5 ideas on the Dallas Cowboys following the Tremendous Bowl

The Super Bowl has come and gone, and fortunately the Kansas City Chiefs had been in a position to maintain off the Philadelphia Eagles which is able to make the offseason rather more palatable.

Reality be informed, the offseason ought to already be considerably palatable as Dallas Cowboys followers. The group we root for is coming off back-to-back playoff appearances, has a 24-10 file in that point, vanquished quite a lot of ghosts from the previous over this most up-to-date season, and has most of its important core returning for 2023. These are all objectively good issues.

We mentioned this total thought on the newest episode of The Ocho on the Running a blog The Boys podcast community. Make sure that to subscribe to our community so that you don’t miss any of our exhibits! Apple devices can subscribe here and Spotify users can subscribe here.

As true as that’s although, it’s irritating that the season ended just a few weeks in need of once we all needed it to, and there’s no parade for the Cowboys for the twenty seventh 12 months in a row. It’s usually stated that a number of issues will be true so we are able to dwell and function in a world the place there may be certainly multiple reality.

Let’s discover 5 completely different information (or fact-ish issues).

Opposite to common perception, the Dallas Cowboys are in an excellent place

The Dallas Cowboys have earned the good thing about the doubt primarily based on the previous couple of seasons. They haven’t earned full and complete belief, however they’ve earned some slack in that division.

If you happen to look by way of the BTB archives again to August and September of final 12 months, there was loads of doubt in regards to the group. No matter small military of believers that did exist shortly left camp when Dak Prescott fractured his thumb in Week 1.

The Cowboys had quite a lot of issues that they made for themselves, however you recognize what they did? They thought and fought their means out of them. It’s onerous to offer them credit score for digging out of a self-induced gap, however that they dug out of it’s notable.

It appears like we’ve misplaced a grip on this within the aftermath of the playoff loss to San Francisco due to how disappointing it was. That’s completely honest. Nevertheless it stays true that the Cowboys, in quite a lot of methods, overachieved in 2022. This actually means that regression might come in numerous methods in 2023, however the Cowboys impressed nearly on a weekly foundation this previous season and it appears like for essentially the most half individuals agree with that.

Whereas we are able to sit and quibble about who deserves nearly all of credit score for the 12 months we simply noticed, it kind of continues to get misplaced that it occurred. Critics are so centered on how Mike McCarthy, Dak Prescott, Kellen Moore, or whoever else is the issue – all of them have their flaws – however any person will need to have been excellent at their job for them to do what they did, proper? They aren’t this band of incompetent misfits that fell into what they did.

The Cowboys took a step again final 12 months by way of how they constructed their roster and nonetheless took a step ahead by way of how their season ended. It wasn’t the last word objective, however it was progress. That’s noteworthy.

The Eagles misplaced the Tremendous Bowl however ought to nonetheless be thought-about an ordinary for Dallas to observe

Last week I wrote something for SBNation.com about how the Eagles had one of the best offseason of any group within the NFL. They misplaced the Tremendous Bowl, however that continues to be true.

Clearly I didn’t get pleasure from writing that, however how will you deny it? The Eagles went all-in (extra on that time period in a second) and misplaced the last word sport to one of many best quarterbacks ever by three factors. They rattling close to did the entire thing.

However the Eagles, opposite to what Jerry Jones appears to suppose, are hardly all-in. It is extremely true that they must cope with issues that they haven’t needed to by way of A.J. Brown’s contract coming into play on the wage cap, giving out a brand new deal to Jalen Hurts, their employees getting picked aside (offensive coordinator Shane Steichen is already headed to turn out to be the top coach of the Indianapolis Colts and defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon is headed to steer the Arizona Cardinals), so on and so forth, however they’ve the tenth and thirtieth total picks within the 2023 NFL Draft. They’ve quite a lot of expertise on rookie contracts nonetheless. They didn’t promote out for one single season.

It could be unbelievable to see the Cowboys strategy this offseason as aggressively as we noticed the Eagles strategy final 12 months’s. They’re a template for a way that must be carried out in at this time’s day and age.

It’s a good time to be a contending group that’s within the NFC

We will quibble about who deserves essentially the most credit score among the many high names at The Star, however clearly Dak Prescott is squarely in that group. There’s additionally quite a bit to criticize Dak Prescott for by way of how final season went, however there may be additionally quite a bit that he deserves credit score for as properly. Each issues will be true.

Nonetheless you are feeling about Dak, it’s troublesome to say he’s any worse than the third QB within the NFC.

Jalen Hurts will command quite a lot of votes as primary. However who’s quantity two? The contenders, earlier than free company and the draft clearly, are the aforementioned Dak Prescott and… Kirk Cousins? Matthew Stafford, perhaps? Daniel Jones, maybe? Aaron Rodgers if he sticks round? Kyler Murray if he returns to type? Brock Purdy, if he’s even the full-time starter for the entire season?

The purpose is you could make the argument that the Cowboys have the second-best quarterback within the convention, and whereas we’re at it the second-best defensive participant within the convention in Micah Parsons (that’s if you happen to rank Nick Bosa greater and up to date {hardware} makes that honest). Once more, the offseason will shake issues up a bit, however it’s troublesome to see how the Cowboys don’t enter the season with one of many higher quarterbacks within the convention and that’s objectively a really thrilling factor.

The times of the division being an afterthought are actually over

As true as it’s that the Cowboys have one of many higher quarterbacks within the convention, additionally it is true that the NFC East is now not a wasteland. The six video games inside it are all now very actual.

The Eagles are clearly an excellent group, and whereas the Giants additionally overachieved a bit in 2023 they’re clearly on the best way to relevance (they’re already right here, duh) as soon as extra. Heck, even the Washington franchise has issues a bit extra collectively than they’ve up to now and that’s saying one thing.

As an entire, the NFC East picked up quite a lot of consideration for having three playoff groups this previous season, however it was forgotten that they’d two within the event the 12 months prior in Dallas and Philadelphia. So we at the moment are a foursome that has two groups driving two-year streaks of playoff appearances with one other having simply made it, the latter of which boasting the Coach of the Yr within the course of in Brian Daboll.

Dak Prescott’s profession file throughout the division is well-known, and whereas it’s honest to imagine that may partly maintain up, the Cowboys can now not rely on the Giants and Commanders as 4 straightforward wins.

The most important Cowboys issues of this offseason must do with individuals already within the constructing

Whereas it will likely be paramount for the Cowboys to strategy the offseason in critical style by the use of aggressive strikes in free company, by the use of commerce, and all through the draft, crucial factor on the docket is true up their alley. They’re in-house gamers.

We’re all well-aware that CeeDee Lamb and Trevon Diggs are each eligible for extensions starting this offseason. The Cowboys informed us all of final 12 months that they had been making ready for at the present time which signifies that we have to see them handle it sooner reasonably than later.

The Cowboys have a while on Lamb as he’s a first-round choose. They are going to very doubtless choose up his fifth-year choice this offseason and probably iron out a deal at coaching camp like they’ve cornerstone gamers up to now.

That choice doesn’t exist for Trevon Diggs, although. If the Cowboys don’t get a deal carried out with him this offseason, then he’ll enter 2023 (if he doesn’t hypothetically maintain out) in a contract 12 months. Diggs’ comments about his brother last week made the rounds, however one other factor that we requested him about in that interview was the state of his contract. There have been no quotes available on that topic as a result of he didn’t actually reply any questions (he was well mannered about it, it simply clearly was not a topic he was going to get into… you can watch the whole interview here if you’d like).

It has been a minute for the reason that Cowboys handed out a second contract to a second-round choose. Earlier than you rack your mind too onerous, it was Jaylon Smith and everyone knows how that labored out. The group’s second-round choose one 12 months earlier than him was Randy Gregory and he received a second contract with the Cowboys, however that was clearly a singular state of affairs.

The final second contract that the Cowboys gave to a second-round choose that will be met with approval was DeMarcus Lawrence and he was chosen in 2014. It’s vital that the Cowboys get this proper and that they don’t waste time within the technique of making an attempt to take action.

Learn extra