Many observers expected Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones to set up the team for this summer after he declared his team would be “all-in” following the team’s 48-32 NFC Super Wild Card Weekend loss to the seventh-seeded Green Bay Packers.
QB Dak Prescott, who finished second in the NFL MVP voting in 2023 and was named to the 2023 Second Team All-Pro, acknowledged that he was eager to see what adjustments the Cowboys will make.
Yes, I am aware of that one. When questioned on March 4 about Jones’ assertions that he was all-in, Prescott replied, “Honestly, I’m excited to see it.” “I’m not sure. I can’t claim that we’ve discussed what’s all-in and how you intend to make those movements.
But as free agency approaches and multiple of their star players are taken by other teams from the Dallas Cowboys club from the previous season, the team has only signed one free agent and doesn’t appear to be any closer to a contract with Prescott.
Nevertheless, Dallas started free agency with $2.2 million in budget room since Jones hasn’t extended contracts for Prescott or Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, who leads the team in receptions (2023) and is entering the final year of his rookie contract on a $17.991 million fifth-year option. Jones’ lone internal free agency move to date has been to re-sign long snapper Trent Sieg as a result of delaying taking care of his two best stars.
By signing veteran linebacker Erick Kendricks on Wednesday, Jerry and Stephen Jones made their first major move, if you can call it that, as Kendricks played under new Dallas Cowboys DC Mike Zimmer during his eight seasons with the Minnesota Vikings.
2019 saw him named an All-Pro. However, he signed with the Chargers for the 2018 season, where he recorded 117 tackles and 3.5 sacks before being cut. The expectation is that the 32-year-old has some remaining energy and can assist the Cowboys in stuffing the run while interfering with the quarterback in certain packages.
Wide receiver Dez Bryant, a Cowboys legend and the franchise’s all-time leader in receiving touchdowns with 73, has already said the organisation is in the midst of the dreaded “r-word”: rebuilding. The Cowboys are the only club to win 12 games or more in three straight seasons without making it to the conference finals in any of those seasons since the AFL/NFL merger in 1970.
“It’s not enough in this draft to give up what you gave up and expect to win this upcoming year,” tweeted Bryant on Tuesday. “I love my boys,” Bryant said. The Cowboys’ best opportunity to play in the Big Game has been over the last two or three years. They appear to be rebuilding, in my perspective.
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