FRISCO, Texas — The reset button has arrived for the Dallas Cowboys and as they look toward their NFL calendar of deadlines, a slew of free agency conversations and also continue negotiations to determine if Mike McCarthy will remain head coach of the team beyond 2024, this offseason might prove to be one of the most pivotal in franchise history.
And it's something veteran safety Malik Hooker understands fully as he reflects on his biggest takeaway from this past season, and on what might've been.
"Man, it's hard to say," said Hooker. "I mean, cause there's been so much adversity from injuries to changes, and stuff like that, this year that and it's tough to say. I mean, biggest thing I can honestly say is just being able to maintain consistency throughout the adversity. There were times where we were obviously backs against the wall, and whether it was up or down.
"We just weren't consistent enough to be able to pull together [in the end], and I feel like that's what it all comes down to."
Hooker knows about adversity better than most, the former first-round pick having suffered a torn ACL and MCL and, later on, a torn Achilles that would eventually end his career with the Indianapolis Colts. It was the Cowboys who gave him a chance in 2021 to prove he can still perform at a high level, and he did exactly that in helping Dallas usher in a new era at safety.
He's since signed two extensions with the team and is contracted through 2026.
And as far as what he learned about himself in 2024, it sounds as if it isn't anything he didn't already know about himself — given his journey to get to this point in his NFL career — also seeing that attribute in his teammates and coaches.
"A fighter," he said of the group. "Fighters, man. I mean, just the type of team we are. Obviously, you know, we didn't have the outcome that we wanted, but we went out there and we played as if we were competing for the playoffs [in Week 18]. The outcome didn't come down to what we wanted, but there are not a lot of teams I can say went out there and play like [we] did."
Hooker is a part of a defensive group decimated by injury but that also led the league in takeaways and quarterback pressures over the final several games of the season, also landing multiple upset victories despite having little and eventually no chance at all of making the playoffs.
"We didn't get the outcome we wanted, but at the end of the day, we built the bond throughout this year and adversity that we went through," said Hooker. "... We'll just get back to the drawing board, do what [we] can, put in the work, and get ready for the cycle next year."
That work starts effective immediately.
