Category: News and Notes

The weekend was bookended with sadness for football fans. The tragic news of Dwayne Haskins’s untimely death shook many in the football community, but the grief was soon compounded by the thoughtless remarks made by a longtime Cowboys executive on Saturday morning radio. Gil Brandt has now issued an apology. And just 24 hours later, the NFL lost another beloved figure in former running back and running backs coach Gary Brown. Cowboys players and extended family will no doubt continue to pay their respects over the coming days.

Meanwhile, the life of football goes on as always. Cowboys Wire features in-depth profiles of several college prospects, including wide receivers at several draft positions and an intriguing up-and-coming tight end. We pit first-round linebacker against first-round linebacker to determine which might be a better fit in Dallas, Trevon and Stefon Diggs share some brotherly love on National Siblings Day, and one of the team’s world-famous cheerleaders got married over the weekend… and the whole squad showed up to perform at the reception, in a video that’s going viral. It’s all ahead in this edition of News and Notes.

Draft prep is heating up. With more official visits to track, mocks to consider, and prospects to compare, we’ve also got this year’s official draft commandments. By charting their tendencies over the years, one can get a better sense of what the Cowboys war room will do once they’re on the clock. We’ll also look back at how the modern science of drafting college athletes took a quantum leap a long time ago, thanks to the contributions of a longtime Cowboys staffer.

Elsewhere, Deion Sanders weighs in on the NFL’s new race rule as it applies to coaching staffs, and an ex-Cowboy adds his support to the discrimination lawsuit brought by Brian Flores. Trevon Diggs is in the room as his older brother inks a new deal in Buffalo, and the Cowboys bid farewell to one of their all-time icons. It’s all in this edition of News and Notes.

The Cowboys need to take an offensive lineman with the 24th pick. Unless they can get an elite wide receiver. Or a lights-out edge rusher. Actually, all three are areas of legitimate need heading into the draft, and there’s a compelling case to be made for each one of those positions being addressed by Dallas with their first-round pick. The debate rages on as official visits continue.

Elsewhere, several ex-Cowboys are in the news. One is imploring his former team to execute better, one is heading back to college for his school’s spring scrimmage, one visited an up-and-coming program with words of advice, and one is seeking a new football home for the next chapter in his career. Another current Cowboy is getting a new number in 2022, a couple of young stars are hitting the gym together, ticket prices are going up for the Cowboys faithful, and could football be an Olympic sport before this decade is through? That’s all ahead in News and Notes.

Wide receiver was the talk of Cowboys Nation on Monday. With the revelation that the Dallas front office was sniffing around about DeVante Parker before the Dolphins traded him to New England, it seems the Cowboys may not be content to wait until draft day to add to the WR room. One outlet says N’Keal Harry should be their next target, we do due diligence on a USC prospect, and the team hosts an Arkansas Razorback. Of course, the Cowboys could address wide receiver with the second round pick, but history says that player tends to be a massive roll of the dice.

Elsewhere, Michael Irvin makes yet another Hall of Fame and has some tough love for the current crop of Cowboys. Emmitt Smith’s rushing record remains safe upon the retirement of one of the NFL’s true iron men, and a much-maligned former Cowboy finds a new home in The Big Easy. All that, plus tracking the prospects worth knowing between now and draft day, and an ex-NFL punter gets a hero’s welcome at one of the biggest events in AT&T Stadium history. That’s all on tap in News and Notes.

The decision by Bruce Arians to step down as Buccaneers head coach puts a former Cowboys assistant in the big office in Tampa. Also late-breaking Wednesday, news that the Cowboys and Chargers are working on plans to hold a joint practice between the two clubs this summer.

Tons of draft news to get to, too, including player profiles of four prospects worth getting to know, a mock that looks to the middle of the defense, and a glimpse of what one Ohio State speed demon could bring to Dallas. Stephen Jones is talking about linebackers- one that he passed on as well as one he can’t wait to see, Jourdan Lewis is throwing up the deuce in 2022, and a Cowboys receiver could be packing his bags for the desert. All that and more is in this edition of News and Notes.

Stephen Jones has all but nixed the notion of six-time first-team All-Pro joining the Cowboys as the team’s draft strategy continues to evolve behind the scenes. While taking a linebacker may be in the cards, there’s one draft-day move that would be the biggest mistake Dallas could make, according to one outlet. Making the right picks is why head coach Mike McCarthy says he skipped the league meeting in Florida; it could be a job-saving decision before it’s all said and done. One mock draft has the Cowboys addressing the offensive line, and a former first-round stud shares the story of how he nearly became a Cowboy before the team went back on its word.

In non-draft news, Michael Gallup’s 2022 debut may come later than hoped, Micah Parsons can expect to keep bouncing around on defense, captains’ workouts are heating up, and a former Cowboys backup will come marching in to a new locker room this season. All that, plus new overtime rules and a look at the star power that America’s Team draws… in the stands. Here’s the News and Notes.

Jerry Jones speaks. After weeks of uncharacteristic silence from the Cowboys owner, Jones held court at the league meetings with Dallas beat reporters and covered plenty of ground. Over the course of a morning chat, he detailed the team’s draft-day strategy, pulled back the curtain on why the team traded Amari Cooper and how they lost Randy Gregory, updated Michael Gallup’s recovery from ACL surgery, and commented on the Cowboys culture in the wake of several off-the-field scandals. He also found time to ask a judge to throw out the paternity lawsuit pending against him and make some serious allegations of his own about possible extortion.

Elsewhere, a closer look at just how big a deal the re-signing of Jayron Kearse could prove to be, keeping the Bobby Wagner hope alive, examining whether CeeDee Lamb should be returning punts, revisiting the draft class of 2018, checking out the power rankings, and looking into why no one cares about safeties… but why everyone may have to start. That’s all up in News and Notes.

As the league meetings get underway, one Cowboys notable is missing. Without Mike McCarthy there for any media Q&A, that leaves Jerry Jones to face the press. The Cowboys owner has been M.I.A. lately amid a handful of controversies both on and off the field, but the silence may end this week.

Elsewhere, an ex-Cowboy takes a shot at the team as he meets with reporters for his new club, and we learn that the Dallas front office tried to keep its struggling kicker in the building. Bills quarterback Josh Allen isn’t a fan of Trevon Diggs’s recent what-if scenario involving his brother, we get a glimpse into the day-to-day life of real-life cowboy James Washington, and the grades are out on which NFL GMs do draft-day trades the best. All that, plus a seven-round mock that also says the more picks, the better. Here’s your Monday morning News and Notes.