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What was expected to be a routine day earlier this week in the NFL turned into another captivating chapter in the ever-evolving narrative of the Dallas Cowboys. During Tuesday’s episode of NFL Live, league insider Adam Schefter shared his intriguing speculation about the Cowboys’ potential moves in the upcoming draft at the end of this month.
Schefter’s comments aren’t surprising nor incendiary on their surface, considering Dak Prescott’s contract status. By all accounts, the team is okay with entering Prescott’s final contract season without a new deal and leaving the Cowboys with a $55.4M cap hit on their ledger, although their stated preference has been getting a new deal done. If the Cowboys do work a new deal for Prescott, this year’s cost will be significantly cheaper. What makes Schefter’s comments intriguing, given his status as an insider, is the prospect that maybe the Cowboys are doing precisely what they wanted all along, and Schefter’s comments are the precursor to the Cowboys starting anew after this season.
We’re a few months removed from Dallas’ disappointing end to 2023. The embarrassing home playoff loss to the Green Bay Packers was especially damaging and feels more scathing than the Cowboys’ recent playoff disappointments with Prescott under center. Think back to where the Cowboys stood before facing the Packers. The NFL tide had turned. The Philadelphia Eagles were immersed in a freefall; the Tampa Bay Buccaneers won a porous NFC South division, Dallas had beaten the Detroit Lions at home just a couple of games earlier, practically winning them the second seed in the NFC playoffs, with an outside chance of hosting the NFC title game for the first time in nearly 30 years. There was hope, and dare we say expectations, to beat an opponent they were favored to win against at home.
It’s January 14th, 2012. We’re at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. With 14 seconds to play, down three, and facing a third down, the 49ers need a score to keep their playoff hopes alive – without needing to roll the dice in overtime. The Saints meanwhile can end this here with a takeaway and head to the NFC Championship Game themselves. To understand how we got here and to appreciate everything this moment represents, we need to rewind.
When the Cowboys found themselves down multiple scores to an inferior opponent in the second half, the vision that the Cowboys were on the cusp of maybe a storybook ending quickly faded back into a grim reality that the Cowboys were going to be bounced out early again. Schefter’s comments and the Cowboys’ front office approach this offseason thus far are giving fuel to the rebuild conclusion. Ask yourself: Would a team committed to their nucleus allow Tyron Smith to leave after initial indications were that he wanted to return and instead agreed to an incentive latent contract elsewhere? Or would a team committed to solutions not at least bring in some lower-priced free agents to replace some of their starters that had left?
Speaking of contracts, the Cowboys will not be approaching their own head coach for a new contract, nor have they made progress for an extension with Pro Bowl wide receiver CeeDee Lamb. The former, McCarthy, is coaching under immense pressure to compete for a championship on one end, but having to do it with what at this point is a lesser roster. That has failure written all over it, and perhaps by design. Lamb and Prescott’s contract status has been reported to get resolved at some point, but Prescott’s seems more tricky and possibly one that does not get done.
Most have taken Schefter’s comments to mean if they draft a QB, it will be a developmental one in a later round. We picked out three that might fit that bill earlier in the week. The big stretch is what if the Cowboys draft one early? Among the prospects who could be there for the Cowboys at the 24th pick are Oregon’s Bo Nix and Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. An investment of any of them with a first-round pick kickstarts the future of the franchise that would arrive sooner than later. What has held the Cowboys back over Prescott’s tenure as starting quarterback is not his fault. However, the combination of Prescott, undisciplined football in the postseason on defense, the front office philosophies, and the lack of conviction to win a title right now is sending all parties in different directions.
