The Dallas Cowboys did it yet again and Dak Prescott — with the season on the line and legitimate expectations for a Super Bowl run from smart people both inside the Dallas building and media/analysts from outside — believed this 2023 squad was different.
Why?
Prescott was in the discussion for NFL MVP this season and closed out arguably the best regular season of his career. The Cowboys entered Saturday’s wildcard round matchup as two-score favorites over the Green. Bay Packers, who have a first-year starting QB and the youngest roster in the NFL.
Dak Prescott closed out the 2023 regular season ranked in the top five in several major categories for NFL QB. He came into Sunday’s playoff matchup against the Green Bay Packers with 4,516 yards (3rd), 36 touchdowns (1st), 9 interceptions and a QB rating of 72.5 (2nd).
Although some rolled there eyes when Jerry Jones and company decided to fire Kellen Moore at the end of last season — as he’s regarded as one of the up and coming young and brilliant offensive minds — head coach Mike McCarthy took over play calling and the Dallas Cowboys offense looked elite for the majority of the year.
Finally, Prescott and CeeDee Lamb found the perfect chemistry and emerged as arguably the top QB/WR tandem in the league.
Beyond Dak Prescott and the explosive offense that averaged 389 yards and 30 points per game and finished with 77 touchdowns in the regular season, the Dallas Cowboys had a defense that finished the season ranked 5th in the NFL.
After another disappointing early exit in the playoffs, the Dallas brass entered the offseason with more question marks than answers.
Initially, the expectation was Jerry Jones and company would sign Prescott to a contract extension to free up cap space and keep the core of their star players in place.
But in a recent development, reports have confirmed both Prescott and the Cowboys are going to let their franchise QB finish out his current deal, making him a free agent after 2024 unless the two sides can reach an agreement before the end of the 2024 campaign.
Dallas Cowboys Predicted To Trade QB Cooper Rush
The regular season is still four months away, however, so there’s plenty of time for Jones to ink a long-term deal with CeeDee Lamb and possibly make another move or two to add to a roster that lost a few key pieces from last year’s (12-5) team.
Bleacher Report’s Alex Ballentine recently looked at possible trade and cut candidates in Big D with the 2024 NFL Draft in the books. Ballentine made the case for Dallas to move on from well-respected backup Cooper Rush, who’s won five of six career starts in place of an injured Prescott:
“Unfortunately for him, the Cowboys took advantage of Trey Lance being made available on the trade market. They traded a 2024 fourth-round pick to the San Francisco 49ers for the former No. 3 overall pick.
They ended up carrying (Trey) Lance and Cooper Rush on the active roster. With the new rule that NFL teams can carry a third emergency quarterback without using a 53-man roster spots, it’s a little easier to hang on to developmental options.
But the Cowboys can save $2.3 million against the cap by either trading or releasing Rush.
Given how tight the Cowboys budget is right now, it just doesn’t make sense to pass on that kind of cap savings when Lance has now been around for a year to learn the offense and step in if Prescott is injured.”
It would be interesting to see what kind of return the Dallas Cowboys could get for Rush, but at the very least, moving him would free up a little bit of cap space to make another move.
