The Dallas Cowboys are entering a pivotal offseason.
Jerry Jones opted to retain Mike McCarthy as the team’s head coach — and while the former Packers Super Bowl HC has found a way to get Dallas to thrive in the regular season — the postseason woes that have plagued the franchise for so long have continued.
This year truly felt different and many smart people throughout the NFL believed the Cowboys were a legitimate Super Bowl contender. But in typical fashion, Dak Prescott and company lost in the first round in the WIldcard matchup against a young Green Bay Packers team. The Cowboys were great on their home turf all season but choked when it mattered the most.
This year, the Dallas Cowboys offense appeared to have a major boost on offense under McCarthy after firing former offensive coordinator Kellen Moore. Suddenly, Dak Prescott put together one of his best NFL seasons and CeeDee Lamb emerged as the dominant No. 1 WR the team has been hoping for.
It’s almost impossible to move on from Prescott at this point, so it makes sense for Jerry Jones to bring McCarthy back for at least one more year to see if he can somehow get past this team’s postseason woes.
The news come as a shock as the owner is known for making abrupt moves in hopes for winning another Super Bowl, but Jones released a statement clearly backing McCarthy.
“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,” Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said in a statement Wednesday night. “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.”
Dallas Cowboys VP Stephen Jones Says Team Plans To Extend Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb And Micah Parsons In Nearly Impossible Move
The Cowboys have a significant dilemma and there are tough decisions ahead that will affect the trajectory of the franchise.
Right now, Jerry Jones believes he has a roster good enough to compete for a Super Bowl and wants to keep it in tact, despite for some outsiders belief Prescott will never win when it matters the most.
Dallas Cowboys VP Stephen Jones was asked about the tram’s plans to extend Dak Prescott this offseason.
It’s a pressing matter for the team considering that the current structure is set up for the Cowboys to take on a $59.4 million cap hit in 2024 – the final year of the contract – for their starting quarterback unless an extension can be worked out to spread that money out further and allow for more cap space this offseason.
Our whole thing with Dak is him being a Cowboy,” he said. “That’s all that’s on our mind.”
If the Dallas Cowboys cannot get an extension done, Jones said that there are ways for Prescott’s cap hit in 2024 to be adjusted to fit a roster around him along with extensions for CeeDee Lamb and Micah Parsons into the future.
Those are the three most important players for the team to have a chance to win a Lombardi Trophy, and while it will be a nearly impossible task to pay each with a contract fair to what the market is for their respective positions, Jones believes the franchise will find a way to keep their core three in Dallas long term.
“Well, we’ve got ways to adjust his cap number for this year,” he said. “Obviously, between Dak and between Micah and CeeDee, the salary cap is real for us with those three guys in a situation where we want to do a deal with all three of them.”
If the Dallas Cowboys can really find a way to keep Dak Prescott, CeDee Lamb and Micah Parsons all together, they could have a legitimate shot at a Super Bowl run.