The future of the Dallas Cowboys is a bit cloudy to say the least. To be perfectly clear here this sentence could apply to both the short- and long-term. In our immediate moment the team is heading out to Oxnard, California for training camp in hopes that this is the year that Lombardi Trophy number six will pick up a DFW area code, but should the team fail in that regard that specific endeavor will officially turn 30 years old given that it will take until at least the 2025 season. No bueno.
But as far as the long game is concerned the future is also a but murky given that in the here and now (marrying the two a bit) the most important people relative to the franchise are in sticky contractual situations in Mike McCarthy, Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb and Micah Parsons.
You may not believe that one of or all of these people are vital to this whole thing working, but that ultimately works to the same point. If these aren’t the people then the right people have to be found which takes an immense amount of work which means the future is, as noted, a bit treacherous.
It seems that this is being noted by other people, too.
Something that ESPN does every year is rank the future outlook of every single team at the present moment. It is an interesting exercise given that some teams may not necessarily be top-tier contenders right now but look to be sooner rather than later. Ideally you want to be both, obviously.
Monday morning saw the latest batch of rankings come out and the usual suspects fill out the top five. The Kansas City Chiefs are number one followed by the Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills, Detroit Lions and Philadelphia Eagles. The Houston Texans are knocking on the door of the top five coming in at number six.
When you look at these teams you see stable quarterback situations (Detroit not quite as much, Philadelphia is hardly on thick ice) for the most part, similarly so at the skipper position. These are rosters flush with talent where the most important players are ensured to be around for the foreseeable future. It isn’t wild to assume that the next 2-3 Super Bowl wins could be won between them.
ESPN does not feel as comfortable with the Dallas Cowboys though and ranked them right down near league average at number 14.
Reason for hope: The Cowboys have shown a consistent ability to draft well over the years, so even if the current roster loses key parts in the coming years for cap reasons, they should be able to replenish. They have superstars on both sides of the ball in wide receiver CeeDee Lamb (1,749 receiving yards, ranking second last season) and edge rusher Micah Parsons (14 sacks, tied for seventh). And I still believe they will get a new deal done with quarterback Dak Prescott eventually. Hey, we’re being optimistic here. — Graziano
Reason for concern: What’s the alternative to Prescott if these two sides are not able to come to an agreement on a contract extension before he becomes a free agent next offseason? More than anything else, that will determine how this team’s future will play out over the next three seasons. Yes, they need to get Lamb and Parsons signed to new deals, too, but the QB is the focus — especially after Prescott was an MVP runner-up and one of only three QBs to throw for more than 4,500 yards in 2023. — Riddick
Nugget to know: Young cornerbacks DaRon Bland and Trevon Diggs racked up the interceptions over the past few years but also allowed a lot of big deep shots to opposing wide receivers. Bland, under contract through 2025, ranked 13th in coverage DVOA among qualifying corners last season, thanks in part to his nine interceptions, but 60th with 8.5 yards allowed per pass. Diggs, under contract through 2028, had 11 interceptions in 2021. He ranked 34th in coverage DVOA in his last full healthy season (2022) but 76th with 9.2 yards allowed per pass. — Schatz
The story of the offseason for the Cowboys has mostly been, whenever people weren’t chiding Jerry Jones for his “all-in” declaration, about contract extensions for the team’s superstars so it makes sense for that to be the meat of this idea, especially given that the point of the exercise is to look at the future of a team.
Relying on Dallas’ ability to draft well is certainly a choice, especially if they continue to be free agency wallflowers, and we are potentially a year away from their reputation for drafting well taking a hit given the pressure on the 2023 draft class this season. That is also a future concern, though.
Bringing up DaRon Bland is an important piece of context, especially next to Trevon Diggs’ name given that they will be patrolling the same secondary for the first time (in terms of being the top two corners) this season. It is arguable that no team is better set up at cornerback for the time period in question in the exercise (once again, 2-3 years) but one position group on defense can only carry you so far even if you believe in Diggs and Bland as a duo.
It is interesting how a few pen swishes could change the outlook of this whole thing significantly. Whether or not the Cowboys are able to put that magic wand in the hands of the right players remains to be seen, but they have had months to do so and haven’t gotten it done.
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