‘Arrow’s really up’ on Cowboys QB Trey Lance, per Jerry Jones, but interest from other teams rumored

From @ToddBrock24f7: The Cowboys are ready for a camp battle at QB2 behind Dak Prescott, if they don’t get a more attractive trade offer from another team first.

The intrigue in the Cowboys’ QB room goes well beyond starter Dak Prescott and a possible extension that may or may not make him the league’s first-ever $60 million-per-year player.

There’s also the question of what the team will do behind Prescott, with longtime backup Cooper Rush and 2023 acquisition Trey Lance expected to battle for the No. 2 spot this summer.

Unless, of course, something were to change dramatically before then.

And, oh, the potential for that is most definitely there.

Lance’s name has been trending in recent days thanks to a post-combine report from Rich Eisen, who said earlier this week that the third overall draft pick in 2021 is “a possible solve at quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings,” based on chatter he heard in Indianapolis.

The 23-year-old Lance is a Minnesota native with just eight games’ worth of NFL experience, but he could be an intriguing project for Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell, himself a former quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator who has helped develop Kirk Cousins in both Washington and Minnesota and Jared Goff with the Rams. He also helped guide Los Angeles to a Super Bowl win with Matthew Stafford under center.

With Cousins now expected to be the top passer available in free agency and already thought by some to be primed to sign with Atlanta, O’Connell and the Vikings could be faced with: bringing aboard a new veteran quarterback in free agency, adding a highly-rated college prospect via the draft, or trading for someone currently on another team’s roster.

The Cowboys have already picked up Lance’s $4.25 million bonus, due five days after training camp starts in July. But they’ve also made it known they won’t pick up his far pricier fifth-year bonus for 2025.

That’s like putting out a sign for the rest of the league that the Cowboys are willing to at listen to trade offers, though owner Jerry Jones has raved about Lance and his “unique skills” since giving up a fourth-round draft pick to obtain him in late August.

“The arrow’s really up,” Jones told reporters in Indianapolis over the weekend. “He’s exceeded expectations as a person, as a worker.”

The former North Dakota State product has thrown just 102 NFL passes. He spent the 2023 season in Dallas learning Mike McCarthy’s offense and serving as the team’s emergency third quarterback.

“He’s very much what we had planned on, hoped,” Jones confirmed. “When we gave the pick, we knew we would be paying the bonus right now. That was a part of the same decision. That’s been reinforced by what he’s been with the team and the person he is, potentially the player.”

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And while Jones answered a question about whether he expects Lance to compete with seven-year veteran Rush to be Prescott’s primary understudy with an unqualified “yes,” he would almost certainly at least consider flipping the two-time FCS champion and high-potential project player for an early enough selection in this year’s draft.

Of course, Jones could, at least theoretically, choose to stand pat on all three of his passers. Without an extension for the MVP runner-up, every Cowboys quarterback- Prescott, Rush, and Lance- could be in a contract year in 2024.

Drama in Big D, indeed.

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Cowboys’ Jerry Jones noncommittal on WR Michael Gallup’s future: ‘We need to sit down’

From @ToddBrock24f7: The Cowboys owner hinted that the club and WR needed to sit down and talk soon, but he lauded what Gallup has meant to the Cowboys.

Cowboys fans have learned to rightfully take anything owner Jerry Jones says with a grain tablespoon fully-loaded 18-wheeler truckload of salt.

The club’s seeming willingness to let eight-time Pro Bowl tackle Tyron Smith simply walk out the door (or at least the casual manner in which they’re letting that storyline float around in the ether) after making some nebulous, impossible-to-actually-quantify-but-it’ll-look-great-on-T-shirts-in-the-pro-shop “all in” proclamation is ample, maddening proof.

But Jones is even waffling- at least publicly- on what looks to be, on the surface, the easiest slam-dunk decision of the Cowboys’ offseason.

When asked during his annual bus powwow at the scouting combine about wide receiver Michael Gallup’s future with the club, the 81-year-old was predictably noncommittal.

“[We] Don’t have a decision that we would like to talk about right now,” Jones told reporters. “It’s one that we’ll be going over with him. Nothing that we would say without him being involved. We need to sit down and go over his stuff with him before we talk about what we’re going to do or not do.”

While that’s the fair and prudent thing to say out loud, all logical indications are that the Cowboys should likely cut the six-year veteran following a decline in production that’s now lasted four years, since his only 1,000-yard campaign in 2019.

Gallup is currently slated to count $13.85 million against the 2024 salary cap, but the team could save $9.5 million if they designate him a post-June 1 cut.

The fact that he’s caught just 73 balls for 842 yards in the two years since his ACL injury makes it tough for some to justify even the $4 million he’s due if he’s on the Dallas roster on March 18.

But alternatively, there’s also sentiment that a rapidly-shrinking wide receiver market could make Gallup a trade target for some needy team. He could actually earn the Cowboys something in return if they just hold on long enough… and do a little salesmanship in the meantime.

Jones insisted that the former third-round draft pick has meant far more to the Cowboys than his recent stats suggest. He pointed to the five-year, $57 million contract the front office gave him just three months after his injury as evidence.

“What he means is reflected in his salary and the deal that we gave him,” Jones explained. “And that’s exactly the way we felt about him, feel about him.”

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But Jones knows there is a long list of Cowboys players who are similarly up for review in the coming days, weeks, and months.

And he can’t allow how he felt about Michael Gallup as the 2019 player or how he feels about Michael Gallup as the 2024 person to be the deciding factor in what happens moving forward.

“What we need to do today, relative to what’s available, we’ll have to really consider it. We’ve got to really give that consideration,” the owner said. “We’ve got some other considerations we have to consider right now, too. We’ll go over that with him.”

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$255M salary cap gives Cowboys new flexibility in Prescott negotiations

Prescott had leverage on multiple levels, including timing. The new cap takes some of that away and provides the Jones family with more comfortable chairs at the negotiation tables. Here’s how, from @KDDrummondNFL.

It’s now easier for the Dallas Cowboys to walk away from Dak Prescott. On Friday, the NFL released the figures for the 2024 salary cap, $255.4 million, steamrolling past previous projections. Originally the number was rumored to be between $240 million and $245 million. The actual number comes in $13 million above the median of that range and Stephen Jones has to be ecstatic.

Why? Because it keeps them from being strong armed in the Dak Prescott contract negotiations. Don’t get it twisted, Prescott still has like 80% of all of the leverage here, but blowing things up just became a little bit more palatable for the Jones family. Even if they do end up signing Prescott long-term, the extra room means they don’t have to resolve Prescott’s situation before addressing other needs. If nothing else, the additional cap space buys the Cowboys time.

Prescott currently sits with a $59.5 million cap hit that can be easily reduced in many ways. The most likely way is that the team works out an extension that makes him the highest paid player in league history, but reduces the 2024 impact on the cap. But now, with this extra $13 million in space they can play a little more hardball because it’s not as catastrophic to their offseason to not get space from Prescott’s deal.

 

 

For Cowboys to be all-in, they need to re-sign Dak Prescott

“All in” can mean a number of things but if the Cowboys really intend to make a major effort in 2024, it means they have to re-sign Dak Prescott, says @ReidDHanson.

“The king is dead. Long live the king.” It’s a customary phrase said at the passing of a monarch. It symbolizes the turning of the page as the new king is coronated and serves to immediately shift focus from the past to the future.

For Cowboys’ fans – don’t worry, Jerry Jones appears to be in fine health – it illustrates the front office’s readiness to move on to the 2024 season. After such a disastrous ending to the previous campaign, the Cowboys are eager to pour dirt on the old season and immediate shift into 2024 mode in one fell swoop.

In discussions with reporters at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Jerry and Stephen Jones wasted no time hyping up the new season, giving just brief homage to the heartbreaking opportunity that was lost weeks ago.

“I think we’ll push the hell out of it,” Owner Jones said describing his level of aggressiveness in the coming offseason. “It will be going all in on different people than you’ve done in the past. We’ll be going all in…”

The, this year will be different vibe, was nothing new from Jones. The Cowboys’ master salesman does this every year about this time of winter, but use of the phrase “all in” was undoubtedly a new addition.

All-in is a strategy fans have been clamoring for, but the Cowboys have been avoiding. All in requires money and resources. It also could come at the cost of future campaigns. For a franchise that’s built on selling hope and hype each season, lean years are something they typically try to avoid.

But with fat new contracts approaching, the biggest window of opportunity appears to be closing. CeeDee Lamb and Micah Parsons will both be moving off their affordable rookie deals and into top-of-the-market territory. If Dallas wants to strike while the iron is hot and resources are available, 2024 is the time to do it.

Still, it’s difficult to hear the Joneses words without a certain degree of skepticism.

What is “all in?”

According to the most recent numbers from OTC, the Cowboys are over the cap already. Their -$22,805,299 in effective cap space ranks them bottom-six in the NFL this year. While most NFL fans know this cap number is highly malleable and not something that would inhibit a team from fulfilling their widest desires, the Cowboys typically paint the cap in a different light.

On countless occasions the Joneses have used the salary cap to explain and/or excuse their lack of activity in the offseason. They’ve used the excuse to avoid signing their own free agents and used it to explain why they didn’t sign good outside free agents.

The salary cap has served an important purpose for them and other owners. In many ways the salary cap was created by the owners to curb their own spending and justify it to their fanbases. It keeps their costs low and their profits high. It was made in the name of parity but used as a way to deflect blame.

When Jerry Jones says “all in” does he mean all that’s available today (which is nothing), a few dollars he’ll free up through restructuring deals in March (which is modest), or is he really talking about maximizing his spending power?

Jerry Jones’ touching gesture for grieving family of Cowboys fan

From @ToddBrock24f7: Jerry Jones sent a care package and a personal note to the family of a fan who passed away just before seeing his first Cowboys game.

The public perception of Cowboys owner Jerry Jones often paints a very specific picture. The glistening stadium. The high-level business dealings and sponsorships. The top-dollar real estate sprawl surrounding the team’s headquarters. Helicoptering in for games. Vacationing on the mega-yacht. Rolling up to the combine in his own luxury tour bus. The nonstop merchandising juggernaut behind the most valuable franchise in sports and one of the most recognized brands on the planet.

But every once in a while, a story comes to light that shows just how much the team- and its legions of faithful fans- really mean to the 81-year-old billionaire.

Veteran Cowboys insider Ed Werder brings us one such story this weekend, sharing via social media what Jones did for the family of a lifelong Cowboys fan who tragically never made it to his very first Cowboys game.

Timothy Washington was a hardcore Cowboys fan who, at 64, had never seen an NFL contest in person. His son, Timothy Jr., sought to change that earlier this month, taking his father to the Cowboys’ regular-season finale, their Week 18 road game versus the Commanders at FedEx Field.

Sadly, the elder Washington collapsed about 100 yards from the stadium on Jan. 7 and passed away.

Back at home in New Jersey after handling his father’s arrangements, the younger Washington received a care package from the Cowboys and a letter from Jones himself. Timothy Jr. shared the letter on his own Facebook page.

“Timothy’s support humbles me, and he is an inspiration,” Jones’s letter read, in part.

“We are grateful to have played a small part in Timothy’s life and appreciate his enthusiasm and love of the Dallas Cowboys!”

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It is perhaps a small gesture in the grand scheme of things, but one that deeply touched the grieving family and perhaps puts the game and the big-business team we all love into a different perspective, if only for a moment.

“Special thanks to Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys for reaching out to our family and recognizing my Dad,” Tim Washington Jr. wrote on Facebook. “He would be so proud.”

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‘We have great confidence’: Jerry Jones makes statement regarding McCarthy’s 5th season as Cowboys HC

From @ToddBrock24f7: Jones promised a “deep review” after the Cowboys’ latest playoff loss but maintains that retaining McCarthy is “the best step forward.”

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones issued a statement Wednesday night shortly after news broke that Mike McCarthy would return for a fifth season as the team’s head coach.

Here is the full body of the statement:

“I believe this team is very close and capable of achieving our ultimate goals, and the best step forward for us will be with Mike McCarthy as our head coach. There is great benefit to continuing the team’s progress under Mike’s leadership as our head coach. Specifically, there are many layers of success that have occurred this season as a result of Mike’s approach to leading the team, both with individual players and with our team collectively. Mike has the highest regular-season winning percentage of any head coach in Cowboys history, and we will dedicate ourselves, in partnership with him, to translating that into reaching our postseason goals. Certainly, Mike’s career has demonstrated postseason success at a high level, and we have great confidence that can continue.

Further, our loss on Sunday is shared by everyone here, not just Coach McCarthy. Our players. Our coaches. Our front office. Myself. There is accountability for our results. I am accountable for our results. The lens we use to view and evaluate Coach McCarthy is holistic. While we’re all disappointed with the result on Sunday and with our playoff record, I am 100 percent supportive of him as our head coach and ability to reach our goals.

We will start our process of review and decision-making regarding everything that impacts our team and roster and, while we’re not going to address specific players and extensions or free agents at this point, it deserves our deepest review and consideration, and it will get it.”

McCarthy, the ninth head coach in franchise history, does have the best winning percentage of all of them… by the slimmest of margins. His .627 mark is just two-thousandths of a percentage point better than Barry Switzer’s .625, compiled from 1994 to 1997.

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Of course, it’s worth pointing out that Switzer’s Cowboys went 5-2 in the postseason over his four-season tenure and won a Super Bowl; McCarthy’s Dallas teams now have a 1-3 playoff record over an equivalent three postseason berths.

McCarthy’s 42 regular-season wins are just two behind the 44 put up by Hall of Famer Jimmy Johnson over his five years with the club. He’ll presumably pass Johnson for third place in both wins and games coached for the Cowboys during the 2024 season.

McCarthy is expected to hold a press conference on Thursday, his annual end-of-season media address.

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Breaking: Cowboys HC Mike McCarthy to return for 2024 season

The Cowboys will have Mike McCarthy return for the 2024 season. | From @KDDrummondNFL

The news has finally landed and there will not be a change atop the Dallas Cowboys coaching tree. Head coach Mike McCarthy will return for the 2024 season, his final under his five-year contract signed in 2020. Based on his regular season results this seemed like a foregone conclusion, but Dallas’ disastrous wild-card round loss clouded the picture.

After finishing 12-5 for the third consecutive season and winning the NFC East for the second time in the span, McCarthy’s Cowboys looked woefully inept in their home defeat against the Green Bay Packers. Dallas lost 48-32, in a game that wasn’t that close, as the only home team to lose among the six games over the weekend. After meeting with him on Wednesday, owner Jerry Jones informed McCarthy he would get the chance to redeem himself.

 

Cowboys to play in Germany in 2024? 1 in 9 shot

After the NFL announced the home teams for the four European games next season, with only one of the team’s being on Dallas’ road schedule. | From @KDDrummondNFL

The NFL has announced the four teams who will serve as hosts in the European version of the 2024 International Series. The Chicago Bears, Minnesota Vikings and Jacksonville Jaguars will “host” games in London, England and the Carolina Panthers will be the “home” team for a game in Munich, Germany next fall.

While Dallas doesn’t haven’t any of the London teams on their schedule next year, they do travel to the Panthers as part of the NFC East and NFC South divisional rotations in 2024. That means they are one of nine opponents which could be selected to travel across the Atlantic to show some NFL diplomacy.

The Cowboys have played in the International Series just once, traveling to London to face the Jaguars, who annually play there. The NFL has yet to announce who the home team will be for the league’s first foray into South America where they will play a game in Brazil in 2024.

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has been very adamant about not wanting his franchise to lose a home game in order to support the league’s expansion into other markets. However he has noted he has no problem being the big-ticket draw as the visiting club, as long as he doesn’t have to give up any home dates at AT&T Stadium.

The NFL voted to expand the series during the Winter Meetings, and will have nine international games a year starting in 2025. All teams will have to host a game, but that will potentially include Mexico City, the one international destination Jones isn’t adamant in avoiding.

Jimmy Johnson retrospective, Cowboys Ring of Honor induction photo gallery

A look back on Saturday night’s induction ceremony of the incomparable Jimmy Johnson. | From @KDDrummondNFL

Jimmy Johnson became the 24th person inducted into the Dallas Cowboys’ Ring of Honor on Saturday night. The halftime festivities included a ton of emotion for the two-time Super Bowl winning coach, who seems to have finally been able to bury the beef with owner Jerry Jones.

Several RoH members were on hand for the ceremony, including Roger Staubach, Tony Dorsett and Johnson’s own triplets: Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin and Emmitt Smith. Check out the pics from the festivities and a handful of other memories from Johnson’s tenure.

Cowboys fans shouldn’t be distracted by McCarthy contract headlines

From @ToddBrock24f7: Sunday morning brought whispers of a supposedly imminent extension for the head coach, but Jerry Jones is keeping his options open.

The Dallas Cowboys have one of the NFL’s best records through the first 14 weeks of the 2023 season.

Mike McCarthy is under contract with the team through 2024.

These are incontrovertible facts. Black and white. But things get myriad shades of gray in a hurry if you ask owner Jerry Jones to make any sort of proclamation beyond that.

Despite a Sunday-morning headline from NFL insider Ian Rapoport that almost makes it sound like Jones is working on a contract extension for the 60-year-old head coach and play-caller, the truth is there is no news whatsoever on that front.

According to Rapoport, Jones was asked at this week’s league meeting in Dallas “whether he envisions” an extension for McCarthy. Rapoport goes on to state, “The indication was yes.”

But was it really?

Look at what Jones actually said in response:

“That’ll have a course that seeks its own time frame.”

Read that again.

That is a big fat helping of typical Jerry Jones word salad. Ten words that come across as profound on the surface but say absolutely nothing of consequence, a sentence that borders on nonsensical rambling.

He was at least somewhat more definitive with his next utterance:

“I don’t do anything of that sort until the season is over.”

While the Cowboys are, in fact, in great shape heading into Week 15- near the top of most sets of power rankings and a favorite to do damage in the playoffs- they haven’t even matched their win total of last season… or the season before… and there was a not-insignificant faction of Cowboys Nation ready to run McCarthy out of town after both of those January exits.

If the team were to catastrophically collapse over the final four games, or get bounced out of the bracket on Wild Card Weekend, or get spanked in the divisional round, or get blown off the field in the NFC championship, the seat under McCarthy would no doubt- once again- get pretty toasty pretty quickly.

And Jones is a man who insists on keeping his options open.

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Add in the probability that defensive coordinator Dan Quin- (the obvious choice if McCarthy were to no longer be the guy- is eventually going to be offered a head coaching position somewhere he actually wants to go (and would likely take assistants with him), and Jones would be downright foolish to call any sort of a shot now.

A Super Bowl ring (or even, really, just an appearance in the big game) would almost certainly make a McCarthy extension a foregone conclusion, especially after the improvements he’s made to the offense’s production since taking over playcalling duties. As Rapoport rightly suggests, “in most other situations, McCarthy would be the subject of coach of the year talk.”

But despite how casually tossing out a headline about McCarthy and an imminent contract extension makes for a great tease on the Sunday pre-game shows, it’s simply too early for the front office to actually make that kind of decision about McCarthy’s future, despite the way things look right this minute.

And that’s what Jones’s non-answer really means.

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