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By Jon Machota 1h ago
The Cowboys had high expectations at this time last year. In Mike McCarthy’s first season as head coach, they were expected to not only make the playoffs, but win playoff games. Despite being gifted the opportunity to make the postseason by playing in the NFL’s worst division, Dallas fell short, winning only six games. It was the franchise’s worst finish in the last five years.
The Cowboys are now in the process of fixing what went wrong. It won’t be easy considering the upgrades needed on the roster and one very important contract situation still unresolved.
How will they go about getting back on track?
Here’s a 10-step plan.
1. Sign Dak Prescott
It’s difficult to find a realistic path to success in the near future for the Cowboys that doesn’t include Prescott as their quarterback. If the two sides can’t finalize a long-term deal by mid-July, Prescott is expected to play under the franchise tag for the second consecutive year. But in order for Dallas to max out its potential in 2021, it needs Prescott signed as soon as possible to help create salary-cap space for other important roster needs. Although a new contract is expected to make Prescott one of the highest-paid players in NFL history, the Cowboys would have more cap maneuverability with an extension that they won’t have with a one-year fully guaranteed franchise tag contract. Quarterback is by far the game’s most important position. Going forward without Prescott likely pushes the Cowboys further away from their goal of getting back to the Super Bowl for the first time since the 1995 season.
2. Find a playmaking free safety
This has been a need for more than a decade. No team has valued the safety position less than Dallas. To truly address the situation, a pick in one of the first two rounds or a significant investment in free agency is needed. Spending big seems unlikely, so it’s time that the proper draft investment is made to get a player capable of consistently causing turnovers on the back end. The Cowboys appear to have their starting strong safety in Donovan Wilson. New defensive coordinator Dan Quinn needs a free safety who can effectively play the deep part of the field in his cover-3 zone defense. Dallas doesn’t need to do this in the first round, but snagging a player like TCU’s Trevon Moehrig or UCF’s Richie Grant early in the second round could be exactly what the defense has been missing. Malik Hooker and Marcus Maye are a couple of free agency options that could make sense at the right price.
Trevon Moehrig (Tim Heitman / USA Today)
3. New defensive coaching staff has to get everyone on the same page
The COVID-19 pandemic significantly limited the new coaching staff’s ability to implement a new defensive scheme. And it proved to be costly as the Cowboys turned in one of the worst defensive seasons in franchise history and several members of the defensive coaching staff, including defensive coordinator Mike Nolan, were fired in January. Quinn and his staff appear to be going back to what the Cowboys were doing in previous seasons when Rod Marinelli was defensive coordinator. That should help the transition process since the majority of the roster has experience playing in that scheme.
The goal of the previous defensive staff was to be more multiple and less predictable. But there were far too many times when players were out of position and not on the same page, which forced Nolan to dial things back early in the season. Quinn’s defense is expected to return things back to where although they were a little more predictable, they executed with great effort and the entire group knew its assignments.
No one is expecting this defense to go from one of the league’s worst to one of its best, but it at the very least needs everyone on the same page, playing like a team. That shouldn’t be too much to ask.
4. Get defensive tackle help
The position hasn’t been a strength for most of the last decade. They have invested a second-round pick (Trysten Hill) and a third-round pick (Neville Gallimore) in the last two drafts. Those two would likely be the starters if the season started today. But they need more help. If there was a tackle worthy of a top 10 pick in this draft class, it would make sense for the Cowboys to consider that player with the 10th overall selection. Since there is not, it’s unlikely the position will be addressed any earlier than the second round.
Antwaun Woods has been solid since joining the team in 2018. He’s a good fit to play the one-technique position in Dallas’ four-man front — he’s also a restricted free agent. Dallas needs another three-technique player, and that might have to be found in free agency. Ndamukong Suh would make a lot of sense if they could afford him and he didn’t re-sign with the defending Super Bowl champion Buccaneers. However, that’s probably not all that realistic. Dallas is more likely to set its sights on someone much more affordable, like Gerald McCoy or another player nearing the end of their career. McCoy was signed by the Cowboys last offseason but he suffered a season-ending quad injury in training camp. If he’s fully recovered, the Cowboys will likely be interested in the 33-year-old, who was the No. 3 overall pick in the 2010 draft.
5. Have an impactful defensive draft
The Cowboys will not be drafting to only fix their defense. They’ll be largely targeting the best player available. But if there was ever a time to lean heavily to the defensive side of the ball, the time is now. Along with the already mentioned safety and defensive tackle positions, cornerback is a major need, as is linebacker and defensive end depth. One issue is that the Cowboys were in a similar situation in 2017. They used their first three picks on defensive end Taco Charlton and cornerbacks Chidobe Awuzie and Jourdan Lewis. Charlton didn’t even play out his rookie contract before being released. Awuzie and Lewis are unrestricted free agents who aren’t expected to return. No one should be surprised if the Cowboys’ first three picks are again used on defense, but the results have to be much more impactful.
In the previous seven drafts, Dallas has found defensive starters outside of the first three rounds. Linebackers Anthony Hitchens and Damien Wilson were drafted in the fourth, defensive backs Donovan Wilson, Xavier Woods and Anthony Brown in the sixth, and cornerback Terrance Mitchell in the seventh. There are so many defensive holes needed to be filled that the Cowboys desperately need to duplicate some of that late-round defensive success this April.
6. Get healthy
The training staff has had their hands full with some of the most important players on the roster over the last year. Prescott, Tyron Smith, La’el Collins, Zack Martin, Blake Jarwin and Hill all suffered significant injuries in 2020. Even without a coaching staff change during a pandemic, it would have been difficult for any team to overcome that many key injuries in one season. Maybe it just comes down to having better luck in the injury department, but they can’t afford another season with that many major setbacks. All of the players mentioned are expected to fully healthy for the start of the season.
7. Restructure contracts to create salary-cap space
If Prescott is signed to a long-term deal, he tops the list. DeMarcus Lawrence, Amari Cooper and Zack Martin are all good candidates as well. Elliott, Collins, Tyron Smith and Jaylon Smith also have contracts that would qualify them, but the Cowboys are unlikely to touch the deals belonging to those four because of Elliott’s and Jaylon Smith’s play last season and the recent injuries to Collins and Tyron Smith.
The Cowboys created almost $30 million in cap space last year by restructuring the contracts of Lawrence, Martin and Tyron Smith.
8. Sign a proven veteran backup quarterback
Andy Dalton would be the perfect candidate, but he’s expected to find better offers with more opportunity for playing time on the open market. This wouldn’t be as important if Prescott wasn’t coming off a significant ankle injury. Although he’s expected to make a full recovery, the Cowboys need to have someone capable of stepping in, if needed. It doesn’t appear that Ben DiNucci, last year’s seventh-round pick, is ready for that role.
Perhaps the Cowboys will feel comfortable with Garrett Gilbert or Cooper Rush in that role. But if they could find a proven backup looking to sign an affordable one-year deal as Dalton did a year ago, that would make a lot of sense.
Tony Pollard (Brad Rempel / USA Today)
9. Get Tony Pollard more touches
The third-year running back is a good complement to starter and two-time rushing champion Ezekiel Elliott. Pollard has a different running style and has shown an ability to deliver the home-run play. Elliott was at his best in 2020 when he was his freshest. He rushed for 96 yards and scored two touchdowns in the season opener. He rushed for 103 yards and scored a touchdown the week after Dallas’ bye. He rushed for a season-high 105 yards in Week 16 after not playing in Week 15 because of injury. To keep Elliott at his best, Pollard needs to handle more of the load.
10. Re-sign CJ Goodwin
Dallas’ special teams unit was much improved in John Fassel’s first season as coordinator. To keep that group headed in the right direction, they need Goodwin back. He’s an unrestricted free agent after playing last season under a one-year, $910,000 contract.
Goodwin, 31, only played 18 snaps at defensive back but he played a career-high and team-high 304 special teams snaps, 35 more than any other player.
“C.J.’s been a great veteran for us,” Fassel said during the season. “He’s a real quiet guy during the week but he’s a big-time (during the) game. I can’t say enough good things about him. Let’s face it, his speed and his courage are two things that just make him dangerous. We can move him around and he can pretty much do everything because he’s got great speed. But he’s also got really great size and strength for a cornerback position even though his role is special teams.”