By Jamal Baker
NDG Contributing Writer
The 2024-2025 regular season will be one to forget for the Dallas Cowboys. This past Sunday served as poetic justice for current Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn as he handed his former team their final loss of the season. The Cowboys fell to the Commanders 23-19 and finished their regular season campaign with a 7-10 record. The Cowboys secured the 12th overall pick in the NFL draft and currently have a staff full of coaches on expiring contracts—head coach Mike McCarthy included.
“Mike’s one of the best coaches that I think there is. He was made the coach here because I thought that, and he’s done absolutely nothing to diminish my opinion of him as a coach. And I am really impressed with the way the players identify [and] are with him,” Owner, President, and General Manager Jerry Jones said postgame.
McCarthy is a super bowl champion and has won 174 games as a head coach—13th all time in NFL history. Admittedly, letting someone with such pedigree walk out of your building can be a difficult decision to make. The Chicago Bears are ready to pounce as they have already requested permission to interview McCarthy this week. Jones is expected to take his time with the head coaching decision, and one he must get right while players like Dak Prescott, Ceedee Lamb, and Micah Parsons are still in the prime of their careers.
The Cowboys also have a bevy of roster decisions to make this offseason. For starters, they should not play with food and do the right thing like Spike Lee by extending Micah Parsons—instead of procrastinating next offseason.
“I called upon the star. I landed on it, and I’m grateful. I feel like I got one of the best jobs in America. I’m just super grateful for the opportunity that Jerry Jones gave me and I don’t take it for granted,” Parsons stated postgame.
Defensive linemen Demarcus Lawrence and Osa Odighizuwa are also due for new deals and set to hit free agency. Lawrence has been a bookend with Parsons at the defensive end position and will certainly return to the Cowboys on an incentive-based team friendly deal. Odighizuwa improved each year in his four seasons with Dallas and developed into a force at defensive tackle—the Cowboys would be silly to let him walk.
Dallas has many holes that need to be filled on the roster, making the 2025 NFL draft all the more important. The last time the Cowboys had the 12th overall pick, they struck gold, and selected Parsons out of Penn State in 2021. Prospective prospects within their range include running back Ashton Jeanty, wide receiver Luther Burden III, and defensive tackle Derrick Harmon. Jeanty would pair nicely with current running back Rico Dowdle by providing power and explosiveness.
If Dowdle decides to walk in free agency, Jeanty is more than capable of being the bell cow. Burden III is instant offense at the wide receiver position. Burden III’s presence would unlock the passing game by giving Prescot another weapon outside of Lamb and tight end Jake Ferguson. Interior defensive line has been a problem for years within the Dallas organization, and adding a 6’5’’ 310-pound man in Harmon will certainly shore up this weakness. The Cowboys have a chance to reshape their roster and staff this offseason and build on the foundation they have already set.
