A blueprint to fix the Dallas Cowboys’ mess in time for the 2025 season

Ralph Vacchiano

NFL reporter

The signs of trouble came in the Dallas Cowboys’ offseason when Jerry Jones promised to go “all in” but didn’t. It was obvious that their squad was full of holes. They didn’t look like real Super Bowl contenders.

But none of these signs pointed to a season like this.

“Did we have hard times? Yes,” the Cowboys owner said last week. “And this one, we didn’t expect the record. And the way we’re playing right now, we didn’t expect that. But you all heard me tell those old stories ’til you get sick: You stay in.’ If you stay in this league long enough, you’re going to see times like this.

It’s really been a long time since they’ve had a season as ailing as this one, even after their wild 34-26 win at Washington on Sunday. They are 4-7 and have no hope of salvaging their season. They are 0-5 at home, where their remaining few fans were drowned out by the loyal Houston Texans fans last Monday night. Their starting quarterback, Dak Prescott, is out for the season. Their coach, Mike McCarthy, is on the hot seat, even after three straight 12-5 seasons.

Literally everything about the Cowboys is bad right now.

Which means for Jones and everyone else in the Cowboys organization, the only question that matters moving forward is this:

What do they have to do to make everything okay again?

The first step would be to hire a real general manager so that Jones is no longer the one making the football decisions, but the 82-year-old billionaire has made it clear he will never do that. Maybe he’ll be open to some helpful advice instead:

1. Don’t spontaneously fire Mike McCarthy

This won’t be a popular decision among Cowboys fans, but there are good reasons to extend McCarthy’s contract after the season. Of course there are problems with McCarthy, but going 12-5 in three straight seasons isn’t nothing. And this season wasn’t entirely his fault, as he was hurt by an offseason of inactivity and then a spate of injuries.

He is a coach who has won the Super Bowl and is well-liked by his players. Despite their playoff struggles, he led the Cowboys to by far their best three-year run since their last Super Bowl era 30 years ago. It would be crazy to release someone so successful after a bad, injury-plagued year.

Also: What is the better option? Find an untested assistant coach and hope he turns into Sean McVay and not Ben McAdoo? A makeover like Doug Pederson? Deion Sanders is a fun idea, but not every college coach makes it to the NFL level. Bill Belichick’s star certainly faded after Tom Brady left New England. And don’t get me started on Jason Witten, a Jones favorite. The jump from high school to the NFL is way too big.

Signing McCarthy on a short-term contract and making it clear that he needs to win next season seems a much more sensible approach than starting over under someone else.

2. Give Micah Parsons his blockbuster contract extension before the start of free agency

Jones has a counterproductive habit of waiting until the very last minute to sign his best players and then giving them the deal he could have given them months earlier. There is no logic to this because the price never goes down. It just ties up cap space that could be spent elsewhere.

Parsons will get a blockbuster deal, likely before the start of the 2025 season, when he will be due $21.3 million in guaranteed money. He is undoubtedly aiming to become the highest-paid defensive player in the industry, which means at least $35 million per season. He could get a deal worth more than $200 million with $150 million guaranteed.

The Cowboys will pay him in February instead of next September. When Nick Bosa signed his five-year, $170 million contract with San Francisco – currently making him the highest-paid defenseman in the NFL – his first-year cap account was actually reduced to around $11 million. If the Cowboys do the same, they can lock Parsons up long-term and cut his 2025 cap number in half.

Then, for a change, they would have more space to spend in free agency.

3. Restructure some contracts to create room to be real players in free agency

In recent years, the Cowboys have been far too worried about future salary cap space. That’s why they had virtually no free agency last spring.

Based on the voidable years they put into the new contracts for Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb, it looks like their mindset is changing. Combined, those two are expected to account for around $125 million against the 2025 cap, but the empty years allow the Cowboys to restructure and move portions of it into the future. They could end up with $80 million in cap space and the ability to sign anyone if they do everything right.

And they really should. Their championship window is now open, despite this season’s disaster. They have an elite quarterback, receiver and defender and plenty of strong guys in other areas. They could use free agency to fill holes with really good players instead of just sitting back and picking players from the scrap heap of what’s left when the big money runs out.

Then they can worry about tomorrow, tomorrow. Now focus on building the team.

4. Get this team an outstanding running back

They’ll never admit it, but they simply blew it last offseason when a slew of high-profile defensemen, led by Derrick Henry, were available for the low price of $10-$12 million guaranteed. They can’t pretend like they can’t afford it anymore. You have to acknowledge that running back is a glaring hole.

The free agent market at the position won’t be as good in March as it was last spring, but no one who is available will be getting money for Saquon Barkley. There will be quality backs in the $10-12 million range again and the Cowboys will have to try to get one of them. Aaron Jones is probably the best, but he has injury concerns and will be turning 30 soon. James Conner would be a good fit, although he will also be 30 next season. Nick Chubb could also be a steal at 29 years old, but only if he’s healthy.

The best choice might be Najee Harris, who is just 26 years old and has proven to be durable and difficult to tackle. It might cost a little more, but it would definitely be worth it.

But to do that, they need to sign a proven running back. They can bring Rico Dowdle back as a replacement if they want, but he cannot be back in the starting XI. And they can’t dare just put one in the draft.

5. Refill the trenches

In some ways, this process has already begun. In the last three drafts, all three of the Cowboys’ first-round picks and two of their three second-rounders were either offensive or defensive players. But the work isn’t done yet, as guard Zack Martin is nearing the end of a great career and defensive linemen DeMarcus Lawrence and Osa Odighizuwa are scheduled to become free agents.

They should continue to draft at these positions, but also use free agency, especially on the defensive line, where they need the most help. They should look to get a center back like BJ Hill or a defensive end like Josh Sweat (assuming they don’t want to break the bank for Haason Reddick after re-signing Parsons). They have a strong secondary and improving linebacker. They just can’t consistently get to the passer or stop the run.

Games are often won and lost on the lines, even in today’s NFL. The Cowboys seem to know it. You just have to put some money into philosophy too.

KaVontae Turpin returns a punt 99 YARDS to the house as the Cowboys extend their lead over the Commanders

Ralph Vacchiano is an NFL reporter for FOX Sports. He has spent the last six years reporting on it Giants And Jets for SNY TV in new Yorkand before that covered the Giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News for 16 years. Follow him on Twitter at @RalphVacchiano.

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