2024 NFL MVP dark horses: Jared Goff, Tyreek Hill, Christian McCaffrey among potential candidates - Judy Battista, NFL.com
Forget the Defensive Player of the Year award, Micah Parsons is being touted as a dark horse for MVP.
Dallas Cowboys · LB
He’s the longest of long shots, because the last time a defensive player won MVP it was 1986, nearly 40 years ago, and the one to do it was Lawrence Taylor, merely the greatest defensive player in history. That’s a pretty high bar to reach, and Parsons is much more likely to secure a Defensive Player of the Year award. But Parsons is also a star, a disruptive and productive game wrecker on the league’s most high-profile team. In 2023, he had 14 sacks, 18 tackles for a loss, 33 quarterback hits, a forced fumble and two pass breakups. The X-factor for Parsons is how new defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer deploys him — if he sets Parsons loose, and the Cowboys are a dominant team, we’ll hear Parsons’ name a lot, and that should at least include a few mentions as an MVP-level player.
Non-QBs under the most pressure for the 2024 NFL season: Cowboys, Jets, Steelers facing big questions - Cody Benjamin, CBSSports
Ain’t no brakes on the party train when it comes to hot seat articles and Mike McCarthy.
2. Cowboys HC Mike McCarthy
Not so dissimilar to Sirianni, his fellow NFC East figurehead, McCarthy has all the numbers to justify a top job, with three straight playoff bids under his belt. He also has just a single postseason victory in his last six seasons as a head man. With Dak Prescott also on the hot seat as he enters a contract year, McCarthy is under pressure to finally make good on owner Jerry Jones’ roster, and deliver a big-stage win.
What’s Up at DT? More questions than answers - Nick Harris, DallasCowboys.com
Defensive tackle is a spot on the roster that is pretty thin.
What We Don’t: You could throw darts at the possible depth charts that could hit the field in week one in Cleveland at the 1-Technique position, and you’d have as good of a shot as anybody at predicting what it could look like. Mazi Smith has his own fair share of question marks regarding his play weight, his injury timetable and his early progression in the NFL. And while Carl Davis brings a veteran presence at age 32, he has only played 652 defensive snaps in the last six seasons combined (compared to Odighizuwa’s 637 snaps from 2023 alone). Then, you see two rookies in Justin Rogers and Denzel Daxon who have yet to touch the NFL field.
See AlsoWhere to find the Cowboys Cheerleaders from 'America's Sweethearts' on InstagramAlinity ci-series | Core Laboratory at AbbottGood business or playing with fire: The Cowboys handling of the Tyron Smith decisionReece Allman: Where is the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader Now?What to Watch For: It’s tough to find a solid opportunity at starting in the NFL as a rookie seventh-round pick or undrafted free agent, but Rogers and Daxon are just as much in the mix as any. Rogers brings a wealth of SEC experience from his time at Kentucky and Auburn where he was one of the conference’s most consistent run-stuffers in 2023, while Daxon’s wide frame also stuffed running lanes at Illinois in a run-dominant Big Ten Conference. Could another name be added to this mix before the team boards the flight to California? That will be the biggest question.
Which new UFL signing brings the most value to Cowboys? - Shane Taylor, Inside The Star
The Cowboys made KaVontae Turpin a UFL success story last season, and are looking to do the same with LB Willie Harvey and CB Gareon Conley.
Willie Harvey
Let’s start with Harvey, who an All-Pro with the UFL this season. In a linebacker room that is a bit watered down, even with the veteran leadership of Kendricks, Harvey should have a chance to get some work in early.
He led the UFL in total tackles with 78 and tied for tackles in loss with 9. He also led all linebackers with six passes broken up and had four sacks.
Gareon Conley
Conley joins the team at a position in my opinion of strength. Even though it seems they won’t resign Stephon Gilmore, this corner group will get Trevon Diggs back, and still has DaRon Bland and resigned Jourdan Lewis.
Conley battled injuries his entire time in the NFL. His best season came in 2019 when he played in 13 games and finished with 15 tackles, 13 pass breakups, and one interception.
After the Texans did not resign him and due to the injuries over the years, teams did not sign him. Conley got back into football in 2024 playing for the Defenders and DC Greg Williams.
Will a second chance in the NFL be the one he needs to have a solid few years, we will see.
This very well could be a low-risk, high-reward type deal for the Cowboys. If it does not work out, they may not even have him on the final 53-man roster. That is fine.
4 biggest winners (and 2 losers) from Cowboys OTAs and minicamp - Jerry Trotta, The Landry Hat
New skill players trying to find a role in Mike McCarthy’s offense is one of the top storylines ahead of Cowboys training camp.
Cowboys winner: WRs Jalen Brooks and Ryan Flournoy
The buzz surrounding Brooks and Flournoy is palpable, and it’s easy to see why. With no CeeDee Lamb, Brooks was among Dak Prescott’s favorite targets in spring practices. Where Brooks really impressed was with his catch radius and body control on off-target throws.
Brooks will battle Jalen Tolbert for the WR3 job and standing out on the unscripted stuff (like coming down with throws that should fall incomplete) will give him a strong chance to do just that.
If you remember, Brooks burst onto the scene in training camp last year. This year’s camp darling could be Ryan Flournoy. The 2024 fifth-round pick is already one of the most athletic players on the roster. That was evidenced by his Dez-Bryant-esque touchdown grab in team drills.
Once he gets a better understanding of the offense, Flournoy will challenge for reps with the first-team offense in Oxnard.
Cowboys loser: TE Luke Schoonmaker
Cowboys fans aren’t ready to give up on Schoonmaker, but they’ve set a painfully low bar for him to hurdle in year two. Already coming off an injury-riddled rookie season, Schoonmaker underwent offseason shoulder surgery and missed essentially all of OTAs and minicamp with a hamstring injury.
Schoonmaker’s absence allowed more opportunities for promising second-year man Princeton Fant, who took a ton of first-team reps, and touted undrafted free agent Brevyn Spann-Ford.
With fan favorite John Stephens Jr. on the cusp of completing his ACL rehab, Schoonmaker can ill-afford another injury setback in training camp. Based on draft status, Schoonmaker is still the favorite to win the TE2 job, but he could tumble down the depth chart in Oxnard if he can’t stay on the field or doesn’t perform.
Cowboys have a plan to keep Prescott, Lamb, and Parsons and that means saying goodbye to these players - Dan Rogers, Blogging The Boys
Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.
THE KEEPERS
Every team has a short list of star players who will take up 50 to 60% of their cap space. This group is identified as “the keepers” and for Dallas, it’s the big three everyone has been talking about with Trevon Diggs and Tyler Smith also included. These are the team’s most talented players expected to be around for the long haul. As indicated in the previous article, they are projected to occupy 59.4% of the team’s resources over the next several years.
TOUGH DECISIONS
Now, the challenge becomes, how can the Cowboys fill out the rest of their roster with only 40% of their budget? This will be made possible by making huge sacrifices. Those sacrifices will include moving on from talented veterans (for example: Tyron Smith) and letting good players leave in free agency (Tony Pollard, Tyler Biadasz, and Dorance Armstrong). The team will receive compensatory draft picks for losing these players, however, those picks will be outside the top 100 picks of the draft and are mostly just darts to throw, hoping to get lucky like they did with a quarterback who will soon command the largest contract in NFL history, worth over a quarter of a billion dollars.
Coming to terms with those losses is the first step. Brace for impact. Losing Zack Martin and DeMarcus Lawrence will be sad. And letting talented young players like Osa Odighizuwa, DaRon Bland, and Jake Ferguson will sting a bit. Granted, there will be room for the Cowboys to retain one or maybe two of these guys, but most of them gots to go. It’s a tough reality, but it has to happen.
