carried the ball more than 11 times in a single contest just once. In the game in which he achieved that feat, the 26-year-old running back had the best individual performance to that point of his NFL career, rushing for 87 yards and scoring one of Dallas’ two offensive touchdowns in a big road win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. After that game, it was back to more of the same as Dowdle carried the ball, 5, 12, 12, and 10 times in Dallas’ four next contests. It seemed clear to everyone but the Cowboys that Dowdle was by far the best back on the roster, but Dallas stayed away from making him their clear lead running back, continuing to give carries to aging veterans. Finally, all the way in Week 12 before a matchup against the Washington Commanders, Cowboys’ head coach Mike McCarthy came out and publicly stated Dowdle would be their clear number-one running back moving forward. This decision ended up being one of the best McCarthy would make all year, as Dowdle went on a tear in Dallas’ final seven games of the regular season. Over this seven-game span, he was one of the most productive running backs in all of football. From Week 12 on, Dowdle led the NFL in yards after contact (344), was fourth in 10+ yard runs (13), fifth in rushing yards (479), and sixth in missed tackles forced (19). Dowdle made it abundantly clear he was more than capable of being a lead back and made Dallas’ decision to have him split carries for the first half of the season look even more foolish. Free Agency Outlook: Dowdle’s late-season run makes his potential free agent market much harder to project. Before that seven-game span, the former undrafted free agent looked like he’d be lucky to earn a $2-3M deal on the open market. Now, with seven games of stellar play under his belt, he may have a chance to nearly double that number if the Cowboys let him hit free agency. Last offseason we saw a stunning 12 running backs earn multi-year contracts as free agents. Of those 12 who signed, eight secured deals with an AAV of $4M or higher. After the way he performed at the end, you’d have to imagine Dowdle and his camp will be aiming for a two- or three-year deal worth $4M or more annually in free agency. Zack Moss (2 years, $8M) and Devin Singletary (3 years, $16M) who signed last spring may be good benchmarks for what Dowdle’s contract will end up looking like. Singletary had put together more consistently solid play throughout his then five-year career than Dowdle has entering free agency, so Moss’s contract may be a better projection for what he may earn. Cowboys Verdict: Deciding what to do with Rico Dowdle may be one of the toughest questions for the Cowboys to answer this offseason. If they let him walk, they leave their running back room looking like one of the worst individual units in all of football. But, if they do go ahead and re-sign Dowdle, they may block themselves from taking a talented runner they really like, possibly Ashton Jeanty, in the first round of the draft. With all the needs elsewhere on their roster, the smart thing to do would be to re-sign Dowdle to an affordable deal and draft a young running back in the third round to pair with him. However, knowing the way the Cowboys operate, the smart move isn’t always the decision they make. Even after his dominant late-season run, Dowdle’s not going to break the bank with whatever contract he ends up signing. He’s not going to get as much as Tony Pollard did last year, and if Dallas were to offer him a two-year deal worth around $8-10M total he probably would be willing to come back. Ultimately, as much as the Cowboys would love to attempt to find their next Zeke Elliott in the first round of the draft, they can’t leave themselves that bare at the running back spot. Re-signing Dowdle is the right move in this situation, and this time Dallas will make the right call. Prediction: Rico Dowdle re-signs with Dallas Cowboys on a two-year, $9M deal.

Photo by Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images The latest headlines surrounding the Dallas Cowboys. Strong bones and a broken mallet: DeMarvion Overshown details surgery and his expectations – Jon Machota, The Athletic DeMarvion Overshown does not have a timeline for recovery, but he is determined to get back to playing football as soon as he can. The Dallas Cowboys linebacker tore the ACL, MCL and PCL in his right knee during Dallas’ Week 14 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. The procedure that followed last month included work on both knees. Overshown said the surgeon took the patellar tendon out of his left knee and used it to fix his right ACL. They discussed pulling from his hamstring and quad but that could lead to losing some speed and power in his legs. His left knee looked healthy on the scan, so they went in that direction. “I’m out of patellar tendons,” Overshown said. “This is it. You have two good ones. Two good enough to reconstruct your other ACL.” There were screws already in his surgically-repaired left knee that needed to come out to complete the procedure. The surgeon needed to use a mallet. It broke. “He said my bone was so strong and so dense that he broke his mallet,” Overshown said. “I got some strong, healthy bones. For people that say drink milk to get strong, healthy bones, that is not true. I do not like milk at all. But according to the doc, I have some of the most dense bones he’s ever seen.”… …“They haven’t really tried to talk timelines with me, just because they know how I am,” he said. “Don’t tell me that I’m going to miss the whole season. Don’t tell me I can play at the beginning of the season. Being me, I’m going to try to get there right now. I think it’s kind of like last year, we’re going to get to the nine-month period, see how I am, start working me in and wait until I’m fully comfortable and healthy. Carl Lawson is ‘100 percent’ open to re-signing with Cowboys – Patrik Walker, DallasCowboys.com The Cowboys may want to keep Carl Lawson in Dallas next season, and Lawson is open to the idea. His season includes one of the biggest highlights of the season for Cowboys, when he bull rushed two-time All-Pro and four-time Pro Bowl tackle Tristan Wirfs into the Earth’s crust. “I know I have scary potential as a football player. It’s just [about] putting it on consistently, and being able to put that out there,” Lawson said. “I’m really excited for the work I’m going to put in this offseason. … This is the year where I feel I’m going to have my biggest jump going into the next season. … I’m more confident going into the following season more than any other season [prior]. “I know what to do. I know what I need to work on and I know how to do those things. It’s going to happen inevitably. I just don’t know the ‘when’ and the ‘where’.” Considering he’s formed “bonds that are gonna last a lifetime” in Dallas, those having been formed in the crucible of adversity, might Lawson’s “where” be in a Cowboys uniform in 2025? He’s certainly open to the idea. “Oh, one hundred percent,” he said. “One hundred percent.” Here We Goooo: Is 2025 the year of the bounce back? – Tommy Yarrish, DallasCowboys.com There are so many things that went wrong in 2024, will the Cowboys be able to bounce back in 2025? I don’t have to tell you that injuries were a storyline throughout the course of the year for Dallas in 2024. Will 2025 be the year of the bounce back for the Cowboys key players? If it is, it will likely all start with Dak Prescott. Through his first nine games before a season ending hamstring injury, Prescott wavered from his 2023 MVP runner-up performance, throwing eight interceptions to go with 11 touchdowns, compared to the nine picks he had thrown the entire year before. When Prescott is clicking, so is the rest of this offense. And speaking of the rest of the offense, Prescott’s reinsertion could open the doors for their respective bounce back seasons too. Take Jake Ferguson for example, who had just 59 receptions for 494 yards and no touchdowns in 2024, with drop struggles mixed in. Or maybe Jonathan Mingo, who caught just five passes for 46 yards after being dealt for a fourth-round pick at the trade deadline. The offensive line will look for a bounce back season too, especially at left tackle with Tyler Guyton, who worked through penalty, injury, and protection injuries all season long. The Cowboys are confident he can develop into a good player for them, but he needs the time on the practice field to get the reps necessary to spark that development. On the defensive side of the ball, can Sam Williams return from his season-ending injury and produce at a similar level from his first two seasons? He tallied 8.5 sacks and would be a welcome addition back to the defensive line opposite Micah Parsons. In the secondary, can Caelen Carson put his rookie struggles behind him and get back to playing aggressive, tight coverage? Teams picked on him at times this season, but Carson has the frame and tools necessary to help this secondary when playing his best. There’s a lot of “if’s” for each of these players, and all of them having a bounce back season is unlikely. That said, not all of them need to have a drastically different season for the Cowboys to get back in the playoff picture. Why Troy Aikman thinks Mike McCarthy will be back with Cowboys in 2025 – Joey Hayden, Dallas Morning News Troy Aikman gave his opinion on who he predicts will be the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys next season: Mike McCarthy. “I don’t know how you sell this one way or

Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images Enjoy some college football playoffs The College Football Playoffs continue with a semifinal game between Notre Dame and Penn State This is an open thread for game chat.

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports Do you believe the Cowboys are handling the Mike McCarthy situation in a fair manner? Much has been made on sports talk shows and among other NFL pundits about the supposed ‘mess’ that is the Dallas Cowboys handling of the Mike McCarthy head coach question. There is plenty of talk about Dallas mistreating Mike McCarthy by not making a decision, denying permission for the Chicago Bears to speak to him, and any other thing you can think of. The only problem with all that is it doesn’t seem that Mike McCarthy feels that way. McCarthy is a longtime veteran coach with skins on the wall, and has options among other teams. If he felt that Jerry Jones and the Cowboys were mistreating him or making a mess of the situation, he has every opportunity to speak about it, or to change the narrative himself. But he hasn’t. That’s because the most logical scenario here is that he wants to coach the Cowboys, Jerry Jones wants him to coach the Cowboys, and they are just negotiating what that looks like. Things like the length of the contract, the salary, how much power and influence McCarthy has over certain football areas, all of that needs to be worked out because in essence this is the Cowboys hiring a ‘new’ coach. Sure, they know McCarthy and McCarthy knows them, but he may be asking for more influence here and there, or it might be about the length of the contract, or any number of things we are not privy to on the outside. It appears that all of this is happening over the last few days per a report from Jeremy Fowler at ESPN. Cowboys coach McCarthy and owner Jerry Jones spent significant time Tuesday and Wednesday discussing the future — whether it’s a new contract in Dallas or McCarthy potentially coaching elsewhere in 2025. People I’ve talked to in Dallas believe McCarthy is more likely to stay in Dallas than leave, but both sides need to be sure, and they have less than a week to figure it out. McCarthy has leverage and options. And as several coaches have told me this week, why wouldn’t teams want to speak to a Super Bowl winner in what’s considered a weaker candidate pool? The problem with the whole ‘Jerry is making a mess of it’ scenario is that it assumes McCarthy has no leverage and is just a puppet in all of this. It is more likely that McCarthy is asserting his interest in what he wants as the coach going forward, and Jerry is negotiating that with him. It is also unfair to suggest that the Cowboys could have done this at any point during the season. That’s just not generally how it works. During the season coaches are focused on one thing, winning football games. Ownership might not even make up its mind until near the end of the season if there is even a chance that the coach comes back. Plus, McCarthy can now see that he has interest from other teams and can now use that as leverage in negotiating a new deal. Suggesting that all of this is in Jerry Jones’ hands and that he is making a mockery of this severely underestimates McCarthy’s role in all of this. The most likely scenario that is happening is that McCarthy wants to come back, Jerry Jones wants him to came back, they are just haggling over the terms of what that looks like. Obviously it could all fall apart and animosity could break out among the two, so the end result could end up being messy. But if they can find their middle ground, they will have this all sewn up by early next week. It’s just business.

Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images Several players from the CFP semifinals could be in play for the Cowboys in the 2025 NFL Draft. Ohio State, Texas, Notre Dame, and Penn State all have their sights set on the national championship game, but first they have to make it through the semifinals before they can reach their ultimate goal. That, of course, will be easier said than done. There is a lot of NFL talent who will be in these next two games of the College Football Playoffs, and every one of them will be doing their best to stand out knowing NFL eyes will be on them. Some of those NFL eyes will be from the Dallas Cowboys organization. Barring a trade, the Cowboys currently hold the 12th overall pick in the first-round of the 2025 NFL Draft. There are several players who will be suiting up in the CFP semifinals they could target with that selection and even more who they’ll be keeping their eye on in the following rounds. Today we are going to share a few of those top prospects to keep a close watchful eye on. Orange Bowl: Notre Dame vs. Penn State Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images Notre Dame’s best offensive prospect – QB Riley Leonard If the Cowboys are looking for a QB to groom behind Dak Prescott, they could be keeping an eye on Notre Dame’s Riley Leonard. At 6’3″, 225-pounds, he has the prototypical size of a QB1 and the physical talent to develop into a future starter at the next level. Despite him being an explosive athlete, there are still questions about whether or not he can make all of the NFL throws. Because of that, he’s probably a mid-round prospect. Runner-up: TE Mitchell Evans Notre Dame’s best defensive prospect – S Xavier Watts Both Donovan Wilson and Malik Hooker could potentially be salary-cap casualties, making Xavier Watts a safety prospect to keep an eye on for the Cowboys. He’s ranked as a Top 5 prospect at his position this year. He has only average size (6’0″, 203) and speed by NFL standards, but his read-react awareness and ball skills always seems to have a him in position to make plays. He should hear his name called at some point in the Top 50. Runner-up: LB Jack Kiser Penn State’s best offensive prospect – TE Tyler Warren With Jake Ferguson coming off a down season and entering the final year of his rookie contract, and with Luke Schoonmaker’s injury history always a concern, Tyler Warren could be someone to keep an eye on the Cowboys in the CFP semifinals. He’s the top-ranked TE in the 2025 draft class and at 6’6″, 261-pounds he’s a fluid athlete for his size who is exceptional at the catch point. He’s projected to be a mid to late first-round pick. Runner-up: RB Nicholas Singleton Penn State’s best defensive prospect – EDGE Abdul Carter Abdul Carter is the top-ranked EDGE player in the 2025 draft class and is expected to be a potential Top 5 selection in April. After making the move from linebacker to defensive end the 6’3″, 252-pound pass rusher almost immediately became a nightmare for opposing tackles. He’s shown vast improvements since making the positions switch, and if he still on the board for the Cowboys, it would give them another pass rusher similar to Micah Parsons. Runner-up: S Kevin Winston Jr. Cotton Bowl: Texas vs. Ohio State Photo by Caten Hyde/The University of Texas Athletics/University Images via Getty Images Texas’ best offensive prospect – OL Kelvin Banks Jr. Kelvin Banks Jr. is one of the top offensive line prospects in the 2025 draft class. He is expected to be a Top 10 selection, but could potentially still be on the board for the Cowboys in the first-round. Opinions are split if his best position at the next level is at guard or tackle, but at 6’4″, 320-pounds that position flex could be invaluable for Dallas’ OL rebuild. He would give them multiple options how to deploy their best five starters. Runner-up: WR Isaiah Bond Texas’ best defensive prospect – DT Alfred Collins It’s no secret the Cowboys need to upgrade the interior of their defensive line and Alfred Collins could be someone who catches their attention. At 6’5″, 319-pounds he has an impressive 84 3/4″ wingspan and 34 3/4″ arm length. He’s a load to handle at the point of attack and has surprising agility for a player his size. He is expected to be a Top 50 selection and would be a plug-and-play starter if drafted by the Cowboys. Runner-up: CB Jahdae Barron Ohio State’s best offensive prospect – WR Emeka Egbuka If the Cowboys are looking for a QB friendly wide receiver who can also help take the pressure off of CeeDee Lamb, Emeka Egbuka is someone they could target early in the 2025 NFL Draft. He is expected to be a mid to late first-round selection and would immediately upgrade the WR position behind No. 88 in Dallas. He’s at his best working the short to intermediate areas of the field, but can challenge defenses deep as well. Runner-up: RB TreVeyon Henderson Ohio State’s best defensive prospect – DT Tyelik Williams Tyelik Williams was one of the best run defenders in the nation in 2024 and that just happens to be one of the Cowboys problem areas defensively over the past few years. At 6’3″, 327-pounds, Williams is considered to be a Top 5 defensive tackle prospect in the 2025 draft class and is projected to be a mid to late first-round selection. His gap integrity, shed ability, and play recognition to sniff out plays would immediately upgrade Dallas’ DL. Runner-up: EDGE JT Tuimoloau

Photo by Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images The defensive tackle is set to hit free agency coming off a career year. The Dallas Cowboys have a long list of free agents who will officially hit the open market in a little over two months. Of the sixteen, many were significant contributors in 2024, meaning the Cowboys have some difficult decisions ahead of them in the next two months. Today, in our free agent profile series, we take a look at an impending free agent. It’s a player who was one of the Cowboys’ best performers this season, defensive tackle, Osa Odighizuwa. Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images 2024 Regular Season Stats: 17G, 60 total pressures, 39 QB Hurries, 14 QB Hits, 7.0 Sacks, 30 Stops, 78.5 Pass-Rush Grade, 1 Forced Fumble Year Review: Osa Odighizuwa put together the most complete season of his career this year, sustaining consistently solid play throughout the entirety of the 17-game regular season. The former third-rounder picked the perfect time for a career year, recording career-highs in total pressures, quarterback hurries/hits, and sacks. Odighizuwa ended up finishing in the top five among all defensive tackles in those three categories, including being third in the league with his 60 total pressures. The 26-year-old had at least four pressures in nine games, and finished the season playing his best ball of the year, recording 32 total pressures over Dallas’ last seven regular season games. Odighizuwa fully displayed how disruptive he can be, proving to be one of the best pass-rushing defensive tackles in all of football. This season could not have come at a better time for the 26-year-old as he’s set to hit free agency this March and will be one of the hottest commodities on the open market. Free Agency Outlook: After the year he had, Odighizuwa has a lot of things going for him One of the most impactful may be the lack of difference-makers at defensive tackle in this year’s free agency class. You could make a solid argument that Odighizuwa is the most productive player at the position set to hit free agency this March. Last offseason, Christian Wilkins signed the largest deal for a defensive tackle in free agency, agreeing to a four-year, $110M contract with the Las Vegas Raiders. Odighizuwa’s contract-year performance is comparable to what Wilkins did before entering free agency after the 2023 season, but it’s hard to see a team offering him a contract worth over $27M a year annually. The next two biggest deals signed by defensive tackles last offseason were Grover Stewart returning to the Colts on a three-year, $39M deal and Justin Jones going to Arizona for three years, $31M. Stewart is primarily a run-stopping defensive tackle, but Jones is a very comparable player to Odighizuwa. Jones was 27 when he signed his free-agent deal, meaning Odighizuwa will be almost a full year younger with even better contract year statistics. It’s safe to assume Odighizuwa will want to surpass the deals both Jones and Stewart signed, and with the lack of talent at the position group in free agency he should be a lock to do so. If a team really needs a defensive tackle, they may be willing to offer Odighizuwa a three or four-year deal worth anywhere from $13-16M annually. Cowboys Verdict: You could make a very solid argument that retaining Osa Odighizuwa should be Dallas’ number one priority this offseason. If the Cowboys were to let the 26-year-old walk, their defensive tackle group would be by far the worst in the NFL. With all the needs elsewhere on the roster, Dallas cannot afford to once again completely overhaul the defensive tackle position. If they were to bring Odighizuwa back, the Cowboys could focus on pairing him with a cheaper, run-stopping defensive tackle in free agency instead of being forced to spend a premium draft pick on the position. Dallas has the cap space, so no matter the cost they should focus on locking Odighizuwa up before he’s able to hit free agency and potentially get an offer the Cowboys could not match. Prediction: Osa Odighizuwa signs a four-year, $56M contract with the Dallas Cowboys