Category: News and Notes

The Cowboys aren’t in Super Bowl LVI, but why they’re not was a popular topic during the lead-up to the big game. As hype week rolled on toward Sunday, there was no shortage of former Cowboys making the interview rounds, and all were asked to troubleshoot the current troubles in Big D. Emmitt Smith had plenty of fingers to point, but Troy Aikman was left mostly scratching his head.

Rookie linebacker Micah Parsons may have accidentally spiced up next season’s matchup with the AFC champs with his opinion of Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, and the Cowboys organization are sending some Metroplex heroes to the big game. Dak Prescott won’t blame his calf injury for the team’s downward slide in 2021, one wide receiver used his media moment to hype up his position-mate, and we’re doing some window shopping for edge rusher help. All that, plus career news regarding two former Cowboys defensive coaches. That’s all in this edition of New and Notes.

The Cowboys were a significant character in the NFL Honors broadcast Thursday night. While head coach Mike McCarthy served as a primetime punchline, Micah Parsons racked up a record-setting win and is already trying to parlay the award into a major-league moment. All that on a night when a Cowboys legend was shockingly left on the outside looking in.

Plenty more to discuss in Cowboys Nation, like the new position coach who spent his third day on the job interviewing somewhere else. And the revelation that our rookie phenom actually played the whole season hurt. Two Cowboys youngsters have gotten a taste of just what it truly means to play for the Team America Loves to Hate, and CeeDee Lamb talks wistfully about how a rival use their rangy wide receiver. We’ve got an analytical approach to a first-round mock pick, reflections on the Cowboys organization from a former player about to take the field for a championship, and the stories you don’t know about the last Super Bowl to be played in Los Angeles (the one where Dallas rolled to a 52-17 win). All that, plus one of the weirdest traditions in all of sports is about to go down once again. Here’s the News and Notes.

Of the many, many decisions the Cowboys have to make this offseason, how to fix the running game has to be near the top of the list. While Ezekiel Elliott had another down year and suddenly looks like more of a drain on the team’s wallet than an offensive workhorse capable of carrying the team, conventional wisdom says his contract makes him untouchable in 2022. But, as they say, desperate times…

Also in the news, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has a deep connection to this year’s Super Bowl, even though his team is watching from home. And two of the franchise’s past quarterbacks recall their very early glimpses of one of this year’s title-game passers. Micah Parsons is still picking up awards for his rookie season even as he’s already looking ahead to next year, there’s news about both an outgoing Cowboys staffer and a former assistant coach, we’ve got mock drafts to dissect, and America’s Team rakes it in at the cash register once again. All that, plus birthday wishes for the Wolf Hunter and re-telling a forgotten story from the Cowboys-Eagles rivalry. That’s all up next in News and Notes.

The Cowboys coaching staff for 2022 came into much clearer focus by the end of business Monday. With the Dolphins’ hiring of Mike McDaniel, offensive coordinator Kellen Moore looks to be returning to his role in Dallas, where he still has plenty of room to improve… and the tools to do it. But there’s also a new face who’ll reportedly be under Moore; the Cowboys are finalizing an agreement for a veteran wide receivers coach who Moore has some history with.

Elsewhere, we’re looking at how to best help Dak Prescott take the next step, we’re looking past the doom-and-gloom forecast of the Cowboys’ cap situation to find a silver lining, and we’re unveiling a new set of metrics by which defensive backs should be measured moving forward. (And they just happen to show us what we already knew about Trevon Diggs.) We’ve got a Pro Bowl recap, a list of free agents the Cowboys won’t go after (but should), a new Dawg in the house according to the latest mock, and we’re ranking not only the best turnarounds in the Super Bowl era but the best cities to have hosted the big game. That’s all up in News and Notes.

Difficult decisions lie ahead in the Dallas front office. As free agency draws ever closer, the Cowboys ownership will have to start taking long looks at several players, knowing full well that some of them have already seen their final snap wearing the star. Among the biggest items on the to-do list is to make a call on DeMarcus Lawrence and Randy Gregory; conventional wisdom says it’s unlikely both will be back in 2022. On satellite radio, team executive vice president Stephen Jones admitted that there will be several veteran players who are dismissed over financial limitations, even as he continues to depend on the draft over spending free agency dollars to re-stock the shelves.

Elsewhere, Micah Parsons wants his speed adjusted for gamers after a blistering display in Las Vegas, Trevon Diggs shows up a trio of Pro Bowl receivers with his hands, and Tony Romo is coming to your television in a very different way. We’re scouting a Day One offensive line prospect, checking out which late-rounders looked good at the Senior Bowl, and wondering what the defense really has in Jabril Cox. Finally, the Cowboys are lending their support to bringing the game of football to a new audience, and The Star gets a fresh blanket of winter white. That’s all on tap in the News and Notes.

Talk of coaching staffs ruled the news on Wednesday. As more is learned about the Brian Flores lawsuit regarding equitable hiring practices, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones had thoughts on how the league needs to make further progress. But he also stirred the pot when it comes to his own staff by making more wide-open-for-misinterpretation comments about head coach Mike McCarthy and defensive coordinator Dan Quinn. That news comes even as offensive coordinator Kellen Moore perhaps gets a boost for the Miami job simply by one candidate deciding to stay in the college ranks. And Deion Sanders is making huge waves as the head coach at tiny Jackson State for the second year in a row.

Elsewhere, a Cowboys superstar pulls out of the Pro Bowl, a rising star is set to go under the knife, and a rival team inexplicably (expectedly?) botching their nickname and uniform reveal. We’re digging into Coach McCarthy’s past when it comes to criticizing refs, previewing the late-round finds of this year’s draft, looking at a possible first-round talent, and imagining great things for one of last year’s rookies. Dak Prescott makes his first public comments since the gutting loss in the playoffs, we have a complete ranking of all 55 Super Bowls, and the man behind every Cowboys media appearance of the past three decades is shutting it down. It’s all ahead in News and Notes.

Tuesday started with Tom Brady making his retirement officially official, and it ended with the bombshell report of allegations of rampant racism in the NFL. One outspoken ex-Cowboy was among the first to weigh in on the Brian Flores lawsuit that will undoubtedly rock the league in the days and weeks to come.

Within Cowboys Nation, we’re still assigning blame for the disappointments of 2021. Is Mike McCarthy the problem? Or is it Jerry Jones? Jerry’s son Stephen, meanwhile, revealed why the front office isn’t too concerned about losing their offensive coordinator, and he talked about the expectations surrounding their star wideout. One outlet is predicting where that pass-catcher might land if the Cowboys release him, and the team’s secondary coach has another meeting scheduled regarding a new gig of his own. We’re looking at an unsung hero of the D-line, racking up more honors for everyone’s favorite rookie linebacker, and tipping our cap to a franchise icon for giving back to his Dallas community. That’s all up in the News and Notes.

It’s getting closer to the time of the football offseason when talk of dollars and cents supersedes the Xs and Os. With the Cowboys figuring to be in the red when it comes to the salary cap, all kinds of solutions will be kicked around with an eye toward saving some green.

But there’s plenty of ideas on other places to spend wisely, from defensive free agents and a multi-talented wideout worth re-signing to simply working smarter with the resources already on the roster… like the woefully underused Tony Pollard. Elsewhere, Pro Bowl roster moves, Kellen Moore’s odds in Miami, and who in the college ranks to keep an eye on, both in the draft and at the Senior Bowl this weekend. All that, plus a former fan favorite gets his Super Bowl shot, and who reportedly didn’t call Sean Payton about coaching. Here’s the News and Notes.