All In?

By Mike Rifkin

Training camps across the NFL are open and the season is right around the corner. One of the big storylines of the offseason was the Dallas Cowboys and how they were going to approach the offseason. Well, owner Jerry Jones told people that he was “All In”, well the Cowboys were not very aggressive in free agency. If you’re a Cowboy fan you can forgive Jerry for not being ultra aggressive if he took care of his own players : Ceedee Lamb, Dak Prescott, and Micah Parsons are all up for new deals as is Head Coach Mike McCarthy. None of them were taken care of and Ceedee Lamb hasn’t reported to training camp yet. 

In my opinion there’s one way this goes down. Lamb and Parsons should and will get paid, the only question is why it hasn’t happened yet. As for Dak and McCarthy, the only way either one is a Cowboy in the long term is if the Cowboys reach the NFC Championship game. So, why is there a difference and divide here : Lamb and Parsons are absolute game changers. Lamb in 2023 : led the league in catches, was second in yards and third in touchdowns. Lamb’s numbers have increased since his rookie season and he has become a top receiver in the sport. 

As for Parsons, the guy is an absolute game changer, probably the most dynamic linebacker/edge hybrid people have seen since Lawrence Taylor. In his three seasons Parsons has at least 13 sacks and he creates space for others on the Dallas defense to get to the quarterback. Now if Jerry is just thinking about the Wild Card game where Parsons and the defense were obliterated by the Packers and that is making him second guess what he’s doing, well that isn’t really smart. Here’s the other thing about both Parsons and Lamb, yes they’re both one of the best at their respective positions, but they’re 25 years old and they both still have great football ahead of them. 

As for Dak Prescott, the fourth round pick who took the league by storm. Well, Dak is coming off a career high 36 touchdowns last season along with a career high 69.5 completion percentage. Unfortunately for Dak, like the defense he didn’t play great against the Packers in the Wild Card game and that is our lasting image of last season. Now I believe Dak has earned a new contract and is a top Quarterback in the NFL, but the one thing against him is his owner. I don’t believe Jerry has ever wanted to pay Dak and think of how things have gone in negotiations during Dak’s career. Remember when Zeke went to Cabo and they made sure they took care of him (he had two years left on contract), while Dak needed a new deal. Here’s the other unfortunate thing for Prescott, we judge quarterbacks based on rings and how they’ve performed in the playoffs. Dak has had his moments, but has yet to win the big one. 

Like I said above if Dak and McCarthy don’t get to the NFC title game, they’ll both be out. The Dallas Cowboys haven’t been to a Super Bowl since the 90’s. The reason why is simple and it’s the only common denominator Jerry Jones. Nobody can be bigger than the owner of the team, who claims he’s all in, but is he really all in? The Cowboys will make the playoffs, but if they don’t go to the Super Bowl, there will be a lot of finger pointing, but just not at the person really at fault.