FRISCO, Texas – Ninety-nine days on the calendar remaining. Ninety-nine days until the Cowboys' season opener on Sept. 4 at Philadelphia.
As always, time is flying, the Cowboys already seven weeks into the offseason program, the rookie minicamp having passed, now Week 2 of OTAs taking place out here at The Star – with four of the scheduled nine down, five to go, including two more this week – and an offseason-ending minicamp slated for June 10-12. Then off to training camp on July 20 in Oxnard, California.
The 2025 NFL season around the corner even though this is but the final week in May. Already.
We've got a schedule.
Got a 91-man roster, the extra one an international exemption for Denzel Daxon, and for this Cowboys team always good to add another 322-pounder to the defensive line.
Got season record predictions flying at us faster than all those mock drafts.
Got Super Bowl odds even before teams really know exactly what they have.
And lists, oh, how these many websites love a list.
So let's get going here, knowing our second opportunity to watch one of these OTA practices scheduled for Thursday sure to create more upcoming shots.
- Speaking Of Schedules: Saw this note, Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow complaining about the Bengals having to play a prime-time game at Baltimore for the fourth consecutive season, this one Thanksgiving night, and facing the Ravens twice in a three-game span. Well, Mike North, NFL vice president of planning and scheduling, admitted that everything isn't always perfect, and this brought to mind the Cowboys having to play six consecutive games, starting with the Sunday prior to Thanksgiving and stretching through Christmas Day, against 2024 playoff teams. Said North, "Everybody is just a little disappointed in the schedule makers." Hey, Joe, if we consider the NFL's season-opening Thursday night game during Labor Day week somewhat of a league "holiday," then the Cowboys have three of them. So hey, Joe, cool it.
- Odds Oddity: Know how once the schedule comes out so many want to predict a team's outcome week by week with a W or L? Well, how about this oddity. Already, ESPN Bet has projected the Buffalo Bills favored to win all 17 games, the smallest margin 1.5 points and the only team projected – and it's not even June – to win every game. Conversely to the Cowboys' Murderers' Row, the Bills will play at the Jets followed by three consecutive home games against the Dolphins, Patriots and Saints, the benefit of playing in the AFC East. Come on, Mr. North, what about some equity?
- Seriously? Now one site, claiming to be the bible of NFL analysis, has come out with its ranking list of each team's projected starting quarterback, 1-32. Co-host Bill Jones on our Mick Shots podcast this week asked us to guess where Dak Prescott is ranked. Mine, eighth. Ha! He's 17th. The top four were ranked Tier 1 Elite: Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen. Next were Tier 2 High-End Starters: Jalen Hurts, Jayden Daniels, Matthew Stafford and Justin Herbert. Now Tier 3 Solid Starters Who Have Flashed High Play But They Need More Help: Jordan Love, Baker Mayfield, C.J. Stroud, Kyler Murray (for real), Trevor Lawrence (for whatever reason) and Dak Prescott – barely ahead of Tua Tagovailoa, Bo Nix, Brice Young, J.J. McCarthy, Drake May, Michael Penix Jr. and Justin Fields. OK, that's all I can take. If the intention was "click bait," they win. And after Dak's name comes "Prescott remains the epitome of a quarterback who thrives against weaker opponents but falters when the competition stiffens." For real. Let's see with these regular season records. Against NFC East opponents Dak owns a 9-4 record vs. Philadelphia, 11-2 vs. Washington and as should be 14-2 vs. the Giants. Now then, 3-1 vs. Minnesota, 2-0 vs. Pittsburgh, 5-1 vs. Detroit, 2-2 vs. San Francisco, 2-2 vs. Rams, 1-1 vs. Kansas City. OK, Dak is but 1-3 vs. Green Bay and 0-2 in the playoffs with the Packers scoring 34 and 48 to win. Oh, and he's also beaten Detroit and Seattle in the playoffs, losing twice to San Francisco and another time to the Rams when they ran for 265 yards in a 30-22 beating. Guess finishing runner-up to Lamar Jackson in 2023 didn't count for much, nor the fact he's gotten the Cowboys into the playoffs five times, nor that he owns a 34-8 record against NFC East opponents and 74-46 overall record, the fourth most by a quarterback since the 2016 season. Amazing, no?
- Lookee Here: The Cowboys had been severely criticized when moving on from free-agent running back Tony Pollard last offseason, unwilling to match the contract offer of Tennessee of three years, as much as $21.75 million, with a $6 million signing bonus and $10.49 million guaranteed. Plus, single-season bonuses worth $250,000 rushing for 1,100 yards, and $200,000 each for seven rushing touchdowns and 60 receptions. Well, this offseason read where Titans head coach Brian Callahan thinks they must reduce Pollard's 2024 workload, which was 260 carries for 1,079 yards rushing and five TDs on 701 snaps to keep him fresh throughout the season. "He was battling the second half of the year quite a bit," Callahan said, knowing his lead back played 68 percent of the offensive snaps. "But I think in a perfect world, it's a healthier division of labor." Not a bad idea if you can afford an $8.74 million cap hit for a back sharing the load. Oh, and then there is this: The Cowboys, for $1.255 million spent on Rico Dowdle, got unbelievably the identical 1,079 yards rushing but on just 235 carries and three total touchdowns playing 636 snaps (54.3 percent of the plays) while only once playing more than 41 snaps in nine of the first 10 games. Anyone want a redo?
- Mini Shots: Might have missed this, but NFL.com's Bucky Brooks listed the "Superpowers" of nine draft prospects, one being Cowboys first-round draft choice Tyler Booker, writing, "Few blockers move the furniture around the room like Booker. The 6-4 5/8, 321-pounder is a tone-setter with a nasty disposition and an old-school game that forces foes to make 'business decisions' at the point of attack. Booker blows defenders off the ball with such force that it looks like he is driving a one-man sled." So let the driving begin … 'Tis the season during OTAs, Buffalo running back James Cook entering the final year of his contract with a $5.7 million cap hit has been absent from the "voluntary" OTA practices, reportedly seeking a new deal worth $15 million a year. Knowing owners, good luck with all that … Remember earlier mentioning those odds? ESPN Bet is listing the Cowboys over/under win total at 7½ after winning but seven games this past season, basically suggesting not much improvement having to play 11 of 17 games against teams currently with better Super Bowl winning odds, the Cowboys coming in 17th.
And for sure one of the questions the Cowboys must have answered over these next 99 days pertains to the running back position, with Dowdle moving on in free agency and the Cowboys signing two unrestricted free agents, Javonte Williams and Miles Sanders, and drafting Jaydon Blue and Phil Marfa to join Deuce Vaughn and Hunter Luepke. So for today's last words, here is what head coach Brian Schottenheimer had to say about where they are at the running back position.
"It's too early to tell," Schottenheimer says. "Last year we went into it thinking it was going to be by committee, and then at the end of the year we changed that, and I think it's really early. We want these guys to compete. The thing we know about Javonte and Miles, they've been there, done that, and they both have had very successful seasons. They have a little bit of a head start since they've been here since the start of Phase I, so they are a little bit ahead of Phil and Jaydon.
"But when you look at what you see from Jaydon and what you see from Phil, you see it's going to be a really fun offseason, a fun training camp, but again and I've said this in here before, you're not going to find out much about running backs watching them compete in shorts. It's not how the game is played. So we really won't know. I think the number is 68 days away from our first training camp padded practice, so it's one that you have optimism, but you also don't get too far ahead of yourself when you are talking about the running back position."
That was last Tuesday. Now it's 60 days, and again 99 until first teeing it up.
