With the manner the Dallas Cowboys (12-5) 2023 season ended, many have been stunned to see head coach Mike McCarthy not lose his job following the staff’s 48-32 loss to the Green Bay Packers throughout Super Wild Card Weekend.
With three straight 12-win seasons, all McCarthy has to indicate for his efforts is a wild-card win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers two seasons in the past and three straight embarrassing losses to convention rivals the San Francisco 49ers and Packers.
On high of making an attempt to clean issues over with a really disgruntled fan base that didn’t desire a lame-duck 12 months with McCarthy, proprietor Jerry Jones additionally has to determine what to do about quarterback Dak Prescott and his $59.45M cap hit given the incontrovertible fact that the staff is definitely over the 2024 cap ceiling.
The Cowboys can create roughly $20M in cap house by giving Prescott an extension in the $50M to $60M per 12 months vary or they will liberate near $23M by restructuring his deal, however they pay for it in 2025 when Prescott would have a $54M lifeless cap hit.
Dallas can even create extra cap house by restructuring the contracts of guard Zak Martin or cornerback Trevon Diggs, or it may well signal receiver CeeDee Lamb to an extension, which might decrease his $17.99M 2024 cap hit.
Here’s what that you must learn about Dallas’ offseason:
PROJECTED 2024 CAP SPACE: -$3.22M (seventh-worst in NFL)
FREE AGENTS | Offense: RBs Tony Pollard and Rico Dowdle; OTs Tyron Smith and Chuma Edoga; Center Tyler Biadasz; Long snapper Trent Sieg
Defense: DEs Dorance Armstrong and Dante Fowler Jr.; DTs Johnathan Hankins and Neville Gallimore; CBs Stephon Gilmore, Jourdan Lewis and Noah Igbinoghene; Safety Jayron Kearse
Outlook: Simply put: Dallas has too many free brokers it must hold and never sufficient cap house to make it occur. Pollard received’t be franchise-tagged and can doubtless hit the market in March, and each Smith and Biadasz will presumably be too costly to retain as nicely, although Biadasz has a greater probability of coming again. Armstrong, Hankins, Gilmore and Kearse have been all key items of the Cowboy protection in 2023, however it’s doubtless just one or two will probably be introduced again. Armstrong will probably be the staff’s high precedence after ending second on the staff in sacks (7.5) with an extra seven tackles for loss.
2024 DRAFT PICKS: Round 1 (No. 24 total) | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 7 (through Las Vegas) | Round 7
TOP DRAFT NEEDS (so as): OT, RB, C, LB, DT — Given the Cowboys’ cap state of affairs, the draft is the excellent place for them to replenish a few of their roster with youthful, cheaper gamers. Arizona deal with Jordan Morgan or BYU’s Kingsley Suamataia could possibly be potential replacements for Smith, and both Oregon’s Jackson Powers-Johnson or West Virginia’s Zack Frazier might change Biadasz.
If Dallas goes protection first, Texas DT T’Vondre Sweat or Michigan DT Kris Jenkins might slide proper in as a Day 1 starter. Should linebacker be the name, Texas A&M’s Edgerrin Cooper or N.C. State’s Payton Wilson would possibly make extra sense. There are loads of avenues the Cowboys might go to fill a serious space of want.
DRAFT PROSPECTS TO WATCH: Jordan Morgan, OT, Arizona; Graham Barton, OT/G, Duke; Kingsley Suamataia, OT, BYU; Jonathon Brooks, RB, Texas; Jaylen Wright, RB, Tennessee; Blake Corum, RB, Michigan; Jackson Powers-Johnson, C, Oregon; Zack Frazier, C, West Virginia; Payton Wilson, LB, N.C. State; Edgerrin Cooper, LB, Texas A&M; Junior Colson, LB, Michigan; Kris Jenkins, DT, Michigan; T’Vondre Sweat, DT, Texas; Braden Fiske, DT, Florida State
THREE 2024 STORYLINES TO WATCH:
- How brief is McCarthy’s leash?
- What occurs with Prescott’s contract?
- Does Dallas discover a option to hold Pollard, and if not, who replaces him?
Discussion about this post