The Dallas Cowboys entered the offseason with several franchise-altering moves expected to be made, but here we are at the start of May, and little has been done to bolster a roster that lost significant talent on both sides of the ball.
Owner Jerry Jones has made it clear the Cowboys are going “all-in” for 2024 and decided to retain Mike McCarthy for one more season to see if he can get Dallas past the first round in the playoffs and possibly reach the Super Bowl expectations Jones expects.
Prescott was in the discussion for NFL MVP this season and closed out arguably the best regular season of his career. The Cowboys entered the 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.
Now, the Cowboys will enter 2024 with more pressure than ever, from head coach to the QB. Instead of extending Prescott to free up cap room to add talent around him, Jones is opting to let his starting QB play out the final year of his contract adding plenty of speculation to his future in Dallas. Lamb is up for a major payday and could hold out until he inks a deal that makes him one of the top wideouts in the league.
Dallas lost several key pieces from last year’s squad, most notably Tony Pollard, Michael Gallup and a few starting offensive linemen on the offensive side of the ball.
Dallas Cowboys RB Malik Davis In Danger Of Being Cut Before The 2024 Season
The loss of Pollard can’t be overstated. As it stands, the running back room is headlined by Ezekiel Elliott, who re-signed with the Cowboys after spending a year with New England.
Elliott is definitely past his best-before date, but the soon-to-be 29-year-old showed in New England last year that he can still be a productive role player.
As the No. 2 RB in New England behind Rhamondre Stevenson, Elliott still posted 955 yards of offense and five touchdowns. Those numbers are especially admirable when you consider how awful the New England offense was a year ago.
Elliott is still one of the best pass-blocking running backs in the game, and he had 12 rushing touchdowns for the Dallas Cowboys just two years ago. He’s still reliable in goal-to-go situations and will boost locker room morale as the Cowboys try to bounce back from another humiliating and early postseason exit.
Other than Elliott, the Cowboys signed veteran RB Royce Freeman who is expected to share carries.
Blogging the Boys’ Mike Poland believes third-year RB Malik Davis has an uphill battle to make the 53-man squad.
“Davis is already pretty low on the depth chart, but it’s worth mentioning as it pertains to the running back position, a spot with the most question marks,” Poland wrote on May 17. “The Cowboys signing Royce Freeman before the draft was a signifier to Davis that this coaching staff felt uneasy about the depth at the position. The addition of Ezekiel Elliott back in Dallas pretty much ended any hope for Davis to make the roster (unless for injury).”
Davis only appeared in 3 games last Fall and did not get a single touch. The Cowboys signed him to a reserve/futures contract this past January, but it definitely seems like he’s on the outside looking in.
It makes sense, as both Freeman and Elliott have significantly more experience than Davis. While Davis hasn’t seen a ton of regular season play, the Dallas Cowboys know what his skill level is after two full seasons.
