Offense 

This Cowboys team continues to do what they’ve done for years now and that’s restructuring/reloading a roster that needs to be torn down and reset. The problem is they have an owner that is unwilling to take a step back for a year or two so that they can clear up money and build a stronger roster in the long run which puts you in this continual spiral of having a league average team that some years exceed expectations because of circumstances and other years is just okay. This offseason was yet another example of how they continue to make this same mistake.

Offensively they really just made a bunch of moves to patch holes they had in last year’s roster and almost none of them will be long term answers. Signing guys like Javonte Williams, Miles Sanders, Parris Campbell, and Hakeem Adeniji. The only guy they added that could be a long term solution to any problem and I think will have a nice impact, at least on the field, is George Pickens. Pickens provides them a true X WR that frees up attention from CeeDee Lamb to do his best work, off the line of scrimmage and in the slot. Other than that it’s really the same offense with some “stop gap” players added on and once again a league average roster that if everything were to go right would be a wild card level team. 

• The only other guy that I could see having some success here would be Javonte Williams. When he’s been healthy in the past, aside from last year, he’s been a solid back. I loved him coming out of North Carolina but with the way the injuries have stacked up I don’t know that he’ll get back to the same level of play anymore.

Now the one position group that could make this offense special in a way is this OL group. The addition of Tyler Booker to replace the huge loss of Zack Martin was crucial. While Booker may not be Martin he ties this group together and will more than likely keep them as one of the better groupings in the league. Booker, Smith, and Beebe is a really powerful IOL and I think Guyton will be a quality LT in the league the only player I worry about is Terence Steele at RT. While he’s fine at RT and a quality run blocker for sure his pass protection the last year or two has been spotty at best and could be a limiting factor to this team being a top 5 group in the league compared to them almost certainly being a top half to top 10 group in the league.

Defense 

Defensively I think they did a better job at putting together a really talented and more importantly deep group. Their front 4 is one of the better groups in the league and their pass rush should be a top end group for them. You finally add some quality depth on the edge so it’s not all on Micah Parsons and Demarcus Lawrence trying to win by themselves. Adding Dante Fowler Jr, Payton Turner, and Donovan Ezeiruaku paired with Micah Parsons, Marshon Kneeland, Osa Odighizuwa, and hopefully something out of Mazi Smith that should provide them with more pop consistency even with the loss of Demarcus Lawrence. 

Looking at the LBs and the addition of Jack Sanborn they should be able to piece together a decent group between him and Kenneth Murray Jr/Marist Liufau while they get DeMarvion Overshown back from injury, who looks to be tracking towards missing Week 1. While it’s not a special group per se it should be fine and once they get Overshown back should be an above average group. 

Their secondary is one of most talented groups in the league with my only worry being injury. Having Diggs, Bland, and now Revel Jr is such a unique trio at CB with 3 guys that all have great ball skills and are true playmakers at CB. You pair that with Donovan Wilson and Malik Hooker at S and they have guys flying all over the field who are really talented playmakers on the back end. Now as far as injuries go, this is where it gets concerning. Trevon Diggs is coming off yet another surgery on his knee after tearing his ACL in 2023, Daron Bland missed 10 games last year due to a stress fracture in his foot last year, while Malik Hooker has been mostly healthy in recent years he has knee issues on the past, and now you add Shavon Revel Jr who is coming off a ACL tear from last year in college. When you pair the injury history of this secondary with the lack of depth and I’m not sure how confident I can be in this group. When they’re all out there playing it should be a really unique group that can absolutely flip games for them but if you have to start to count on Kaiir Elam, Andrew Booth, or Calaen Carson to step up I don’t know what you’ll get in the end result. 

Now this coaching staff is where I really have some pause for the upside and even the floor for this team. While I like Brian Schottenheimer as a OC he’s very much an unknown as HC and then you pair him with Matt Eberflus as DC and I just don’t know what you’re going to get out of this team. I don’t mind Eberflus as a DC but I don’t know that he’ll make this defense quite what it could be because of the stagnation and lack of effort that I saw in the Bears defense when he was in charge of play calling.

Overview

• Overall I think this Cowboys team will be close to what they were last season. Floating right around 7-10 wins and fighting for a wild card spot if things go right and if things go the other way well.. they’ll be right where they were this past offseason. Fighting off yet another chance to rebuild and pushing the few chips they have left all in so they can make a desperate attempt at making a run with this core. I just don’t see the upside of anything that special happening this year unless Brian Schottenheimer turns out to be the next Sean McVay and keeps them ahead of nearly everyone else they play, game plan and effort wise. I think there’s also a chance this doesn’t work out and they’re forced to look at this core and reset it around their few key pieces and find a new young up and coming HC.

August 30, 2025 – Update

After writing this nearly 2 months ago a lot has unfolded. Along with roster cutdowns and everything along those lines the Cowboys, or rather Jerry Jones, decided to trade Micah Parsons. While some have found ways to defend this move somehow I’m not going to sit here and lie to anyone. This move is purely out of hard-headedness and narcissism from Jerry Jones. Micah was the one thing that allowed this defense to be even competent let alone competitive, especially against the top quality teams in the league. There’s no defending this move and the comments from Jerry at his presser just made it all that much worse and so clear as to why the Cowboys have failed year in and year out to compete with top teams. You push away stars because you’re unwilling to pay them what they deserve and even go as far as to go behind agents backs to do so. It’s disrespectful and flat out ridiculous that he can rationalize this move in his head. It’s delusional and will set back this version of the Cowboys years and years as they try to take low end first round picks and find any players that are even half of what Micah is. You pray to land of one of these top 10 guys in the league that have HOF potential and when you get them you don’t let them go. It’s sad to see for Cowboys fans and I feel for everyone that has to deal with a billionaire owner that is unwilling to pay his best players and is more interested in getting his face and name out there rather than building a great football team. And last but not least Jerry.. those first round picks can absolutely get you Pro Bowl type players.. the problem is you traded away a solidified All Pro at one of the games most important positions to get those picks.