On Facebook
On Flipboard
A pessimist's guide to the 2024 Dallas Cowboys
When it comes to disappointment, Dallas fans should be “all-in” given the team’s uninspired offseason. Here’s why they should be worried about next season.
Running backs
In a free-agent market with running backs like Saquon Barkley, Derrick Henry, Josh Jacobs, Aaron Jones, D'Andre Swift, Joe Mixon and Austin Ekeler, the best Cowboys owner Jerry Jones could do was Ezekiel Elliott, a player he deemed unworthy of a 2023 roster spot.
Elliott spent last year with the Patriots while posting career lows in yards (642) yards per carry (3.5) and touchdowns (three). Meanwhile, backup running back Rico Dowdle had a career-high two scores last year while sixth-round pick Deuce Vaughn had 40 yards and no scores as a rookie.
Ezekiel Elliott officially signed his one-year deal with the Dallas Cowboys. pic.twitter.com/RdqoWo2JWI
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 30, 2024
Thanks to 1,005 yards from Tony Pollard, Dallas had the14th-most rushing yards in the NFL last season. But now that he’s a Titan, the team faces the Herculean task of filling his shoes with a soon-to-be 29-year-old running back with very little left in the tank.
Salary cap
Even if the team wanted players like Barkley, Henry or Ekeler, signing them would be almost impossible given the state of their salary cap. Dallas felt comfortable giving Elliott a $2M contract because it has just $1.9M in cap space for 2024.
The Cowboys are scheduled to have $61M in cap space next year but that number doesn’t include pending free agents like Dak Prescott or CeeDee Lamb, and contract negotiations for both have already proved to be difficult.
Nico Collins
Dallas won’t face Houston until Week 11, but the Texans wide receiver just became a thorn in the team’s side. By signing a three-year, $72.5M contract extension ($52M guaranteed) on Tuesday, the cost of re-signing Lamb just went up.
Collins was the NFL’s eighth-leading receiver with 1,297 yards last season. Calvin Ridley finished 25th with 1,016 yards and received a four-year, $92M deal with the Titans. Gabe Davis and Darnell Mooney, the NFL’s 49th and 108th-leading receivers each signed three-year, $39M contracts.
Lamb will make $17.9M next season and his 1,749 yards in 2023 were second only to Miami’s Tyreek Hill. The longer the Cowboys wait, the more they’ll pay.
More must-reads:
- Two Cowboys veterans land on PFF best players 30 and older list
- NFC's worst offseason moves: Cowboys, Falcons slip with boneheaded decisions
- The 'Most prominent quarterbacks in Dallas Cowboys history' quiz
Breaking News
Trending News
TODAY'S BEST
Steelers Rookie's Injury Timeline Revealed
In a meaningless final preseason contest, the Pittsburgh Steelers watched as prized rookie defensive tackle Derrick Harmon was carted off the field in the first half. The team's first-round draft pick at the 2025 NFL Draft went down after a pass-rush attempt, but was able to exit under his own power before being taken off the field. Despite the scare, the Steelers’ newest starter appears to have avoided a major injury. Head coach Mike Tomlin frustratingly had no update on the player in the second half of their preseason finale against the Carolina Panthers, but before the game ended Harmon walked back onto the sidelines to rejoin his teammates. Following the game, Tomlin shared that Harmon suffered a knee sprain and is being evaluated. Shortly after, team insider Gerry Dulac provided further information on the situation. ”No. 1 pick Derrick Harmon has a knee sprain and will have an MRI tomorrow in Pittsburgh,” he said via his X account. “His injury is not season-ending but he is expected to be out at least a couple weeks, per sources.” With two weeks left until their regular season opener against the New York Jets, the team’s starting defense is at risk of beginning the season short-handed. For a team with championship ambitions, a long-term injury to Harmon was devastating, but a short-term one is still very costly. The immediate takeaway is the defensive line loses a starter, but the bigger hit comes beyond the starting 11. Without Harmon, the pressure and strain on the line depth only increases. Entering the season, the position is one of the team’s deepest, but they had no intentions of testing that immediately. Now, fellow starters Cam Heyward and Keeanu Benton will be on the field more. So will rookie Yahya Black and possibly Isaiahh Loudermilk. The depth is still there, but without Harmon it goes from a potential difference-maker to potentially even larger issue. Further complicating the matter is the uncertainty surrounding top lineman Cam Heyward. The 36-year-old leader of the locker room is seeking a restructured deal, and recently held-in and did not participate in team activities as training camp concluded. Harmon was the solution to any Heyward problem. If he sat out Week 1, they still had two starters. Now, they are at risk of losing two starters before the regular season begins. The Steelers are hoping and praying this injury continues to be less severe than initially thought, and that the top pick can make it back in time for the regular season opener. That won’t be fully known, however, until this MRI reveals any additional injury concerns for the Steelers.
Kent Hughes requested Nick Suzuki approval before making trade
As captain of the Montreal Canadiens, it’s clear that Nick Suzuki gets a lot of respect from the fans and everyone in the organization; however, a sneak peek of the Montreal Canadiens show on Crave, "The Rebuild: Behind The Scenes," shows that GM Kent Hughes asked Suzuki’s opinion before pulling the trigger on the Patrik Laine trade. The fact that Suzuki has this much say in things with the higher-ups proves just how much respect he has with them. This also isn’t the first time we’ve heard that Suzuki was involved in a big decision for the team. It’s well known that Suzuki and Hughes spoke just after the Four Nations break, where the captain pleaded with his GM on behalf of his teammates to not sell any players at the trade deadline as they all wanted to stay together as a group. Hughes told Suzuki that the team must prove themselves to be worthy of staying in the mix until the deadline. Following that chat, the Canadiens went 5-0-1 up until the deadline, placing themselves right in the middle of the mix. Hughes listened to his captain, and the team managed to sneak into the playoffs as a result. While this was more of an agreement between the two, it still shows that Hughes respects Suzuki’s word. Another thing that Suzuki has managed to change within the organization is that morning skates are now at the Bell Centre as opposed to Brossard, as they were before the 2023-24 season. Suzuki argues that skating at the Bell Centre would motivate the players more during the skate. Suzuki is also the reason why Juraj Slafkovsky never went to Laval when he was struggling early in the 2023-24 season. When things weren’t going well early in the Slovak’s career, it was Suzuki who told management to keep him in Montreal and have him play on his line. It turns out that decision proved to be the best thing for Slafkovsky as he’s managed 2 50-point seasons since then, and their line with Cole Caufield is considered a top 10 trio in the entire league. It seems like there is always a new story on just how influential Suzuki is on everyone throughout the Habs organization. Now, we are talking about how Suzuki also has enough influence on the team to have input on a trade before it happens. In that clip, it seemed Suzuki was excited for Laine to come to Montreal — and with good reason, as the Canadiens got a former 40-goal scorer with the potential to do it again. As a fan, it’s hard to know what else Suzuki has influence on when it comes to management and the higher-ups, but it does seem as captain that he is the perfect bridge between management and the players. Not only does he help the players with their demands, but the fact that he tries to make things work for management when dealing with the players just proves why he was born to be an NHL captain. Maybe we will see more situations where management and Suzuki discuss things on behalf of the team as the second season of "The Rebuild" progresses. With the success the Canadiens had during the 2024-25 season, this season of "The Rebuild: Behind The Scenes" should be a fun one to watch.
NASCAR official sheds light on Bubba Wallace's Richmond penalty
Bubba Wallace had never found much success at Richmond Raceway, but looked poised to deliver a breakthrough performance there on Saturday night. Wallace led 123 laps on the night and won Stage 2 after finishing second in the opening stage to 23XI Racing teammate Tyler Reddick. Everything changed for the Brickyard 400 winner during a green-flag stop with 110 laps to go. As Wallace exited his stall, he lost his left-front tire and pulled into fellow Toyota driver Chase Briscoe's stall to get the tire back on prior to returning to the track. While the decision to pit in another box forced Wallace to serve a pass-through penalty, NASCAR Cup Series Managing Director Brad Moran said the sanctioning body viewed his actions as the safest move in that scenario. "The last thing we want is a wheel coming off on the race track. Obviously, the penalties ramp up when you leave pit road and a wheel falls off," Moran said, per NASCAR.com. "But truthfully, really what it is, it's just pitting out of the box is how we look at it. We do not want tires out on the race track, so if it can be avoided, we certainly would like to see that. So, the rule was set that if you happen to lose a tire and you can get it changed in a teammate's box, that's fair game before you leave and you will be penalized for pitting out of the box." This was the second time this season a driver made the abrupt decision to stop in another driver's box after losing a wheel on pit road. Back in March at Las Vegas, Christopher Bell did the same thing and, ironically enough, also stopped in Briscoe's box to get the wheel secured. Although Wallace ultimately finished two laps down in 28th, he appeared to have one of the best cars in the field until the pit road mishap derailed his race. He had only led 83 laps combined and recorded one top 10 in his previous 13 starts at Richmond, so the time he spent at the front was a major step in the right direction. Had the wheel come off on the track, two crew members would have received a two-race suspension, meaning the No. 23 team would not have been at full strength for the playoff opener at Darlington on Aug. 31. Instead, the on-the-spot decision-making kept that from happening on what was shaping up to be a career night at the "Action Track" for Wallace.
Insider Shares Details on Steelers, Gabe Davis Visit
The Pittsburgh Steelers recently got a second look at former Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Gabe Davis, who they brought in for a second visit this summer. Davis first came to Pittsburgh early in the summer, just after mini camp. Then, he returned just after training camp. And one team insider is offering an update on how things went. Davis, 26, had his season cut short after just 10 games in 2024 due to a meniscus injury in his knee. After spending the year on Injured Reserve, the Jaguars released him after just one season. He then visited multiple teams, but did not sign. According to WDVE's Mike Prisuta, that's because the team - and other teams - have not liked what they have seen during their medical evaluations. "Gabe Davis was brought in for a medical follow-up," Prisuta said. "And when he came in free agency, the Steelers did not like, and subsequently other teams have not liked, what they saw from MRIs or whatever it was that they looked at following that knee injury that ended his season last year." Davis left Pittsburgh after his second interview and went to Buffalo to visit the Bills. The young veteran spent four years with the Bills, catching 27 touchdown passes with them and becoming a reliable starter for Josh Allen. Now, he's considering a reunion with his former employer. Pittsburgh is interested in adding a wide receiver before the start of the regular season, and Davis remains a top option. They have not been able to land anyone else to this point after calling teams like the Washington Commanders for Terry McLaurin and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for Jordan Palmer. Calvin Austin III is set to be their starter alongside DK Metcalf, but after dealing with an oblique injury most of training camp and all of the preseason, it's unknown if he'll be ready before Week 1 against the New York Jets. If the Steelers got a better result from Davis's MRI this time around, he may be a top priority signing for them in the coming days. If not, they're likely ready to move in a different direction to find a wide receiver addition.
Customize Your Newsletter
+
Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!
PRIVACY POLICY EDITORIAL POLICY CONTACT US
ABOUT YARDBARKER TERMS OF SERVICE
Use of this website (including any and all parts and
components) constitutes your acceptance of these
Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
This site is for entertainment purposes only.
There is no gambling offered on this site.
Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-Gambler.
