Decisions on these in-house contributors will be most significant part of Cowboys offseason Mike Crum The Dallas Cowboys were unhappy with how the 2023 season ended but did little to help change things in 2024. To fix it in 2025, They will need to hit on their draft picks and bring in outside contributors in free agency, but it all begins with how they handle their own players on expiring contracts. Dallas has 20 unrestricted free agents, and they won’t be able to fill all those losses with undrafted free agents and the 2025 draft class. Who returns and who they move on from will depend on a multitude of factors. A trio of free agents played significant snaps and had productive seasons. Defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa has been an excellent player for the price of a third-round pick, but in a weak defensive tackle market, his price could skyrocket. Odighizuwa is slightly less productive than Nnamdi Madubuike of the Baltimore Ravens, but his projected market is in that same range. At $20 to $25 million, Odighizuwa won’t be worth the cost for Dallas, and the team will need to use an early draft selection for his replacement. Cornerback Jourdan Lewis might have priced himself out of Dallas with his play in 2024, but the injury to Treven Diggs might be enough to force the Cowboys’ hand. A multiyear contract will be necessary, and a cap hit of under three million isn’t enough this time. Lewis has shown an ability to perform in multiple defensive schemes, and Jerry Jones will find a way to keep him on the roster, if necessary, as Diggs insurance. Rico Dowdle was given the role of top running back in Week 12 against the Washington Commanders. In the next six contests, he accumulated 605 yards on 120 attempts, an average of over five yards per carry. Being a 1,000-yard rusher without a ton of tread on his tires could give Dowdle a market, but he isn’t an explosive runner, and he has a lengthy injury history, so his market is unlikely to explode. Dallas will probably bring him back on a deal similar to what Zack Moss signed last offseason for the Cincinnati Bengals, four to five million a season. Chauncey Golston has had a breakout season, and while he doesn’t have the gaudy statistics, his play was invaluable for the injury-riddled Cowboys. His ability to stop the run as an edge defender helped the team improve defensively as the season progressed. Golston is in the top 12 among defensive ends in run defense snaps, solo tackles, assisted tackles, and batted passes. He is in the top 20 in total snaps and run stops. His lack of pass rush will keep him from a huge payday, so if the defensive end market is down some, then it is possible the Cowboys can get him to return. A trade-off of losing Odighizuwa but keeping Lewis and Golston could be the plan for this front office. You can find Mike Crum on Twitter @cdpiglet or Bluesky @mike-crum-cdpiglet.bsky.social
Pregame Shuffle Week 18: Cowboys vs Commanders
Kara Durrette/Getty Images Sunday will be quite the weird Cowboys game. There is but one game left until the Dallas Cowboys can officially declare the 2024 season complete. While they were eliminated from the playoffs two weeks ago, games still remained on their schedule. Since then, they’ve beaten the Buccaneers and gotten blown out by the Eagles. All that is left now is one final home stand against the Commanders. Washington, led by former Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, is enjoying a great season. They come into this game at 11-5, their first winning season since 2016, and last week’s win clinched a playoff berth for the first time since 2020. That said, this game is not for nothing for Quinn. On some level, he surely wants to get revenge after the Cowboys beat his squad in Washington just before Thanksgiving. More than that, though, the Commanders can move up to the sixth seed with a win over the Cowboys, which would help them avoid traveling to Philadelphia in the Wild Card round. Meanwhile, the Cowboys don’t have much to play for. Their scrappy win over the Buccaneers suggested the team was still playing for pride, but their spirits were crushed early by the Eagles last week, especially with CeeDee Lamb out. There have been some hints that Dallas might start several reserve players in this one, such as Trey Lance, as a glorified preseason game. However, no clarity has been provided either way on that front. The biggest storyline for this game, though, has to do with Mike McCarthy. As everyone is well aware by now, McCarthy’s contract expires after this game. So, too, do the contracts of Mike Zimmer and others on the coaching staff. Both Jerry and Stephen Jones have talked McCarthy up all year long but have consistently stopped short of saying they’ll bring him back. Roughly two months ago, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that McCarthy was gone. Dak Prescott had just been sidelined for the year, and the Cowboys dropped their next two games to hit a five-game losing streak. Then, a switch flipped and the Cowboys won four of their next five games. Suddenly, the tide shifted and it started to seem as if McCarthy’s return was guaranteed. Then the Eagles game happened, and things have become more muddied than ever regarding the coach’s status. It will be fascinating to see how those politics impact this game, especially if McCarthy does opt to play a bunch of backups. With last week’s loss, the Cowboys have been locked into a losing season, the second of such in McCarthy’s tenure in Dallas. The first one was his first year on the job, and it also featured a season-ending injury for Prescott. The intriguing part about this game is that the Cowboys have already proven themselves capable of beating the Commanders. They just did it not too long ago, and that was on the road. Washington’s star rookie quarterback, a newly-minted Pro Bowler, Jayden Daniels had the second-worst game of his young career in that one, with a -0.26 EPA/dropback. Can they do it again? Do they even want to? On one hand, the players would surely relish the chance to go 2-0 against several of their former coaches and players while also ending the year with a win. But it’s also hard to come out and play 100% knowing that there is nothing to be gained. We’ve seen both ends of the spectrum already, happily playing spoiler against Tampa Bay and then falling apart after a decent start against Philadelphia. Which version we get against the Commanders on Sunday, and who even suits up for it, remains to be seen.
Here is how the Dallas Cowboys will tip their hand on their Mike McCarthy intentions
Photo by Perry Knotts/Getty Images Decision day is approaching for the Dallas Cowboys and Mike McCarthy. The Dallas Cowboys were eliminated in the playoffs last season by the Green Bay Packers on January 14th. That was almost one full year ago. It turns out that the date in question is relevant in the year 2025 as it serves as Decision Day for the team and head coach Mike McCarthy. Despite the fact that Dallas has had just about a year to reflect on the Packers loss and figure out what they want the future to look like, here we sit. On the precipice of a season lost by their grand design with seemingly no north star established once more. Friday morning, two days before this season ends for the Cowboys, it was reported by NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport that January 14th is the day that McCarthy’s contract with the Cowboys expires. Happy anniversary. There were some notable things in the report. Let’s get to them. McCarthy’s contract expires on January 14th, but the biggest tell for the team’s intentions could come well before then Given that January 14th is a week and a half away it stands to reason that the Cowboys are going to watch each and every single grain of sand drip down from the hourglass so as to fill up their bucket of attention. Unfortunately for the Cowboys, their hand may wind up being tipped before then. According to the report while McCarthy’s deal is set to expire on January 14th, he and any of his staffers who are also on expiring deals can be requested to be interviewed in the time between the regular season ending and the 14th. Obviously the Cowboys have the right to decline that in the window. Sources say McCarthy’s contract is set to expire on Jan. 14, nine days after Sunday’s season finale at home against the Washington Commanders. That gives the Cowboys an exclusive negotiating window of a little over a week, according to NFL rules. But it also serves as a soft deadline to strike a deal or potentially lose McCarthy to another job. There are two windows of time for McCarthy and Dallas. As soon as the regular season ends, other teams can request permission from the Cowboys to interview McCarthy for coaching positions and Dallas can choose whether to permit him to interview. Once McCarthy’s contract expires on Jan. 14 — a week from next Tuesday — no permission is required and he is free to interview in-person with other teams and accept another job any time. Never mind the fact that Dallas has had a window of exclusivity, to use the jargon offered here, for the duration of McCarthy’s time with the team. The point is that if you are another NFL team interested in looking for a head coach – at the moment there are three in the New York Jets, New Orleans Saints and Chicago Bears with more potential ones to come – and Mike McCarthy is someone of interest to you – you are probably not going to burn an entire week and a half of waiting. Right? Right. Speaking of those Bears, they are reportedly the team that McCarthy would prefer to be coaching (if the decision were up to him obviously) if he is somewhere other than Dallas in 2025. That makes sense given the current list of options, but as noted that could change. Back to the upcoming timeline though, we are already seeing teams like the Jets interview candidates (they are allowed to because they fired their coach a while back in Robert Saleh). Again, if they are interested in Mike McCarthy then it stands to reason that they will request him well before the 14th . If the Cowboys truly have no intentions of bringing McCarthy back for 2025, then it would be incredibly unkind to deny him an opportunity to move on and to hold him back while the team interviews other candidates for a job that he could theoretically wind up winning himself. You may scoff at the idea that another NFL team could want McCarthy or that they would prefer him over any other potential candidate. According to the report, and others in recent weeks, McCarthy would certainly be a wanted coach if made available. A Super Bowl champion with a .610 career winning percentage and 12 playoff trips in 18 seasons as a head coach in Green Bay and Dallas, McCarthy is expected to have interest elsewhere if he chooses to pursue other opportunities. There are few available coaches with McCarthy’s track record as an offensive play-caller and quarterback developer — skills that are at a premium in every hiring cycle and will be again. McCarthy, 61, has connections with two of the three teams with current head coaching vacancies. He worked with Saints general manager Mickey Loomis from 2000-2004 in New Orleans, where McCarthy was the offensive coordinator, and he interviewed for the Jets job in January 2019. It would be a poor look by the franchise for McCarthy to be requested by a team between the season’s end, and then for Dallas to deny him, and for the Cowboys to ultimately not bring him back. It is in this sense that we may learn of their intentions long before the 14th. The same line of logic can be applied to McCarthy’s top staffers like Brian Schottenheimer, Mike Zimmer and/or John Fassel if Dallas truly intends on running things back, so to speak, in a more loose sense. In discussing the upcoming week and decision we have been reminding you all of the saga that was when Dallas moved on from Jason Garrett five years ago. The way the team handled that can be instructive on how they plan on doing so, potentially, with McCarthy. Consider that there were ultimately five head coaches changed across the league following the 2019 season, Dallas obviously included. Of those five, the Washington
Roster churn is nothing new in the NFL. Even before free agency came into existence back in 1993, rosters would change significantly every offseason. Changes were inevitable then just as they are today. This unavoidable shakeup is especially true for the Dallas Cowboys’ running back room in 2025. The Cowboys prefer phases for personnel turnover rather than sudden, drastic changes. Too many shakeups at one position group can cause quite the ruckus if done in a single offseason. Unfortunately, this offseason there may be no way of avoiding it at the RB position. With Ezekiel Elliott already released, and Rico Dowdle set to hit free agency this March, the Cowboys could be looking at wholesale changes at the top of their RB depth chart. Despite being the Cowboys’ unofficial breakout player of the year, Dowdle is a tough appraisal heading into free agency. For as impressive as Dowdle has been in 2024, he comes with a concerning injury history that stretches all the way back to his college days. It’s those injuries at South Carolina that led him to go undrafted in the first place and those injuries that cause hesitation over a large multiyear extension today. It’s very possible the Cowboys lose Dowdle to a higher bidder in free agency and are therefore forced to rebuild the RB room completely in 2025. Even players further down the RB depth chart are cause for concern. Deuce Vaughn has struggled to prove he has the stature required to survive in a rotation. He doesn’t offer much in special teams and consequently could be done in Dallas as well. Hunter Luepke is a pretty safe bet to make the roster again in 2025, but his value lies in his ability to play fullback, tight end and H-back. With just 15 career rushing attempts in 32 games, how much of a running back is he really? To make matters worse, practice squad RBs such as Dalvin Cook and Malik Davis have shown nothing to make anyone think they factor into Dallas’ 2025 plans at all. The way things look today, it could be a total rebuild at the RB position. Normally this degree of churn would be cause for concern. Without veteran players carrying over from the previous year, there’s no one in the position room to help new additions digest the new offense they’ve walked into. But with the Cowboys coaching staff possibly churning themselves, that’s not really an issue because everyone could be learning a new offense regardless. Normally this would be a concern heading into free agency as well. A team without a proven backstop on the depth chart could approach free agency desperately. The 2025 free agent class doesn’t appear particularly strong so RB-hungry teams like Dallas could find themselves in a bidding war. Then again, the Cowboys have seemingly devalued the position since amping up their analytics department over the past two years and may just see who slips through the cracks instead. Normally this would put a truckload of pressure on the NFL draft since the Cowboys would no longer be able to take a best player available (BPA) approach and be forced to draft for need. But that draft philosophy really wouldn’t be much different than it’s been the last few years. The Cowboys have been extremely transparent in their position targeting as of late. They leave massive holes heading into the draft and act aggressively to fill those holes with their picks. It may not be the wise thing to do but at least it’s familiar to this front office. Hunting for a rookie RB capable of starting on Day 1 is well within their ability, especially since the 2025 NFL draft class is deep at the RB position. The Cowboys don’t have to panic and pick one with their first pick, they can wait a few rounds for value to come to them. Each round will inevitably signal a rise in panic levels across the fanbase but it’s not impossible to find starting RBs in the later rounds of the draft. Everything is setting up for major changes at the RB position in Dallas but given the potential turnover in the coaching ranks and the depth in the draft, there’s reason to believe the Cowboys can handle it. Related articles [affiliatewidget_smgtolocal]
Other team’s Pro Bowl selections show the Cowboys are one of the best at evaluating talent
Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images The Cowboys are going to have to continue their ability to evaluate talent this offseason. Five players from the Dallas Cowboys were selected to the Pro Bowl this season. Congratulations to CeeDee Lamb, Micah Parsons, Tyler Smith, Brandon Aubrey, and KaVontae Turpin. That ties them with the Kansas City Chiefs for the fifth most selections in the league. The other teams with more players selected are as follows: Baltimore Ravens = 9 Detroit Lions = 7 Minnesota Vikings = 6 Philadelphia Eagles = 6 All these other teams, including the Chiefs, are division leaders headed to the playoffs. The NFC North is still up for grabs as that division will be decided Sunday night. Both the Lions and Vikings have a 14-2 record. The Cowboys and their 7-9 record are the anomaly. The team will finish with a losing record despite being in the top five in Pro Bowl Selections. Of course, one of the reasons for the team’s lackluster performance can be attributed to injuries as several star players have missed extensive time. Five more players who were Pro Bowl selections last year or the year before have been out for a large part of the season. DeMarcus Lawrence = 13 games DaRon Bland = 10 games Dak Prescott = 9 games Zack Martin = 7 games Trevon Diggs = 6 games The Cowboys have a lot of good players on their roster and this will be a stronger team once they get healthier thanks to the excellent drafting from Will McClay and the Cowboys’ player personnel department. Of the five Pro Bowlers this year, two are special teams players who were USFL standouts. The other three are the Cowboys’ first-round picks in three consecutive years, 2020, 2021, and 2022. Another thing interesting about this year’s Pro Bowl selections comes from players the Cowboys didn’t even select. You might remember the 2021 NFL Draft when the Cowboys were honed in on a cornerback, but both Jaycee Horn and Patrick Surtain II were selected immediately before the Cowboys were on the clock. After being washed out at cornerback, the Cowboys pivoted and traded back a couple of spots because they knew that either Micah Parsons or Rashawn Slater would be available. As it turned out, both were, and the Cowboys selected Parsons. What started as a bad sequence of events landed them the best player in the entire draft. That’s pretty lucky. But the Cowboys make their own luck by how they evaluate players. While we aren’t afforded the luxury of a draft board selfie, we know enough about the Cowboys’ pre-draft visits and the stories about how things went down in that draft. There is a good chance that their draft board looked very similar to when these players were selected. Pick 8: Jaycee Horn (one Pro Bowl) Pick 9: Patrick Surtain II (three Pro Bowls) Pick 12: Micah Parsons (four Pro Bowls) Pick 13: Rashawn Slater (two Pro Bowls) Looking back, how could the Cowboys go wrong? All the players we heard buzz about are also All-Pro selections, except for one, Jaycee Horn. Entering the year, one could say that the Cowboys avoided disaster by having Horn swiped beneath them by the Carolina Panthers because he hadn’t done anything over the first three years of his career. However, injuries have plagued him as he’s had trouble staying healthy. This year, he was finally healthy and smothered receivers, allowing the second-lowest catch percentage in the league this season. He was the Panthers’ only Pro Bowl selection. With the benefit of hindsight, any of the players the Cowboys sought after in the first round of this draft are all good players. Granted, nobody wants to exchange Parsons, but it’s good to know the Cowboys had this group of players figured out well. In 2021, they picked 12th. At the moment, they hold the 13th spot in the draft order. When the time comes, hopefully, the Cowboys’ scouting department can once again find the shining star.
Cowboys news: KaVontae Turpin discusses his journey to the Pro Bowl
Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images The latest buzz around the Dallas Cowboys ahead of their final game of the season. KaVontae Turpin’s competitiveness, versatility propel him to second Pro Bowl nod – Tommy Yarrish, DallasCowboys.com After learning that he made the 2024 Pro Bowl, Turpin talked to the media about his journey to get here. “I’m grateful man, thank the Lord,” Turpin said. “Two years out of my three years here, I’m just grateful to show my ability on special teams. I’m grateful.” Prior to joining the Cowboys, Turpin went undrafted and played in the USFL, Fan Controlled Football League and even oversees in Europe. He was the 2022 MVP of the USFL in their inaugural season. Now that he’s made it to the big leagues, he’s proven he belongs. “Competitive, I’m a little guy, 5’9, 150 pounds going out there and competing on a big level with the big guys,” Turpin said when asked what stood out about himself on his journey to the NFL. “I’m just competitive, I go out there and compete no matter what the circumstances.” And now, Turpin has backed that up with his second Pro Bowl nomination. He’s the only player in the NFL to have a punt return and kickoff return for a touchdown this season and is the first player in franchise history with at least a punt return, kick return and receiving TD in the same season. To make things more impressive, Turpin has made the Pro Bowl as a return specialist in the age of the old kickoff rules, and now the new ones as well. “Just being versatile, no matter what you do, I can go out there and just be me and just be a playmaker no matter what the rules are,” Turpin said. “No matter what you try to change formats, I’m going to go out there and just try to be the best at what I do.” Cowboys land 5 players on NFC Pro Bowl roster – Nick Eatman, DallasCowboys.com Brandon Aubrey, KaVontae Turpin, Micah Parsons, CeeDee Lamb and Tyler Smith have been selected for the 2024 Pro Bowl. The Cowboys landed five players on the NFC Pro Bowl roster, including two from the special teams. Kicker Brandon Aubrey and return specialist KaVontae Turpin are returning to the Pro Bowl, along with defensive end Micah Parsons, wide receiver CeeDee Lamb and guard Tyler Smith. All five players made the Pro Bowl last season. Parsons is returning for the fourth time, making it all four seasons of his career so far. Lamb has also been selected for a fourth straight time and Turpin, Aubrey and Smith are returning for a second time. The Pro Bowl Games return to Orlando in late January, for nearly a week of exciting skills competitions between the NFC and AFC players. The week concludes with an always-intense flag football matchup that has replaced the traditional game with full pads. The game will again be coached by Eli Manning (NFC) and Peyton Manning (AFC). Cowboys’ disjointed approach to coaching staff for 2024 makes future harder to predict – Saad Yousuf, The Athletic This season has been a difficult one when it comes to evaluating the coaching staff for next year. McCarthy is aware of the good and bad outcomes with his position. As much as he’d like to block out the noise, it’s impossible when you’re in Dallas, for better or worse. As the losses pile up, the logistical reality of the contract looms large. All of it sets the stage for a strange final week. McCarthy and Zimmer have each been in the NFL for more than three decades. Both have been fired from a head coaching job, so it’s not foreign territory for them. They know how to handle the questions. Schottenheimer and Fassel are sons of former NFL head coaches. Schottenheimer spoke this week about how not much could rattle him, given he saw his dad lose the head coaching job with the San Diego Chargers in 2006, after a 14-2 season ended with a quick playoff exit. “What I’ve learned through the years is, you’re promised 17 games and you owe that to your team,” Schottenheimer said. “You owe that to the players and staff. Sunday’s going to come. We’re going to play out (our) last game and see what happens but nothing surprises me.”… …The Cowboys enter a season finale in which nothing will provide a data point that doesn’t already exist. The playoff failures are on the table. The team showed fight for McCarthy when the chances were slim, and even when the postseason chances were gone. McCarthy was brought in for playoff wins and that won’t happen this season. There aren’t many options that weren’t there for the Cowboys last year, had they moved on from McCarthy after the Packers loss. Black Monday could always add candidates to the pool but no big fish is expected to enter the picture. Mike McCarthy explains process behind Ezekiel Elliott release – Matt Galatzan, Sports Illustrated Mike McCarthy spoke about the release of Ezekiel Elliott and the mutual decision behind it. On Thursday, Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy took it a step further, revealing that Elliott asked for his release from the team. He also made it clear that Elliott earned the right to ask for his release. “With Zeke’s success here [in the past], he’s earned this opportunity at his request,” McCarthy said, per DallasCowboys.com. ”It was a conversation, and he asked for an opportunity to move forward and I think that’s clearly what’s in front of him.” Unfortunately for Elliott, it does not appear as of yet that his plan will work out the way he hoped. As of right now, Elliott has remained unclaimed and unsigned, leaving him as a free agent heading into the final week of the regular season. Of course, that doesn’t mean that he will be unable to catch out with a contender after this weekend’s slate of games, but barring
Cowboys Headlines: Dollars and cents of Rush-vs-Lance, Micah Parsons on injury report
Updates: Micah limited in practice Thursday :: The Mothership Link Parsons was added to the Thursday report with a wrist issue. He said he took a shot to the ribs from Saquon Barkley in Week 17 but shrugged off the severity of that injury. “For the most part,” he said, “I’m good and I’m looking forward to finishing the season strong.” Mazi Smith also popped up on the report with a pelvis injury. Money or development? Contract quirk could impact Cowboys’ Cooper Rush-Trey Lance decision :: Dallas Morning News Link Cooper Rush stands to earn a $500,000 bonus if he plays in 55% of the Cowboys’ snaps this season. He’s 65 plays away, with the offense averaging 64.3 plays per game. But Trey Lance is still sitting there, hoping for an opportunity before hitting free agency. Do the Cowboys stick with the known commodity of Rush and just fork over his incentive? Or do they use the season finale as a make-or-break moment for Lance’s future with the club? Mike McCarthy on this possibly being his final Cowboys’ home game: I’m definitely aware :: ProFootballTalk Link The coach acknowledged that Sunday could be his final game with the Cowboys. “I won a Super Bowl in that home locker room at AT&T Stadium,” McCarthy said. “So, I have a very strong emotional attachment that it hits me every time I walk in there and every time I walk out. So, yeah, I’m definitely aware of it.” He maintains he’s not thinking about much beyond beating Washington, but he admitted he’s “in tune” with the obvious importance of the coming moment. Final Mike McCarthy Replacement Rankings: Who should be Cowboys head coach in 2025? :: Cowboys Wire Link The speculation and the waiting is about to kick into a whole ‘nother gear. McCarthy might be staying put in 2025, but if Jerry Jones decides to make a change, Dallas will be the biggest tent at the offseason circus. Names to watch could include anybody from Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman and Georgia’s Kirby Smart (pretty unlikely) to Cowboys alums Deion Sanders or Kellen Moore to hot coordinator prospects Ben Johnson, Bobby Slowik, or Brian Flores. Cowboys front office confirms no hurry to discuss McCarthy’s future :: Jon Machota Report: Mike McCarthy could set sight on Chicago Bears if Cowboys move on :: Blogging the Boys Link Former Seahawks coach Pete Carroll has been said to have interest in the Chicago head job, but some sources believe McCarthy could be eyeing a possible return to the NFC North if he and the Cowboys part ways. Of the three current openings- the Bears, Jets, and Saints- Chicago is thought to be the most opportune posting, given the current players on the roster. The presence of a young talent at quarterback in need of development could be a serious draw for McCarthy. Commanders not planning on resting starters vs. Cowboys, going for 6th seed :: Commanders Wire Link If Washington beats Dallas in the season finale, they claim the No. 6 seed in the NFC, regardless of what anybody else does. That is precisely Dan Quinn’s plan. “Yeah, we’re going to go after as hard as we can,” Quinn said. “We recognize having a six seed and going into the playoffs with that is a good thing. And so, we’re going to fight like hell to keep that.” 5 Cowboys named to 2024 Pro Bowl :: Cowboys Wire Link Despite a disappointing season for the team, a handful of Cowboys will be honored for their individual efforts. Kicker Brandon Aubrey, wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, edge rusher Micah Parsons, guard Tyler Smith, and return specialist KaVontae Turpin were all selected to represent the NFC as all-stars. All were Pro Bowlers last season as well. Cowboys veteran CB Jourdan Lewis wins team’s annual ‘Good Guy Award’ :: Fort Worth Star-Telegram Link Lewis received the team’s Good Guy Award, voted on by the Dallas chapter of the Pro Football Writers Association for his cooperation with the media over the course of the season. “It’s just to represent the team well, to make sure that the brand is protected, and make sure that my teammates are protected,’’ Lewis said. “Whenever I get a chance, when you want to talk to me win, lose or draw, I want to make sure I put my best foot forward for everybody that’s involved with this organization.’’ Inside Ezekiel Elliott’s turbulent return to the Dallas Cowboys that led to his awkward release :: Fort Worth Star-Telegram Link Elliott’s return to Dallas never felt like it would end well. He was immediately thrust back into a starring role both on and off the field, but the 49 yards he picked up in Week 1 turned out to be his last best moment wearing a star. He struggled with fewer touches and seemed to be holding back the progress of Rico Dowdle, and he was finally benched for habitual tardiness. He visibly lost support in the locker room and finally became a non-factor in the team’s game plans. It ended with him asking to be released; he’s now free to join any squad that wants him. When fans look back at Elliott, it will be for the years he wore No. 21, not the awkward partial season in No. 15. Cowboys’ Dak Prescott taking security seriously amid break-ins :: ESPN Link Prescott says the $40,000 worth of merchandise recently stolen from his fiancée’s car shouldn’t be tied to the string of break-ins at the homes at several pro athletes, but he admits he’s taken precautions regarding his own family’s security. “I’ve always understood who I was or where I was, especially being the quarterback of this team and targeted that I am, whether it be for a natural robbery or whether it be for losing a game and whatever,” Prescott said. “I’ve understood the position that I am in. So, for me it’s more about the day and now protecting my fiancée and my daughter.”
2025 Draft Order Projections: Every combination of Week 18 results that impact Cowboys’ slot
2025 Draft Order Projections: Every combination of Week 18 results that impact Cowboys’ slot K.D. Drummond TL;DR While most attention this weekend will go towards playoff positioning, the Dallas Cowboys are in a scramble for draft position superiority. There are nine teams which could finish between No. 11 and No. 17 in the draft order and 64 total combinations. Dallas’ floor and ceiling is the No. 16 pick; their ceiling is the No. 12 pick. If Dallas wins, No. 13 is the earliest in the draft they can pick. If Dallas loses, they can end up no worse than No 13. The Cowboys can only pick No. 13 if Arizona beats San Francisco. The most common outcome, based on win/loss combinations is the Cowboys select No. 12, with 16 possible outcomes. The 2024 NFL regular season is almost over and there’s plenty left to be determined. Each conference has already locked in six of their seven contestants for the postseason tournament. Kansas City has locked up the AFC No. 1 seed, Buffalo the No. 2 seed and Houston is locked into the No. 4 seed. The AFC North is a battle between Baltimore and Pittsburgh, with the Steelers opponent Cincinnati trying to overtake the Denver Broncos and Miami Dolphins for the final wild-card spot. While the No. 1 seed in the NFC is the biggest result in waiting, with Minnesota and Detroit battling for NFC North supremacy. The Eagles and Rams have clinched their divisions, with Washington locked into a wild-card berth and Atlanta (vs Carolina) and Tampa Bay (vs New Orleans) are chasing the NFC South crown. But those aren’t the only stakes this weekend. Draft order is on the line and there are seven teams jostling to determine the final order in the middle of the round. The San Francisco 49ers, Arizona Cardinals, Indianapolis Colts, Miami Dolphins, Cincinnati Bengals, Atlanta Falcons and Dallas Cowboys are all in contention to finish anywhere from No. 11 to No. 17. Technically the Bucs and Broncos are in this conversation as well, but if either or both fail to qualify, they would finish at the back of this cluster so we’ll leave them out of the conversation for intents and purposes. With the 49ers and Cardinals facing each other, there are 64 different combinations of final results, excluding ties. In the other matchups, Dallas takes on Washington, Indianapolis faces the Jacksonville Jaguars, Miami plays the New York Jets, Cincinnati squares off with the Steelers and Atlanta tackles the Carolina Panthers. Here’s each different scenario, categorized by where the Cowboys would draft in the first round based on the specific set of results. Dallas win scenarios (8-9) Dallas picks No. 12 if: There are no scenarios where Dallas wins and finishes No. 12. Dallas picks No. 13 if: AZ+CIN+MIA wins, SF+IND+ATL loses AZ+CIN+MIA+ATL wins, SF+IND loses AZ+IND+MIA+CIN wins, SF+ATL loses AZ+IND+MIA+CIN+ATL wins, SF loses Dallas picks No. 14 if: SF+CIN+ATL+MIA wins, AZ+IND loses SF+IND+ATL+MIA wins, AZ+CIN loses SF+IND+CIN+MIA wins, AZ+ATL loses SF+IND+CIN+MIA+ATL wins, AZ loses AZ+CIN wins, SF+IND+MIA+ATL loses AZ+MIA wins, SF+IND+CIN+ATL loses AZ+MIA+ATL wins, SF+IND+CIN loses AZ+CIN+ATL wins, SF+IND+MIA loses AZ+IND+CIN wins, SF+MIA+ATL loses AZ+IND+MIA wins, SF+MIA+CIN loses AZ+IND+CIN+ATL wins, SF+MIA loses AZ+IND+MIA+ATL wins, SF+CIN loses Dallas picks No. 15 if: SF+CIN wins, AZ+IND+MIA+ATL loses SF+MIA wins, AZ+IND+CIN+ATL loses SF+MIA+ATL wins, AZ+IND+CIN loses SF+IND+CIN wins, AZ+MIA+ATL loses SF+IND+MIA wins, AZ+CIN+ATL loses SF+CIN+ATL wins, AZ+IND+MIA loses SF+IND+MIA+ATL wins, AZ+CIN loses SF+IND+MIA+ATL+CIN wins, AZ loses AZ wins, SF+IND+MIA+ATL+CIN loses AZ+ATL wins, SF+IND+MIA+CIN loses AZ+IND wins, SF+MIA+CIN+ATL loses AZ+IND+ATL wins, SF+MIA+CIN loses Dallas picks No. 16 if: SF wins, AZ+IND+MIA+CIN+ATL loses SF+ATL wins, AZ+IND+MIA+CIN loses SF+IND wins, AZ+MIA+CIN+ATL loses SF+IND+ATL wins, AZ+MIA+CIN loses Dallas loss scenarios (7-10) Dallas picks No. 11 if: SF+IND wins, AZ+ATL+MIA+CIN loses SF+IND+ATL wins, AZ+CIN+MIA loses SF+CIN+IND wins, AZ+ATL+MIA loses SF+CIN+ATL+IND wins, AZ+MIA loses SF+MIA+IND wins, AZ+ATL+CIN loses SF+MIA+ATL+IND wins, AZ+CIN loses SF+MIA+CIN+IND wins, AZ+ATL loses SF+MIA+CIN+IND+ATL wins, AZ loses Dallas picks No. 12 if: SF wins, AZ+IND+MIA+CIN+ATL loses SF+ATL wins, AZ+IND+MIA+CIN loses SF+CIN wins, AZ+IND+MIA+ATL loses SF+MIA wins, AZ+IND+CIN+ATL loses SF+CIN+ATL wins, AZ+IND+MIA loses SF+MIA+ATL wins, AZ+IND+CIN loses SF+CIN+MIA wins, AZ+IND+ATL loses SF+CIN+ATL+MIA wins, AZ+IND loses AZ+IND wins, SF+CIN+MIA+ATL loses AZ+IND+ATL wins, SF+CIN+MIA loses AZ+IND+CIN wins, SF+ATL+MIA loses AZ+IND+MIA wins, SF+ATL+CIN loses AZ+IND+CIN+ATL wins, SF+MIA loses AZ+IND+MIA+ATL wins, SF+CIN loses AZ+IND+MIA+CIN wins, SF+ATL loses AZ+IND+MIA+CIN+ATL wins, SF loses Dallas picks No. 13 if: AZ wins, SF+IND+CIN+ATL+MIA loses AZ+ATL wins, SF+IND+CIN+MIA loses AZ+CIN wins, SF+IND+ATL+MIA loses AZ+CIN+ATL wins, SF+IND+MIA loses AZ+MIA wins, SF+IND+CIN+ATL loses AZ+MIA+ATL wins, SF+IND+CIN loses AZ+MIA+CIN wins, SF+IND+ATL loses AZ+MIA+CIN+ATL wins, SF+IND loses Dallas picks No. 14 if: There are no combinations for Dallas to finish here if they lose. Dallas picks No. 15 if: There are no combinations for Dallas to finish here if they lose. Dallas picks No. 16 if: There are no combinations for Dallas to finish here if they lose. *ChatGPT was used to calculate all of the various win/loss combinations.
Report: Mike McCarthy could set sight on Chicago Bears if Cowboys move on
Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images Mike McCarthy may prefer the Chicago Bears if the Cowboys move on from him. The Dallas Cowboys are about a week away from making a decision on Mike McCarthy. Obviously the Cowboys’ season will end on Sunday afternoon which means that if they want to get a jump on things they will take care of matters as soon as possible. Unfortunately, this is not the Cowboys’ way. They usually prefer to draw out the process of moving on from, or bringing back, a current head coach, in this case Mike McCarthy. Consider that the 2019 season ended on December 29th and that it took until January 5th of 2020 for the team to make a formal announcement that they were moving on from Jason Garrett at the time. It is fair to expect more of the same this time around as well. If the Cowboys do wind up moving on from McCarthy then it stands to reason that he is not going to sit idly by. Reports continue to swirl that McCarthy could be a wanted head coach and on Thursday it was reported that in that hypothetical world, the Chicago Bears could be his team of choice. Pete Carroll might not be the only Super Bowl-winning coach vying for the Bears job. I’ve talked to multiple people who believe McCarthy — should he leave Dallas — could set his sights on Chicago. He would give the Bears much-needed experience and offensive acumen. At the moment there are three head coach openings in the NFL: Chicago, New York Jets and the New Orleans Saints. Of those three it is hard to argue against the idea that Chicago is the best and most opportune one for a would-be candidate based on the pieces each team has on their roster. It makes sense that McCarthy would prefer them. Will things ultimately come to that, though? Or will the Cowboys bring McCarthy back? As noted, we may be a ways away from ultimately having this answer. Buckle up and get ready to wait.
Mike McCarthy’s blowout losses send an alarming message about his ability as the Cowboys coach
Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images Losing games is never fun, but getting blown out adds another level of frustration for McCarthy’s Cowboys. The Dallas Cowboys will finish the year with a losing season for just the fourth time in the last 20 years. As fans, we are fortunate it doesn’t happen very often, but it still hurts when it does and the Cowboys will need to figure some things out to ensure these losing seasons remain few and far between. One thing they’ll need to figure out is what to do about Mike McCarthy. The decision on whether or not to bring him back will be a big discussion for the next week or two. Supporters are quick to point out that he is a Super Bowl-winning coach who has what it takes to win a championship. His three straight 12-win seasons with Dallas had never been accomplished before in franchise history and provided the team repeated shots at a playoff run. That’s something. Detractors, however, have a different opinion. The McCarthy ride has contained a lot of bumps and bruises along the way and while everything isn’t his fault, he’s had a hand in it. Since he and Brian Schottenheimer have taken over the offensive responsibilities, the Cowboys have started the season completely out of sync in each of the last two years. It takes McCarthy a long time to recognize that things aren’t working. Some of the things happening on offense are perplexing. The whole running back situation is one of them. Why did it take half a season for him to realize that Rico Dowdle should be the lead running back? Why doesn’t one of the team’s most explosive weapons, KaVontae Turpin, get more touches? And why does his offensive playbook shrivel up when he gets into the red zone? These are problems that never seem to go away. Even last year before the offense started humming, it was really terrible early on, and it feels like it takes him to be slapped upside the head before he realizes things aren’t working. It’s frustrating. There are other issues as well. The Cowboys still struggle with discipline as they’ve been one of the most penalized teams in the league under McCarthy. After the Cowboys lose, McCarthy appears unfazed and carries a “we’ll get’em next time” attitude. He has a heightened sense of how good they are and rather than correct problems, he behaves as if everything will eventually fall into place. Clearly, things didn’t work themselves out this season. Most people will blame injuries as the root cause for the Cowboys’ failures, and let’s be real, the injuries have been significant. It’s hard to think any coach could have success with the health problems the Cowboys have endured this year, particularly losing your starting quarterback for a large part of the season. When you look at the Cowboys’ last 20 seasons, four times they lost their starting quarterback for most of the year. Each time they finished with a losing season. Conversely, when their quarterback was healthy, they never finished with a losing season during that same 20-year span. That’s impressive and speaks to how good the supporting cast has been to keep winning across multiple coaching staffs. So, having a losing season in a year without Dak Prescott is par for the course for the Cowboys and McCarthy shouldn’t be overcriticized for that. But we shouldn’t stop there. This season has felt extra yucky because the Cowboys aren’t just losing games, they’re getting laughed out of the building. The Cowboys have lost five games this season by at least 20 points. No season in the Jerry Jones era had as many blowout losses as McCarthy’s group has this year. In fact, that’s the same amount of blowouts as all of the ‘90s Cowboys team had combined. That’s crazy. McCarthy’s blowout losses aren’t limited to one bad season or just when the starting quarterback is unavailable. His teams can show up and produce a stinker anytime. Watching them come out flat, struggle to make adjustments, and become the laughingstock for the week is no fun. And yet this has been a reoccurring theme for McCarthy’s Cowboys this season. But hey, no quarterback, no chance, right? While losing games is a likely outcome, not all losses are created equally, and it is interesting to look at those seasons where the Cowboys lost their starter and see how the coaching staff handled things. In 2010, they only had one blowout, and it was memorable. It was enough to get Wade Phillips fired the next day. After Phillips was fired, the team finished the year winning five of their last eight games with Jon Kitna at the helm. In 2015, they lost 12 games when the backup trio of Brandon Weeden, Matt Cassel, and Kellen Moore was awful, but they were in a dogfight most of the time. In comparison… Two losing seasons with Phillips/Garrett (2010 and 2015) = a total of three blowout losses Two losing seasons with McCarthy (2020 and 2024) = a total of eight blowout losses Some may believe a loss is a loss and it doesn’t matter if it’s by one point or 30 points, but there’s a big difference. Staying in the game and having a chance to win matters and far too many times the Cowboys aren’t doing that under McCarthy. In a vacuum, you might not think much of it, but considering the issues we mentioned before (coming out flat, unwillingness to change, not using his weapons correctly, constantly committing penalties), this becomes a lot more concerning. McCarthy’s issues are systemic. They won’t go away with a healthy quarterback. In fact, most of the blowout games the Cowboys have been in over the past two seasons have come with Prescott at quarterback. When the season ends, McCarthy’s fate will be decided. A lot of people are conflicted about whether he’s the right guy for the job. He’s done some good things and
