Lunda Wells’ retention should end Jason Witten talk, unless… Ben Grimaldi When the news broke of the Cowboys retaining Lunda Wells, it was widely assumed he’d be back to coach the tight ends. And though his job title hasn’t been officially announced, keeping Wells should end the speculation that Jason Witten would wind up on the team’s staff in the immediate future. Wells was one of the best coaches brought on by former head man Mike McCarthy and many feared losing him. The Chicago Bears tried to hire away the well-respected TE coach, but there was another reason many Cowboys fans are happy about the extension for Wells. Retaining Wells is likely the nail in the coffin for the former TE, who would now struggle to fit the current Cowboys’ coaching staff, which seemed to be a big concern for the fanbase. While Witten was a star on the field, fans didn’t seem to love the idea of him being back as a coach with the team. The rumors about Witten being placed on the staff by Jerry Jones and groomed to be the future head coach for organization have been running rampant since the season ended, but have since been squashed. While nothing has been official, bringing Wells back should kill any last gasp of hope of Witten’s inclusion. However, no one would put making that type of move past Jones, and it was the main issue with the possibility of Witten being brought in for any role with the team. The thought that new head coach Brian Schottenheimer, or anybody who was being considered for the head coaching job, wasn’t in control of who he hired rightly sat the wrong way with the masses. Head coaches should be in charge of their staff, something 31 other franchises understand. Sadly, the Cowboys’ owner hasn’t always seen it that way. Jones has hired coaches before the head coach before so it was fair to wonder if it would happen again. Jason Garrett was brought on by Jones as the offensive coordinator before Wade Phillips was hired as the head coach, and the team kept Kellen Moore as the OC when McCarthy was hired. Not an ideal way to build a coaching staff, or to embolden the new coach. It’s hard to knock Witten as a candidate who might someday be a coach in the NFL. Currently, the four-time All-Pro, 11x Pro Bowl player, and Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year is busy winning back-to-back state championships for Liberty Christian School in Argyle, Texas. That’s proof that Witten can coach, but it’s a large leap from high school to professional football. No one knows if Witten would be a good coach in the NFL or not, or his level of interest, but the success of Dan Campbell with the Detroit Lions has pushed the narrative that Jones is trying to find his Campbell in Witten. And it doesn’t help that Jones has mentioned Witten’s name on numerous occasions about his ability to one day do the job successfully. For now, Cowboys fans wait to hear what position Wells will lead, with the offensive line being an option as well as the job he held for the last five years in Dallas. Either way, Wells being back is good news for a team that needs good coaching. It’s also appearing like it’s good news that Witten is going to be a conversation for another time. With Wells back, the coach Witten talk looks like it can be shelved with the Cowboys. One less act in the circus, for now.

Cowboys hire offensive coordinator whose strength is OL, run-game philosophies angeltorres It may have been touch and go for a bit, but Dallas officially hired the last of the big three coordinators for new Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimers’ staff. On Friday, a week after Schotty’s hire was announced, the team agreed to terms with Klayton Adams as the team’s offensive coordinator. Adams had been the offensive line coach in Arizona for the past two seasons under head coach Jonathan Gannon. This will be the first time Adams will hold the offensive coordinator position in the NFL which began in 2019 as an assistant offensive line coach under then-Colts head coach Frank Reich. The Cowboys new OC spent time with defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus in Indianapolis, working together for three seasons before both moved on from the Colts after 2021. Adams is renowned for his run-play designs, which helped Arizona go from a middling rushing team to a top-ten unit. The Cardinals ranked seventh in rushing yards per game this season and eighth in rushing touchdowns. Arizona averaged 5.3 yards per carry as a team which ranked second in the NFL just behind Baltimore who averaged 5.8 yards an attempt. Dallas has publicly stated that they want someone who is outstanding in the running game and Adams’ credentials certainly qualify him for the position. While Adams will carry the title of OC, it is widely expected that Schottenheimer will call plays on offense, much like the hierarchy when Mike McCarthy was the head coach for the Cowboys. The spotlight in Dallas has been known to be more exaggerated than most other NFL cities but Adams may have a leg up on other first-time Cowboys coaches. He graduated from Boise State in 2005 with a degree in communications with an emphasis on journalism. Adams began his coaching career as a student assistant in 2005 with Boise State. He went on to coach at West Washington University in 2007 as the offensive line coach and run game coordinator. He spent two seasons as an offensive assistant at Sacramento State and another two seasons with San Jose State before heading to Colorado in 2013 to coach the running backs and tight ends. He became the Buffaloe’s offensive line coach in 2016 and was promoted to co-offensive coordinator in 2018 before joining the Colts for the 2019 season.

Matt Eberflus’ defensive philosophy demands Cowboys re-sign this player reidhanson Free agency is time of comings and goings for NFL teams. Underperformers and poor fits typically leave, ideally replaced by higher performers and those who appear to be better fits. Coaching changes, like the kind the Dallas Cowboys are currently undergoing, can spark extra churn on the free agency front. Different coaches run different schemes, and since not all players fit all schemes, changes have to be made in personnel. The Kris Richard days are a perfect example. Richard, hailing from the Seattle defensive coaching tree, was a heavy Cover 1 and Cover 3 coach. Since his scheme demanded the most from his boundary cornerbacks, the Cowboys made an aggressive effort to replace their standard sized CBs with long and lean alternatives who were better equipped to handle the demands of Richard’s scheme. In 2025 the Cowboys have brought in Matt Eberflus to lead the defense. Like Richard, Eberflus has a particular brand of football he prefers and populates his roster accordingly. His brand happens to be on par with the direction most of the NFL has been trending in recent seasons: bend but don’t break. The pendulum has swung from the single-high looks and landed all the way on the other side of the schoolyard at the Vic Fangio 2-high. Eberflus’ defense, much like Rod Marinelli’s many years ago, plays with the middle of the field open. It lives in nickel personnel and disguises very little. It relies on a handful of key positions to make it all work and one of key positions is up for review this March in free agency. Aside from needing a dominant edge rusher, the Eberflus defense relies heavily on the 3-tech defensive tackle to provide most of the pressure. Micah Parsons, presumably in Dallas forever, has the edge position locked down. He’s one of the best edge players in the NFL and gives Eberflus everything he needs from either side of the defensive line. The 3-tech DT, aka under tackle, is considerably more unsettled. Osa Odighizuwa is about to enter free agency. With four years of service under his belt, he’s unrestricted in his availability and free to go to the highest bidder. It’s difficult to estimate for sure what the market will be for the UCLA product but as one of the most accomplished interior pressure players in the NFL, he’s likely to approach top 10 money at DT. With just 13.5 career sacks, it’s easy to take Odighizuwa for granted. Sacks are king in most minds and not everyone cares that Odighizuwa ranked fifth in pressures last season (tracked by Pro Football Focus). But care they should, because pressures are a far more stable statistic year to year than sacks and pressures are what Eberflus needs to make his defense work. Prior to 2024 there was concern Odighizuwa didn’t have the conditioning to make it through and entire 17 game NFL season. In previous years he faded down the stretch and wasn’t the same difference maker when games seemingly mattered the most. In 2024 that changed with him actually performing better down the stretch, thriving most in the back half of the year. Replacing Odighizuwa in a single season will be next to impossible if the Cowboys choose to go that route. Unless Dallas trades up for Michigan DT Mason Graham, they probably won’t find a plug-and-play rookie 3-tech like Odighizuwa would otherwise offer them. The new coaching staff needs certain competencies in place to make their systems work and one of those competencies for Eberflus’ defense is to have an explosive pressure player at 3-tech. Related articles [affiliatewidget_smgtolocal]

Cowboys may be well prepared for loss of $111 million, 9x All-Pro reidhanson Zack Martin is at a crossroads in his Dallas Cowboys career. The 34-year-old guard has had a Hall of Fame worthy career since joining the Cowboys in 2014. He’s been selected to nine Pro Bowls and earned seven First-Team All-Pro (2x Second-Team) throughout his 11 seasons. The only time he didn’t qualify for one or the other were in his injury shortened 2020 and 2024 campaigns. With more Pro Bowl appearances than career holding penalties, Martin is undeniably one of the all-time greats. Despite this, the Cowboys legend may be on his way out of Dallas. Martin is coming off an uncharacteristically pedestrian season. Whether it was age or injury that was the primary cause for the decline is difficult to say. But Martin didn’t look his usual self, and it impacted the Cowboys offensive line in a rather significant way. After reworking his contract before the 2023 season, void years were affixed on the back end beginning in 2025 (per Over the Cap). It has given both parties an out in the contract should either side decide to turn the page on this dominant era in Cowboys history. Martin has made over $111 million over his career in Dallas, but there’s over $27 million remaining to be allocated to the books over the next few seasons. The Cowboys have been in the business of turning pages on the offensive line as of late. Last season they parted with great left tackle Tyron Smith and a young veteran in center Tyler Biadasz. This season they rebuilt their coaching staff and look to mix up the blocking scheme. Saving money has been the name of the game and gambling big dollars on a veteran who may be on the decline is something the front office wants to avoid. But can the Cowboys survive the loss? To those who were paying attention in 2024 the answer is probably a firm, “yes.” Brock Hoffman, the man who was beat out at starting center by the rookie Cooper Beebe in training camp, proved to be more than capable at right guard. Hoffman embodied the type of nasty attitude offensive lines strive for. He was routinely playing through the whistle, virtually living under the skin of his opponents. He doesn’t have the stratospheric ceiling of Martin, but he played like a plus-level starter in the seven starts he made. Not to be forgotten, T.J. Bass also appears to be a solid replacement option. He was the expected heir apparent at RG when the 2024 season kicked off and he’s a player who already possesses a starting caliber skillset. The two guard options give the Cowboys a lot to work with if Martin does indeed depart Dallas. Their presence would allow the Cowboys to survive such a monumental departure and save the team fairly significant money in the process. Related articles [affiliatewidget_smgtolocal]

Cowboys sign TE coach Lunda Wells to contract extension Todd Brock The Cowboys have had to fend off suitors for Lunda Wells in recent offseasons, blocking an interview request as recently as last February after Dan Quinn expressed interest in bringing the well-respected tight ends coach to Washington. Now he’s officially off the market for this hiring cycle, too. Wells will stay in Dallas for Brian Schottenheimer’s first year as head coach, according to the 41-year-old himself via a report from Patrik Walker of the team website. Wells and the team have agreed on a contract extension that will keep him on staff, maintaining some continuity on the offensive side of the ball as Schottenheimer, the former offensive coordinator, continues to build his staff. It was not immediately specified if Wells will return to the Cowboys as tight ends coach or perhaps, as some have proposed, in another capacity. Wells had reportedly gotten some interest from the Bears and new head coach Ben Johnson; he visited with Chicago earlier in the week. Wells was an assistant O-line coach with the Giants for several years before taking over their tight end room for the 2018 and 2019 seasons. He joined the Cowboys staff as tight ends coach in 2020, where he has overseen the development of Blake Jarwin, Dalton Schultz, and Jake Ferguson, who was named to the Pro Bowl in 2023. [affiliatewidget_smgtolocal] The Louisiana native has also been instrumental in the progress shown by 2023 second-round draft pick Luke Schoonmaker. As a rookie, Schoonmaker put up very meager stats over his first 17 games as a pro. In his second season, the Michigan man more than doubled his targets, more than tripled his catches, and saw a 270% increase in receiving yards. This contract extension for Wells will bring him back to Dallas for a sixth season with the Cowboys.

Alternate Reality: Cowboys could’ve been led by Dan Quinn, Mike Zimmer as opposed to current path reidhanson Everyone remembers the one that got away. From the girl next door to the job offer with the bad timing, hindsight can be cruel as much as it can be educational. For the Dallas Cowboys, Sean Peyton is often seen as the head coach that got away. Once a Cowboys offensive coordinator under Bill Parcells, Payton was seen as the next great coach in Cowboys lore. As luck would have it, Parcells stayed on one year too long and Payton jumped ship one year too early, essentially killing the dream. Looking at the current situation in Dallas, it’s difficult not to think about what could have been once again. Over the past 13 months the Cowboys had a few desirable coaches on their staff and if they would have played things differently, they could have had considerably different setup today. After losing to Green Bay in the playoffs in the most embarrassing way possible one year ago, many believed McCarthy was a lock to get fired. The team was ill-prepared, unfocused and unmotivated. It was an indictment on a head coach that throughout his time in Dallas couldn’t win a postseason game against a team with a winning record. If the Cowboys would have fired McCarthy after that Packers loss, Dallas probably could have had Dan Quinn as their head coach in 2024. Not only that, dumping McCarthy would have unchained Brian Schottenheimer as the offensive coordinator. McCarthy never let Schottenheimer call plays during their time together and it was generally viewed as McCarthy’s offense through and through. Instead, the Cowboys stuck with McCarthy one more season, opening the door to Quinn’s departure and empowering the NFC East rival Commanders to complete one of the NFL’s biggest franchise turnarounds. There is an alternate reality in 2025 as well. Let’s say the Cowboys stuck with McCarthy and 2024 unfolded just as it did. But instead of elevating Schottenheimer to head coach, the Cowboys elevated Mike Zimmer instead. Zimmer was making headway on the Dallas defense in his one year as defensive coordinator. He survived a litany of injuries and instilled discipline in a notoriously undisciplined unit. It stands to reason with a healthy roster and a couple new pieces, the Cowboys defense could bounce back to elite ranks in no time. Much like the Quinn example a year prior, elevating the defensive coordinator to head coach wouldn’t necessarily run Schottenheimer out of town. Schottenheimer wanted to call plays and by most accounts wasn’t a high demand coaching prospect this winter. It stands to reason simply offering him control of the offense would be enough to keep him on board for the foreseeable future. In this scenario the Cowboys could have elevated fan favorite Al Harris to take over as Zimmer’s defensive coordinator or even brought in the current coordinator Matt Eberflus. It would still be Zimmer’s defense but would add additional coaching talent to franchise. In both scenarios Schottenheimer is running the offense it’s just the defense that’s in different hands. Theoretically the Cowboys could have had their cake and eaten it too. Maybe all things worked out for the best. Quinn got his chance to pull a franchise up from the dirt and the Cowboys dodged a coach whose postseason ended in another defensive meltdown. Zimmer wasn’t the most daring head coach in Minnesota so maybe he wouldn’t be a great option for the Cowboys. Based on possible gained win percentage, his fourth-down decision making finished in the middle of the pack (one spot worse than the Cowboys from 2014-2021) and he might have put Schottenheimer under his thumb as so many of Schottenheimer’s coaches had done in the past. It’s impossible to know how things would have turned out but it’s interesting to look back and envision how things could have been. Related articles [affiliatewidget_smgtolocal]

This position is prime for Cowboys to find a rookie replacement in 2025 reidhanson As if there wasn’t enough to do already, fans can probably add punter to the list of needs for the Dallas Cowboys this offseason. Bryan Anger, the Cowboys’ punter for the past four seasons, is a free agent. The veteran is regarded as one of the best punters in the NFL, logging Pro Bowl bids in two of his four seasons in Dallas. At 36-years-old, Anger is a little long in the tooth for an NFL player, but the punter position is forgiving, and Anger has been an ironman, missing just two games in 13 seasons (both in 2019). But with Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb and Trevon Diggs all making significant money, the Cowboys are looking to cut costs anywhere they can. And punter looks like a fairly obvious position to target. It’s not for nothing one of Anger’s biggest advocates, John Fassel, has signed on to coach special teams in Tennessee. It’s reasonable to assume some degree of interest will be paid to Anger as Fassel builds his unit out. According to Over the Cap, Anger cost the Cowboys an APY of $3 million during his time in Dallas. That’s not going to break the bank for the Cowboys but that’s not chump change either. Much like long snapper, punter is typically a position teams can generally go cheap with. It’s important but it’s not irreplaceable. If Anger does indeed leave, the Cowboys could look to a lower cost veteran or even the free agent crop of rookie punters to fill his shoes. Punters are rarely drafted so it would most likely be a post-draft addition if Dallas went the rookie route. In that case, punters like Alabama’s James Burnip, Oklahoma’s Luke Elzinga, Florida State’s Alex Mastromanno, Florida’s Jeremy Crawshaw and South Carolina’s Kai Kroeger all look like viable options. For the first time in a long time the Cowboys may be in the punter market. Just add that to a list of their many offseason needs in 2025. Related articles [affiliatewidget_smgtolocal]

Schottenheimer’s success with Cowboys hinges on one thing he can’t control Ben Grimaldi Brian Schottenheimer is now the 10th head coach in Dallas Cowboys history, and he’ll try to help end a Super Bowl drought that will reach three decades during the 2025 season. The opening press conference dog and pony show is over, and now the real work begins. The first-time coach can’t do it alone, and his success hinges just as much on the front office as it does him. Therein lies the biggest challenge for Schottenheimer, to find a way to lead the team if upper management doesn’t change their philosophy. It’s no surprise that Schottenheimer looked the part during his initial media session, but sadly Jerry and Stephen Jones played their roles as well. If Schottenheimer is the hero in production, the Joneses remain the villains. If the Cowboys want better results with their new coach, they’ll have to alter their ways and provide a better supporting cast. Frankly put, the front office will need to be more aggressive in acquiring talent. Free agency must be used for more than just the plugging of holes, as Stephen Jones put it during the opening presser. The stopgap option of waiting through the first few waves on the open market before signing cheaper players isn’t a way to break their championship drought. The last 12 years of free agency should have told organization this lesson. The Cowboys don’t need to sign the best and most expensive players in free agency, but they do have to add quality talent. The team can still sign players that help at positions of need, they just have to do it with better options. Team executive vice president Stephen Jones acknowledged they might need to alter their free agency approach during Schottenheimer’s press conference. Jones mentioned how the Cowboys will look at how they use free agency and how it helped the better teams in the league this season, but that guarantees nothing. Much like his dad’s facetious “all-in” comments from last offseason, Cowboys fans will believe it when they see it. Stephen Jones is notoriously cheap when it comes to adding outside players; the organization has signed just one player over $6 million annually since the 2012 offseason, and that was a one-year rental for defensive lineman Greg Hardy in 2015. Other than Hardy, the threshold has rarely been hit and no big-money free agent has been signed by Dallas. Instead, the Cowboys like to re-sign their own free agents and extend their best players before crying poverty. The Joneses (mainly Stephen) will talk about the salary cap and how the pie divides trying to make excuses as to why they don’t use free agency, it’s how the team conducted business last offseason. The Cowboys signed quarterback Dak Prescott and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb to massive extensions but slept through free agency. The team made one outside move, signing linebacker Eric Kendricks, and that was it before the compensatory pick window closed. That cannot be the case again this offseason, even with a high number of their own free agents to re-sign and the priority on extending edge rusher Micah Parsons, the Cowboys have to find quality players from outside the organization. They cannot be last in free agency spending again and expect to turn their fortunes around for 2025. Currently they don’t have a ton of salary cap space, but that can easily be managed by getting Parsons’ deal done quickly and restructuring some contracts, with Prescott and Lamb’s deals leading the way. The Cowboys can create all the cap room they need to be in on good players in the open market. Dallas can also be aggressive in the trade market. It was a successful route in 2023 when they dealt for cornerback Stephon Gilmore and WR Brandin Cooks. Any progressive approach to adding talent will be necessary to give their new coach a chance at being more successful than his predecessors. The Cowboys hired Schottenheimer to get them where their previous six coaches couldn’t, and part of those failures are because of how the front office operates. They can’t continue to do the same thing this time around, hoping it works. If the decision makers don’t give Schottenheimer more to work with, he’ll suffer the same fate as the previous six. This problem isn’t new, the previous two coaches have felt the sting of the organizations unwillingness to be proactive in acquiring talent. The lack of utilizing free agency has been something that’s held the Cowboys back for the past 12 years, and it threatens the team’s future again. Schottenheimer might only have one shot as a head coach, so he’s at the mercy of the Joneses and how they operate the franchise. It’s what he signed up for, and he’s been around the organization long enough to understand the way it works. There’s smiles and laughter now, but no one’s going to care if Schottenheimer can’t deliver on his bold prediction that the Cowboys are “gonna win championships.” The coach can only work with the talent he’s given, and hopefully, Dallas’ front office provides Schottenheimer with the players they need to get over the hump. Solving this Super Bowl drought is as much on the front office, as it is their new head coach.