The Dallas Cowboys are walking into Week 1 with a lot of believers behind them, and NFL.com is among the loudest. All but one of the outlet’s 10 panelists picked Dallas to beat the Giants in the opener, a sign that the confidence around this team is not just about one game.
That optimism doesn’t stop there. NFL.com also asked 19 analysts to pick division winners, and Dallas came out on top in the NFC East with 12 votes. Philadelphia finished second with seven.
Jerry Jones has leaned all the way into the noise. He said, “I feel like we’ve got a chance to really be good,” Jones said.
“It’s going to be hard… Bottom line is, I love the excitement. [The media], for all practical purposes, don’t expect us to be a contender in the Super Bowl.
Y’all don’t. Why would you?
I like that, I do. I like that, and I like what we’ve put together to show you that we can do it.”
The Cowboys buzz has even reached the point where Adam Schefter felt compelled to fire off a warning to Stephen A. Smith.
I got some bad news for Stephen A. Smith: The Dallas Cowboys are coming.
They are coming this year and Stephen A. is gonna be tested. I’m telling you right now, it’s gonna be a long, anxious, nervous year for Stephen A.
Smith. Be ready.
Dallas’ case starts with the offense. Dan Parr of NFL.com expects another top-five unit, and it’s easy to see why.
The Cowboys have finished in the top five in scoring offense in four of the past five seasons, with Dak Prescott’s injury-shortened 2024 season the lone exception. Prescott was still operating at a high level last year, ranking among the top five quarterbacks in QBR and passing EPA.
The weapons around him are part of the appeal. CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens are being described as the game’s top wide receiver duo, and both were said to be performing at an All-Pro level. Javonte Williams also gets a mention after a strong first year in Dallas, when he ran for 1,201 yards and ranked ninth in the league.
There is one concern on that side of the ball: offensive tackle. Dallas traded for Steelers castoff Broderick Jones, who is coming off a neck injury, in an effort to stabilize the position before the season gets rolling. If the edges hold up, NFL.com believes Brian Schottenheimer’s offense can keep humming.
The defense is where the picture gets messier, even if the league is still buying some of the upside. The Athletic’s Mike Sando spoke with six NFL executives about the top NFC teams, and several of them pointed to the possibility of improvement in Dallas after a rough 2024.
“Anything is better than what they did last year on defense,” the voter placing Dallas second in the NFC said. “They shocked the system by trading Micah Parsons, and I just think generally speaking, new coordinators on defense create variance.”
Another voter, who ranked Dallas fifth, liked the addition of defensive coordinator Christian Parker. “I like the coordinator,” this voter said of Parker.
“He is going to help maximize what they have. The secondary is still not a strength, but they have an impressive front seven.”
A third executive, ranking Dallas eighth, pointed to the front’s size and a few lingering questions. “Quinnen Williams is good, and they have a little more girth up front, so it should be better, but they’ve got some unknowns there too with coaches and philosophy,” the voter ranking Dallas eighth said.
The concerns didn’t end there. “I have defensive concerns, for sure,” one said.
“Do they have enough pass rush? How healthy is Overshown?
How good are the corners? But they did address the interior with Quinnen Williams and Kenny Clark, and I like Caleb Downs.
They will be better up the middle.”
That’s the tension with Dallas right now: plenty of confidence, plenty of offense, and a defense that still has to prove it can match the hype. Week 1 against the Giants is the first chance to start doing exactly that.
In Other News...
Cowboys Just Raised The Stakes On DaRon Bland And Jake Ferguson
The Cowboys have done some financial housekeeping, restructuring the contracts of Kenny Clark, DaRon Bland and Jake Ferguson to create a much cleaner path through the rest of the season. The moves opened up $19 million in cap space and pushed Dallas to $33 million in total room, giving the front office a lot more flexibility than it had just a short time ago.
Bland and Ferguson are the names that matter here beyond the bookkeeping, because the restructures also raised their dead cap hits and made an easy escape far less likely. In other words, Dallas has tied a little more of its future to both players while leaving itself with enough maneuvering room to chase a major addition if the right opportunity comes along, including a big-money defensive splash that would fit the kind of move this team has been eyeing. [Read more 🡒]
Cowboys Just Added A Risky New Twist To Their Tackle Battle
The Cowboys have been looking for ways to sharpen the edges of their offensive line battle, and the trade for Broderick Jones gives them another intriguing body in the mix at right tackle. Dallas sent draft picks to Pittsburgh to bring in a young player with real talent and a rsum that has already been complicated by early-career adversity, including a neck injury and stretches of uneven play. For a team trying to sort out its best five up front, Jones brings both upside and uncertainty.
What makes the move so interesting is that Jones has often looked more comfortable on the left side, even as the Cowboys are asking him to compete on the right. His technique and consistency have been part of the concern, and he is still working back strength after missing time, which makes his path to a starting job less straightforward than it might appear. For Dallas, it is another swing at finding the right answer at tackle, but it comes with the kind of risk that can reshape the whole competition. [Read more 🡒]
Cowboys Still Have One Roster Problem Jerry Jones Can't Ignore
With injuries and roster churn still shaping the back end of camp, the Cowboys are doing what every contending team does this time of year: scanning the league for useful pieces before the regular season locks the roster in place. The practice squad market has become part of that search, and Jabbar Muhammad stands out as one of the more intriguing names because Dallas can still use help at cornerback. The current depth chart has enough questions to keep the front office honest, especially with the team continuing to weigh how much stability it really has behind its top options.
It is also the kind of position where one move can quietly matter more than the splashier headlines around the team. Trade chatter has already followed Dallas in other areas, from the Maxx Crosby buzz to the ripple effects of the George Pickens deal and the Cowboys' own quarterback roster activity, but the cornerback conversation keeps circling back to need. For Jerry Jones, the unresolved issue is not whether there are interesting options out there. It is whether one of them is worth acting on before someone else does. [Read more 🡒]