Dallas Cowboys Offseason Preview

Welcome to the first installment of an ongoing series of offseason previews which will run over the next couple of weeks.

2025 Season in a Nutshell

• Jerry Jones trades Micah Parsons just before the season opener because Can you believe the prices these days?
• The Cowboys defense flatlines at 32nd in DVOA, wasting an MVP-caliber performance by Dak Prescott.
• Jerrah blames woke or something.

Coaching Situation

Brian Schottenheimer shined in Jason Garrett’s former role as the coach who avoids blame by standing perfectly still and hoping no one notices him. It was the role Schottenheimer was born to play.

Matt Eberflus got fired (rightfully) for the Cowboys defensive collapse. Someday, historians or archeologists will determine what Eberflus was supposed to be good at in the first place.

To Schottenheimer’s credit, he has assembled a fine staff. New defensive coordinator Christian Parker is an up-and-comer, a Vic Fangio disciple who coached Eagles defensive backs Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean into Super Bowl-caliber starters as rookies. Offensive coordinator Klayton Adams managed to stop Schotty from running twice to set up third-and-8 last year.

Quarterback Situation

Prescott finished fourth in passing DYAR. No one noticed. No one ever notices Prescott. Ripping him just isn’t a profitable content model anymore. I think even Skip Bayless gave up.

Prescott turns 33 in July. It feels like he went from his early career straight to his late career, skipping the middle. Playing for the Cowboys has that effect on people.

State of the Roster

The Cowboys roster is gushing with talent across the offense, defense and special teams. It’s not just Prescott and CeeDee Lamb: defenders like Osa Odighizuwa and relative newcomers Quinnen Williams and Kenny Clark, role players/specialists like Jake Ferguson, Brandon Aubrey and KaVontae Turpin, and all of the Tylers on the offensive line are playoff-caliber contributors.

There’s young talent, too, including receiver Ryan Flournoy and defensive linemen Perrion Winfrey and Donovan Ezeiruaku.

As is always the case for the Cowboys, the problem isn’t raw talent, but creating a coherent plan for marshalling that talent, as well as keeping core players from jumping ship when they realize the admiral likes steering straight into icebergs so he can get fresh rocks for his Scotch.

Cap and Draft Stuff

The Cowboys show a $29 million paper cap deficit as of early February, which is bad. George Pickens is an unrestricted free agent, which is far, far worse.

Stephen Jones and his minions can clear ample cap space by restructuring contracts. But only Jerrah can negotiate a deal with Pickens. And Pickens (unlike Parsons, or Prescott in years past) is under zero obligation to play along if Jerrah starts pouting, posturing and negging.

Jerrah has made soothing sounds about keeping Pickens, but he did the same thing with Parsons for eight months before trading him.

In much brighter news, the Cowboys will pick 12th and 20th in the 2026 draft, thanks to the Micah Parsons trade. They then won’t pick again until the fourth round because of the Pickens and Williams trades.

The stage is set for the Cowboys to field a top-heavy roster of superstars supported by castoffs, projects and scrubs. Why should next year be any different than the previous thirty?

One Thing the Cowboys Must Do

Pay Pickens, quickly and generously. They need a drama-free win on the contract front to maintain credibility, on and off the field. “Drama-free” means “make Pickens happy FAST.”

In Summary

With Parker redirecting the defense and a pair of top draft picks in the fold, the Cowboys have an excellent chance to return to their traditional niche in the NFL ecosystem: winning around a dozen regular-season games, then turning into Team Rocket in the playoffs.