Tag: Dak Prescott

Cowboys $91 million position predicted to be addressed in both draft, free agency

A review of what the Cowboys have at QB, what they’ll do once the league year starts with free agency and the draft.

With the 2024 NFL season concluding Sunday, it’s now time for all 32 teams to turn their attention to the 2025 season.  There is approximately just one month’s time for teams to finalize their game plans of how they want to attack the offseason and for the Dallas Cowboys, there’s a lot of work to be done.

The team has configured the majority of their new coaching staff, led by new head coach Brian Schottenheimer and his new coordinators Klayton Adams and Matt Eberflus. Personnel director Will McClay has been extended for five more seasons and now the attention needs to turn to fixing the roster that resulted in a 7-10 regular season record. Everything starts at the top, and in the NFL that’s the quarterback position.

Rostered: $90.9 million in cap space

The Cowboys have two players under contract for 2025, starter Dak Prescott and backup Will Grier.

Prescott enters the first year of his four-year extension signed at the beginning of last season worth $240 million. Currently he is set to take up $89.9 million of cap space, with the salary cap expected to come in around $272.5 million in 2025. Clearly the Cowboys aren’t going to allow one player to eat up one-third of their cap space and the team will restructure the deal, as was intended when it was signed.

Restructuring Prescott’s base salary ($47.75 million) can be done all at once, or as cap space is needed. The minimum base salary for a player with Prescott’s experience (7+ years) is $1.255 million. Up to $46.5 million of salary can be spread evenly over five years (four contract years and the first of four void years already built in) meaning the club could shave up to $37.2 million off of Prescott’s 2025 cap hit.

Grier is a placeholder, signed well after Prescott was lost for the year, and is no guarantee to make the club, or even training camp for that matter. He’s currently on the books for the league minimum of $1.17 million and has a cap hit of $1.03 million.

Prediction: Restructure Prescott, Grier is a camp body with a shot.

Pending Free Agents

Prescott’s primary backups for the last two seasons, Cooper Rush and Trey Lance, are both pending free agents. Dallas traded for Lance, giving up a 2024 fourth-round pick in 2023, and gave him no opportunity to prove he could be a viable backup whatsoever, giving them little game evidence to decide on.

Rush was given plenty of opportunity and again proved to be a capable bus driver who is mistake prone but able to win some games. Rush has a career 9-5 record with a 2:1 TD:INT ratio, going 4-4 last year with a career worst 40.8 QBR.

There will likely be some team interested in bringing Lance in to give the young guy a shot and likely some team interested in having Rush around while they groom a young QB out of the draft. There’s arguments for either or neither to be back in Dallas, but not both.

Prediction: Both sign elsewhere.

External Free Agents

There’s a limited amount of intriguing QBs in free agency this year, and the Cowboys aren’t going to be looking to spend significant space on a backup with so many other needs. Failures elsewhere, such as Justin Fields, Mac Jones and Daniel Jones, will probably have a market that prices the Cowboys out.

Prediction: Sign Jameis Winston, two-year, $7.5 million (void years), $2 million cap hit

2025 NFL Draft

The Cowboys could have gone in multiple directions with their head coaching hire, but clearly were looking for stability with the staff that has worked with Prescott. Any idea the club would be looking to escape Prescott’s contract soon and draft an heir apparent to groom went out the window with Schotty’s hire.

That doesn’t mean the club will be out on QB in the draft though, as it makes sense to draft and develop a future backup.

Prediction: Use one of their four fifth-round picks to draft a QB, such as Louisville’s Tyler Shough.

Dak Prescott salary: How much money did Cowboys QB make this season?

Here’s how much Dallas Cowboys QB Dak Prescott earned during the 2024-2025 season.

Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys faced a mountain of difficulties in their 2024 campaign, which saw ‘America’s Team’ post a disappointing 7-10 record. Prescott was on the Cowboys’ injured reserve list at the end of Dallas’ regular season schedule due to a hamstring injury.

How much money did Prescott make this season?

Dak Prescott 2024-2025 salary

The Cowboys and Prescott agreed to a 4-year $240,000,000 contract extension in 2024, which netted the franchise quarterback a massive $78,458,333 signing bonus to stay in Dallas through 2028.

Because of Prescott’s massive signing bonus, his base salary in 2024 was only $2,791,667 although Prescott was also paid a $5,000,000 restructuring bonus.

His total cash paid in 2024 was $86,258,820, a gigantic sum to take home in one season.

Prescott’s total cap hit for 2024 amounted to $44,624,800 per Spotrac.

How much will Dak Prescott make next season?

In 2025, Prescott’s base salary will increase to $47,750,000. Prescott’s cap hit is projected to be $89,896,666. The Cowboys could seek to restructure his contract and convert a portion of his salary into bonuses to give themselves more financial flexibility in 2025.

Here’s what changes Cowboys fans can expect from Schottenheimer’s offense

Brian Schottenheimer is more than meets the eye and may take the Cowboys to new heights, from @ReidDHanson.

When the Dallas Cowboys announced the hiring of Brian Schottenheimer as their next head coach, fans scrambled for answers. The long-time assistant coach didn’t have a head coaching history to reference, and his years as an offensive assistant were mixed in both style and substance. Even his time in Dallas was shrouded in mystery because despite holding the role of offensive coordinator, it wasn’t Schottenheimer calling the plays but rather head coach Mike McCarthy.

The Schottenheimer name is synonymous with ground-and-pound football. It was the legacy of Schottenheimer’s father, and the defining trait at more than a few of the younger Schottenheimer’s coaching stops. But to simply call Schottenheimer a “run-first” offensive mind is being a little disingenuous. He’s really much more than that.

The Cowboys new head coach opened up about his offense on Monday at the introductory press conference. He dropped some worthwhile nuggets that should be pleasing to most inquiring minds.

“He and I see the game of football, offensively, very similar,” Schottenheimer said of Dak Prescott. “We’ll have tons of communication moving forward on some thoughts of things we want to do, whether that’s tempo or some of the different things we’re trying to do with our play action passing game, the run game, things like that.”

To anyone nostalgic for the days of Norv Turner’s play-action rich offense, this should be music to the ears. McCarthy was generally averse to play-action passing, with both Prescott and Cooper Rush ranking near the bottom of the league in its usage.

When Schottenheimer was offensive coordinator for Seattle, he had one of the deadliest play-action offenses in the league. Based off a strong ground game, Russell Wilson cooked up big plays when utilizing play action. It’s that same thing Schottenheimer hopes to do with Prescott in Dallas.

To make it all work he’s going to want a stronger running game. The Cowboys ranked 26th in the NFL last season in EPA/rush so it’s safe to say significant attention will be paid to improving the running game for 2025.

“I’m a big believer in cut splits,” Schottenheimer explained. “I’m a big believer in shifts and motions to distort things. We’re going to do a great job of marrying our runs and our passes and make those look the same. I’m proud to say that two different times in my career as a coordinator we led the league in rushing.”

This could come off as a major red flag to some, and rightfully so. An outdated offense centered on the running game is an analytically minded person’s worst nightmare. Even with a recent resurgence of the ground game in 2024, the NFL is a passing league. Only three teams posted a higher EPA/play on the ground than through the air and those offenses all finished in the bottom 10 overall last season.

But again, referencing Schottenheimer’s days with the Seahawks provides some clarity on his run-pass splits.

Schottenheimer ran the Seattle offense from 2018 through 2020. During that time his pass rate over expected was -2%. It leaned towards the running game but not overwhelmingly. Year to year, Schottenheimer moved in the passing game’s direction, going from -11% to -2% and finally landing on +6% in 2020.

To those happy at the love Schottenheimer paid to play action, they’re probably even happier hearing the new coach discuss shifts and motion as staples of his ideal offense.

While he didn’t clarify whether the motion was pre-snap or at the snap, he gave the impression it was the more impactful latter category.

Those comments, combined with his mention of cut splits spark visions of the 49ers offense under Kyle Shanahan. Shanahan is notorious for deploying versatile personnel groups in tight formations. He uses motion at the snap regularly and designs passing plays to look almost identical to running plays in both personnel and formation. He’s a big believer in the running game but he designs it to be productive and efficient. It all sets the stage for big chunk plays downfield and in today’s NFL, it’s all about those explosive chunk plays.

It’s safe to say the Cowboys will not be passing the ball at the same rate they were under McCarthy, but that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. The new coach sounds as if he’s embracing the tricks of the trade that have made the Shanahan coaching tree so expansive.

He’s not going to run the ball for the sake of it, but rather run the ball more efficiently and use it to set up a more efficient and more explosive passing game.

Whether any of this comes to be is anyone’s guess but based on his recent history and what he said in the press conference, the Cowboys are going to have an efficient and deceptive offense in 2025.

Related articles

[affiliatewidget_smgtolocal]

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Winning the Super Bowl with Dak Prescott depends on this key Cowboys decision

Schottenheimer’s been hired; now here’s the task he will be judged by.

Dallas has named Brian Schottenheimer as the new head coach, but fans will have to wait for his introductory press conference on Monday to learn whether he will call plays. Whoever calls them, will have to knock it out of the park to maximize Dak Prescott’s skillset as his career has ebbed and flowed over his nine seasons.

The Cowboys have not been to an NFC Championship game since 1995, the longest streak of futility for any team by 15 years. Just since 2018, seven teams have made the Super Bowl, and all either have an elite quarterback who can carry a less-talented squad, a great play-caller who makes an offense outperform its parts, a roster-stacking wizard GM, or a combination.

Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes is the best quarterback in the NFL, and Andy Reid is one of the best coaches ever. The Chiefs have followed the New England Patriots’ blueprint with Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. Brady also led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a Super Bowl victory to end the 2020 season.

Joe Burrow has carried the Cincinnati Bengals to a Super Bowl, even winning in Arrowhead Stadium against the Chiefs to get there.

Sean McVay might be the best offensive play-caller in the NFL. He helped Jared Goff get to a Super Bowl and then won it with Matt Stafford, who had zero playoff success before having McVay as his coach. Kyle Shanahan is one of the best offensive minds in the league, and the 49ers have made two Super Bowl appearances in the last five years with him running their offense, but he isn’t the only reason.

San Francisco’s general manager, John Lynch, always creates an incredible roster. He has a top-of-the-league defense and surrounds his quarterback with weapons like Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, George Kittle, and Christian McCaffrey. Even when he had a contender, he wasn’t content, trading for McCaffrey and letting Jimmy Garoppolo leave to draft Trey Lance and Brock Purdy.

Another team that has mastered the team-building route to winning is the Philadelphia Eagles.

Howie Roseman built a team so stacked they were able to win a Super Bowl with their backup QB in 2017. He then revamped the team and returned to the big game five seasons later with Jalen Hurts as his quarterback.

They are once again in the NFC title game this year with top-of-the-league offensive linemen, wide receivers, tight end, running back, and defensive unit. They have an MVP candidate in Saquon Barkley, a defensive player of the year candidate in Zack Baun, two defensive rookie of the year possibilities, and Vic Fangio is an assistant coach of the year finalist. Roseman could be executive of the year.

Jerry Jones isn’t going to go all in on Dallas’ roster like the Eagles or the 49ers will.

The team is a playoff contender when healthy, but they won’t push contracts back enough to load up the roster. Prescott is an All-Pro, MVP-capable quarterback, but not one that can carry a lesser team past a great one in the postseason. Only Mahomes, Burrow, and possibly Josh Allen can put a team on their back to overcome a roster that isn’t as good as their opponent.

The general manager and quarterback are locked in for the next few seasons, so the only way the Cowboys can get the team to the next level is by upgrading the head coach to someone who can elevate the team through their scheme and play calling. This is why the coaching hire is key for the next four seasons Prescott is under contract. If the front office can’t build a team the QB can win with, the coach must be great, or the chances of getting to the next level in Dallas are slim.

Can Schottenheimer shock the world and be that guy, or hire the playcaller who can?

You can find Mike Crum on Twitter @cdpiglet or Bluesky @mike-crum-cdpiglet.bsky.social

Cowboys Injury Report: Preparations for the NFC Championship Round

An update on the when various injured Cowboys should be ready to return to the field.

Why are you here? Are you unaware that the Dallas Cowboys didn’t make the playoffs? They don’t even have a head coach at the moment… Come on, man. I know it was a difficult year, but if you checked out in October I know you didn’t just resurface thinking that the club turned things around and made it farther than they have in 33 years. Did you?

Yikes.

Okay, because we’re friends, here’s an update on the high-visibility Cowboys who had season-ending injuries.

QB Dak Prescott, hamstring: Prescott’s recovery is ongoing, but he is expected to be ready for OTAs.

DE Sam Williams, ACL: Williams was hurt in training camp, which means he will miss OTAs but should be able to participate in at least a portion of 2025 camp if there are no setbacks.

DE DeMarcus Lawrence, foot: There was speculation that Lawrence might return at the end of 2024, which leads to speculation the free agent will be on some team’s field for OTAs in 2025.

LB DeMarvion Overshown, ACL, MCL, PCL: Overshown’s injury was catastrophic and it was first thought he would likely miss all of 2025, but after surgery there was some hope he could return in the midst of the regular season.

CB Trevon Diggs, articular cartilage: Diggs’ knee injury robbed him of the back end of the season and is reported to keep him out of the lineup through the offseason schedule and training camp, with a hopeful return by the start of the regular season.

OG Zack Martin, Ankle: Martin is a nine-time Pro Bowler and contemplated retirement prior to the 2023 season. As a free agent, he might sit out the spring and wait to sign with a team until later in the year, if at all. That might not have anything to do with his ankle.

Hopefully, NFL’s divisional playoff round taught Cowboys, Jerry Jones this important lesson

The most successful teams in the NFL aren’t asking their QB to do it all, says @ReidDHanson.

Failures provide great learning opportunities for NFL teams. Whether that’s applied to the 10 losses the Dallas Cowboys endured during the regular season, or used as an educational tool while the playoffs continue without them, it’s a good way to squeeze value out of an otherwise disappointing situation.

The NFL’s divisional playoff round gave Dallas a view of what top teams looks like nowadays. For a franchise that’s been accused of being stuck in the past, that kind honest look could be useful as the Cowboys move forward into the offseason.

The Raven and Bills, Rams and Eagles, Commanders and Lions, and Chiefs and Texans all squared off over the weekend to show the world just how good the very best are. A constructive analysis would show the Cowboys how great teams are constructed and what conference championship-bound teams look like.

The Ravens and Bills matchup on Sunday is a beautiful illustration of what championship teams should look like. Both teams are coached by some of the best minds in the game. John Harbaugh has been at the helm in Baltimore since 2008. He’s consistently put the Ravens in contention year after year and is the second-longest tenured head coach for a reason. Sean McDermott has found similar success with the Bills in Buffalo. He’s been with his team the fourth longest in the NFL. McDermott’s top offensive mind, Joe Brady, is one of the hottest names on the head coaching candidate list for a reason. He’s innovative, accomplished, and adaptable.

Both teams are also loaded with talent. Not only are the offenses deep and multidimensional but their defenses rank in the top 12 in EPA/play allowed. It has created an environment that doesn’t require any one player to carry the team. Josh Allen won the day throwing for just 127 yards. It’s hard to imagine a game in which Dak Prescott could throw for 127 yards and win. That speaks to the roster around him and to balance of talent in Buffalo.

The Eagles beat the Rams with a quarterback throwing for just 128 yards. Like Allen and the Bills, Philadelphia’s All-Star team didn’t require their QB to do more. Similar to Allen, Eagles QB Jalen Hurts adds a running element that makes up for any deficiencies in passing. But even adding Hurts’ 70 yards on the ground, the winning QB still contributed less than 200 yards.

The Chiefs-vs-Texans was arguably the least balanced matchup of the weekend. Kansas City was clearly the better team on Saturday and it showed in the box score. All-Pro QB Patrick Mahomes threw for just 177 yards in his nine-point victory, and didn’t need hero ball to win because the team around him was good enough to do it as a unit.

The Commanders and Lions game was a certified shootout where both teams slung the ball around to the tune of 76 combined points. But just like all of the examples above, the QB with the most passing yards lost the game. Obviously, some of that is a natural byproduct of a trailing team needing to pass more to catch up, but with the exception of the Commanders, the teams that leaned on their QBs the most, lost, and the teams that asked their QBs to do the least, won.

Despite six of the eight divisional teams fielding QBs who are making top-of-the-market money, these franchises are constructed to win as a well-rounded team and does not rely on hero ball from their QB.

This isn’t a plea to build a team around a ground game. Nor is this a callback to “defense wins championships.” It’s about team building. Successful teams find good coaching staffs. They find high-end QBs and aren’t afraid to pay them. They draft well and they sign good players in free agency so they can make a deep and well-rounded roster. They don’t put the weight of the franchise on any one or two entities. They treat the team like a team. That’s something the Cowboys front office should take note of.

Related articles

[affiliatewidget_smgtolocal]

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Here’s why the Cowboys should hire Joe Brady to be their next head coach

There are multiple reasons Joe Brady makes perfect sense as the Cowboys next head coach , says @ReidDHanson.

After months of speculation, weeks of conflicting reports and days of misinformation it has finally become clear, the Dallas Cowboys are moving from their head coach Mike McCarthy. The Cowboys will no doubt have plenty of proven coaching candidates to choose from, as well a handful of young up-and-comers. One of those up-and-comers could be exactly what the Cowboys need, and his name is Joe Brady.

Brady, the Buffalo Bills offensive mastermind and coordinator extraordinaire, is a hot name on the coaching market these days. His ability to turn the Bills into one of the league’s most dangerous offenses has put him at the top of many teams’ lists this offseason.

Brady doesn’t have head coaching experience and that may cause some teams to shy away from him as an option, but he’s a coach whose star is on the rise and someone who, at age 35, is on the right trajectory for a top NFL coaching candidate.

In all fairness, this could be a tough pill to swallow for Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. Jones made it a point to highlight McCarthy’s work experience as a head coach when selling his previous hire to fans and media. Jones knows the window in Dallas is closing, and at age 82, his own time at the helm is fleeting. He’ll be extra motivated to get this hire right.

Jones, a speculator by nature, also knows a thing or two about projection. Waiting until a bright young offensive coordinator proves himself as head coach is already too late. Those types of coaches rarely break loose and when they do, they typically come with strings attached. What Brady lacks in head coaching experience he makes up for in proven offensive success.

Brady got his start in the NFL as an offensive assistant for the New Orleans Saints. Coming from the Sean Payton coaching tree Brady pivoted to LSU in 2019, serving as passing game coordinator and receivers coach. Brady practically ran the offense at LSU, building it into a juggernaut on the way to a National Championship.

From there Brady jumped at an opportunity to lead an NFL offense. His time as offensive coordinator with the Carolina Panthers didn’t go well and the rising star found himself knocked down a peg. Was it simply a matter of coaching a poor team in Carolina or did it have more to do with Brady’s limitations? His next stop would likely provide the answer.

And answer, it did. In 2022 Brady latched on with the Bills, taking on the coveted role of quarterback’s coach. A bit more than halfway through the 2023 season Brady took over the offensive coordinator role in Buffalo. He fundamentally changed the offense overnight, going from an offense that force-fed the ball to Stephon Diggs, to an offense that spreads the ball around. His balanced and opportunistic approach led the Bills to offensive turnaround in 2023. It set him on a path for 2024, eventually producing the NFL’s second-best offense (based on EPA standards).

Brady would appeal to Jones and the Cowboys because the similar situation he faces coming to Dallas. Like Buffalo, the Cowboys have been dependent on a Dak-Prescott-to-CeeDee-Lamb connection. Like Buffalo, the offense has been predictable, unbalanced and unimaginative. Jones, being someone obsessed with a balanced approach to offense, will fall in love with Brady’s commitment to the ground game. The analytics department in Dallas will fall in love with Brady’s efficiency in his balance, use of read options, personnel diversification, and lust for the big play.

Brady wouldn’t be able to use Prescott much as a runner, but he would be able to make up for it with more RPOs (which don’t involve the QB rushing) and more designed runs to receivers. Ranking No. 6 on recent play caller rankings, Brady would take the Cowboys offense to the next level and do it in a way Jones would appreciate.

Maximizing Prescott should be Priority No. 1 for whoever comes to Dallas. The fact Brady helped develop Joe Burrow into a Heisman winner and currently has Josh Allen on track for an All Pro, even MVP, season, speaks volumes about his ability to get the most from his signal callers.

Related articles

[affiliatewidget_smgtolocal]

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

There’s no hope for Cowboys offense if they don’t improve in this one area

Dak Prescott is just as responsible for his sacks in 2024 as the Cowboys linemen in front of him, finds @ReidDHanson

One of the Dallas Cowboys’ biggest struggles throughout the 2024 season was pass protection from the offensive tackle positions. Whether it was Dak Prescott, Cooper Rush, or even Trey Lance at the helm, Dallas’ signal callers were routinely facing trouble from the edge, and their play in the pocket reflected that.

The Cowboys’ two offensive tackles, Terence Steele and Tyler Guyton, were all-too-often turnstiles as pass protectors. Their inconsistent play on drop backs forced Dallas to alter the playbook in many ways. Shorter drop backs, quicker releases and abbreviated route combinations were apparent on Day 1 of the season. Less time in the pocket meant less time reading the field, less time for progressions, and fewer big plays.

It’s no mystery why Prescott’s Big Time Throws (BTT) per game dropped from 2.4 to 1.75 in 2024. And also explains why virtually all of Prescott’s other passing efficiency numbers dropped significantly across the board as well.

Despite posting his shortest Time to Throw (TTT) since 2020, Prescott saw an increase of pressures per game with a significant portion of that coming from the edge. Prescott played like he was on a clock and that was likely by design. Dallas’ struggles at OT were rather predictable and Mike McCarthy’s gameplans generally reflected that.

McCarthy routinely used running backs and tight ends to assist his two OTs in pass protection, but that unavoidably removed an extra target downfield. With more defenders in coverage than receiving targets running routes, separation was hard to come by and windows were as narrow as they’ve ever been. It added up to a very stressful situation that not only impacted Prescott’s play in 2024 but may trickle into 2025 as well.

Sometimes traumatic situations on the football field can cause long-lasting or even permanent damage. Back in 2019 while playing for the Jets, Sam Darnold famously said, “I’m seeing ghosts” during a particularly traumatic game against the Patriots. Many analysts wondered if Darnold could come back from that.

Like Darnold in 2019, Prescott appeared to be seeing ghosts in 2024. The Cowboys QB was regularly seen bailing from an otherwise stable pocket. His internal clock seemed to be sending him the signal trouble was on the way, even when it wasn’t. On multiple occasions Prescott ran from a safe place and right into trouble. They were uncharacteristic actions from the typically stoic QB, and they made an already bad situation much, much worse.

They say sacks are a QB stat, and for the most part they’re right. Sack rates tend to follow QBs from team to team. Good pass protection or bad pass protection, QBs will adjust. Unfortunately, Prescott adjusted in the wrong way and actually added to his problem by running into sacks in 2024.

Not only was 2024 his highest sack rate in six seasons, but the combined percentage of 2023 and 2024 are the worst since his second and third seasons in the NFL. According to Patton Analytics, Prescott was one of eight QBs who was to blame for over 50 percent of the sacks against him last season.

It’s imperative the Cowboys fix their pass protection deficiencies on the edge before this bleeds into a third season and has permanent effects on Prescott’s pocket presence. When a QB can’t trust his offensive line, he starts to play like it, and that’s what fans saw from Prescott in 2024.

Related articles

[affiliatewidget_smgtolocal]

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Darnold, Mayfield, Goff QB success show Cowboys why coaches matter

Cowboys should notice NFL teams are hiring offensive minds who help QBs rather than coaches who lean on QBs.

Sam Darnold, Jared Goff and Baker Mayfield have been playing like three of the best quarterbacks in the NFL this season. Such hasn’t always been the case with these maligned signal callers. All three have had noteworthy seasons of struggle. All three are playing for teams other than the one who drafted them. And all three have, at one point in time, been labeled a “bust.” Yet all three currently rank as top 10 QBs in matters of EPA/play + CPOE composite this season.

Mayfield, a former No. 1 overall selection of the Browns, has enjoyed a career resurgence since moving to Tampa. After plateauing in Cleveland, the Browns decided the embattled Deshaun Watson offered a better future for their franchise than Mayfield and effectively made the swap at QB. All that’s happened since is a major Mayfield rebound and karmic freefall for Watson.

Goff, also a former No. 1 overall selection, came to the Lions by way of Los Angeles. With the Rams he made the Pro Bowl and the Super Bowl, but those accomplishments came with an insulting asterisk. Goff wasn’t remotely decent until coaching prodigy Sean McVay came to the Rams, and even then, he was exposed in the Super Bowl when Bill Belichick realized McVay was making all the pre-snap reads. By the time Goff left LA he was considered a liability rather than an asset. McVay sent a boatload of draft picks for QB Matthew Stafford and Detroit was essentially forced to take on Goff. All that’s happened since is Goff now leads a top five offense, enters the playoffs as the top seed and has made his way into the MVP conversation.

Darnold, once a third overall pick of the Jets, is on his fourth team in seven seasons. The USC product never posted more than seven wins in a single season until he came to Minnesota, and he only accomplished that by accident since it took a season ending injury to starting QB J.J. McCarthy to even give him a chance. Now Darnold leads a top team into the playoffs, has the first Pro Bowl bid of his career and faces a mind-blowing payday in free agency this March.

While it’s possible all of these QBs suddenly figured something out and flipped a career 180 on their own, the real credit belongs to the coaching staffs that unlocked them.

Once upon a time the QB position was as black and white as a checkers board. Good prospects came from pro style offenses in college, they were masters of three and five step drops, they understood progressions, stood tall in the pocket and created on their own when things failed to develop. Occasionally they utilized play-action, used motion, or gained yards on a scramble, but more often than not, it was sink or swim within the pocket and fairly transparent in nature.

These are different times. The days of leaning on the QB are gone because defenses are smarter than they’ve ever been, and not enough transcendent QBs exist. Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen may be able to thrive under any system, but the rest of the NFL’s signal callers need a coach helping them, not a coach leaning on them.

Various cheat codes exist in the NFL. Play action, RPOs and read options are nice wrinkles that typically contribute to a higher success rate. Motion at the snap, complementary route combinations, deceptive personnel groups and deceptive offensive formations also make things easier on quarterbacks. In other words, good coaches make things easier for their QBs. It’s what happened with Darnold, Goff and Mayfield and it’s what’s happening all over the NFL.

Even the Canton-bound Aaron Rodgers declined in production when it became clear the Packers were just relying on him to make magic. It wasn’t until Matt LeFleur replaced Mike McCarthy that Rodgers reclaimed his brilliance, and Green Bay joined the modern game we know today. LeFleur is continuing that magic right now with Jordan Love, a prospect scouts were universally lukewarm about entering the draft.

Looking around the NFL it’s abundantly clear the majority of the league’s top offenses and NFL’s most successful teams employ offensive coaches who make things easy for their QBs. It begs the question, “why wouldn’t the Cowboys hire a coach who adds value to the team?”

For as much praise as Kyle Shanahan gets around the NFL (and for good reason), his offense isn’t the only brand of offense that makes things easy on his QB. Smart coaches from other coaching trees also lean into strengths based on the personnel available to them. The common trait being all the smart coaches find ways to make things easy on their team’s most important player. They scheme players open. They create deception with their packages and formations. They play-design systematic progressions that offer escape hatches. They gameplan for specific opponents and they adjust in-game and on-the-fly to take advantage of sudden opportunities.

The Cowboys need to be mindful of this when deciding the direction they want to take going forward. McCarthy likes pre-snap motion but has been severely lacking in at-the-snap motion. He’s below the Medoza line on play-action and RPOs as well. McCarthy is good at designing short rub routes but doesn’t do much else to scheme his receivers open. He also doesn’t design many plays with strategic progressions, often rolling his QB out on a bootleg with just one or two viable targets available. Personnel packages and formations are overall fairly transparent. The Cowboys offense isn’t that hard to plan for nor are they tough to read on the field.

Finding a head coach, or at the least an offensive play-designer, who adds value to the offense and makes things easier on his most important player, should be Objective No. 1 for Jerry Jones and Co. this offseason.

Very few people believe Brock Purdy, Tua Tagovailoa, Goff, Darnold, and Mayfield are elite NFL talents, yet players such as these have found ways to repeatedly post elite level performances. Prescott, someone who by his own rights rates higher than all of those examples, stands to gain enormously if just put into a similar situation of supportive coaching.

Related articles

[affiliatewidget_smgtolocal]

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Do the Cowboys have a surprise planned for Commanders?

Dallas could be making a QB change for all the wrong reasons.

The Washington Commanders (11-5) face the Dallas Cowboys (7-9) on Sunday in the regular-season finale. Dallas won the first meeting, 34-26, after a wild finish in Week 12.

That’s the last time Washington lost. The Commanders have won four in a row, clinched a playoff berth, and are looking to lock up the NFC’s No. 6 seed with a win on Sunday in Jerry World.

The Cowboys have nothing to play for on Sunday and will be without star wide receiver CeeDee Lamb. That means quarterback Cooper Rush, who replaced the injured Dak Prescott back in Week 9, will be without one of the NFL’s best wide receivers.

What if Rush isn’t under center for Dallas on Sunday against the Commanders? According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, fourth-year quarterback Trey Lance is expected to play “significant snaps” against Washington.

It’s the right move for the Cowboys, and they probably should’ve done it two weeks ago when they were officially eliminated from playoff contention. That’s not a knock on Rush, who played well. Dallas actually had a better record with Rush under center this season than with Prescott.

A former top-five pick of the 49ers, the Cowboys made a questionable trade for Lance two years ago, paying his rookie contract and having him serve as the No. 3 quarterback.

Lance is an excellent runner with a strong arm, but he has a long way to go before he proves he is an NFL starting quarterback. The 49ers gave up on Lance after eight games and four starts despite moving up in the draft for him in 2021.

While seeing what Lance can do is the right move, it sounds more like the Cowboys want to avoid paying Rush a $500,000 bonus for participating in 55% of Dallas’ offensive snaps in 2024. Rush earned $250K of that bonus for playing 45% of the offensive snaps. He’s currently at 52.3% for the season.

Some things will never change.

Meanwhile, the Commanders have several players looking to earn achievable incentives in Sunday’s game. Do you think owner Josh Harris would tell coach Dan Quinn to bench Dante Fowler, Zach Ertz, or Frankie Luvu? Of course not. The former owner would have, you know, Jerry Jones’ buddy.