FRISCO, Texas – Decisions, decisions, decisions.
My, oh my, the Cowboys have "boocoodles" facing them, and the clock is ticking.
The start of free agency/trade season/salary cap is nye upon them, just 12 days away. On March 12 at 3 p.m., it all opens. So many already are asking what the Cowboys will do in the 2025 NFL Draft, the three-day celebration of selecting college talent is scheduled to begin April 24. And my immediate answer is, "that depends," especially with the 12th pick in the first round, and for sure over the first two days consuming the first three rounds.
Depends on so many variables while addressing their many needs heading toward the 2025 season, the first under new head coach Brian Schottenheimer and his revamped coaching staff.
One of the first decisions already has been solved, nine-time Pro Bowl guard Zack Martin heading off his impending unrestricted free agency status by announcing his retirement. The event is scheduled to officially take place on March 5, although his restructured contract allows the Cowboys to make him a June 1 release and spread his prorated restructure bonuses over these next two seasons.
Great, but his absence opens up a new can of worms. What to do at the right guard position? Do the Cowboys think they have a capable in-house replacement, like maybe Brock Hoffman or T.J. Bass or Asim Richards? Do they need to draft a potential replacement capable of becoming a Day 1 starter in one of the first three rounds? Do they, just for insurance purposes, need to sign a veteran type in free agency?
Hey, this is only for starters.
Then there is the DeMarcus Lawrence dilemma. The 11-year veteran, four-time Pro Bowl defensive end is one of the team's impending 20-plus unrestricted free agents, and in one projected top-101 ranking of 2025 unrestricted free agents, D-Law is ranked 48th. Sounds to me like he wants to continue playing. How much then are the Cowboys willing to spend trying to re-sign him, for another year or two? How much does he want? How much might another team offer him on the open market? And do the Cowboys have sufficient in-house defensive end replacements?
Thus, the dilemma because they surely don't want Micah Parsons being a 50-snap-a-game defensive end at his size. Might last year's expected starter Sam Williams, lost during training camp for the season (torn ACL), be ready to take over one side up front? Is last year's second-rounder Marshawn Kneeland capable of taking over a starting spot for less impact on the salary cap? Can they re-sign veteran Carl Lawson for defensive end insurance? Or must they draft one with that 12th pick in the first round?
Same song, next verse at cornerback. Veteran Jourdan Lewis manned the slot last season on a team-friendly, one-year guaranteed $2.8 million deal. The eighth-year veteran heading toward free agency balled out in 2024 and comes in ranked 69th on that top-101 list to give you an idea of what at least one person thinks of his value. The Cowboys certainly would like to re-sign him, but how much cap space might it take? Bet his free-agent market value has gone up.
And while hoping starting cornerback Trevon Diggs, after complicated cartilage repair surgery, returns good as new, what if he is not immediately ready for the start of the season? That possibility at this point leaves a somewhat bare corner, only having under contract Pro BowlerDaRon Bland, last year's five-game rookie starter Caelen Carson and 2023 undrafted free agent Josh Butler, a three-game starter. Drafting a corner high is not out of the realm of possibilities.
Now defensive tackle. Cowboys COO and co-owner Stephen Jones from the NFL Scouting Combine this week said contract talks already have opened with Osa Odighizuwa, who did himself great favors with a career year in 2024. Seems to be a must have, since the only other defensive tackle with NFL game experience under contract is Mazi Smith. Man, you need a bunch of those DT brutes. Can the Cowboys get Osa done before the start of free agency? And please understand the difficulty and cost to re-sign a guy ranked seventh among the top unrestricted free agents. As Schottenheimer cautiously said from the combine, "It's never done until it's done," but as for how critical to retain Osa, "He's a guy we'd love to have back."
Want to is one thing, but can they afford to re-sign Odighizuwa, which seems a necessity? Might they use a first-round pick on a defensive tackle for the second time in three years, even if they get Osa's deal done? Which raises a question of how much do they trust Mazi continuing to improve in his third season? Or maybe at least grab one on Day 2? Can't have enough of those big dudes. (See the Eagles.)
See what the Cowboys are up against? Not easy.
Let's move on to running back. The only two rushers under contract are fullback Hunter Luepke and last year's little-used Deuce Vaughn (52 offensive snaps). Last season's lead guy, Rico Dowdle, is unrestricted, and complicating his status is his career-year in 2024, having led the Cowboys with 1,079 yards rushing, the majority of those yards coming in the final six games of the season thanks to four, 100-yard performances. Dowdle is ranked 65th in that top 101. Can the Cowboys get him re-signed? Even if they do, might it be quite enticing to select a running back with that 12th pick in the first round (thinking Ashton Jeanty, the Boise State star from right down the road from The Star)? Or at least another in the first two rounds? Was mighty impressed listening to an interview with Ohio State's Quinshon Judkins.
Seems with Schottenheimer's offensive coordinator history and the premium theCowboys put on hiring offensive line-oriented assistant coaches, they want to make a big deal of running the football more efficiently than they have in recent years. And especially into the end zone after finishing with just six rushing touchdowns last season, half of those coming from Ezekiel Elliott as the short-yardage specialist unlikely to return. Again, one thing wanting to run it, but another having able bodies.
Enough to think about, right? Uh, not done yet.
What about wide receiver beyond CeeDee Lamb? Who is the No. 2 guy? Remember, Brandin Cooks, the 11-year veteran turning 32 in September and perceived No. 2 guy until knee complications limited him to just eight games last year, is also unrestricted come March 12. Do the Cowboys trust Jalen Tolbert to be a productive enough No. 2 guy to take the double-team pressure off CeeDee? He did lead the team last year with seven touchdowns. But there sure seems to be a slew of talented wide receivers loaded into the first two or three rounds of this draft. Would they?
Complicated, for sure.
Now wait a second, has anyone thought about the linebacker position? You know, the team's leading tackler, Eric Kendricks, who signed but a one-year deal last year, is unrestricted. So is Nick Vigil, who proved to be a nice backup and special teams hand. Budding phenom DeMarvion Overshown is unlikely to be ready for the start of the season, a potential PUP candidate having just come off his crutches following his second ACL surgery in two seasons, this one a significant repair. Sure, Parsons can play some linebacker, but who else?
Well, last year's third-round draft choice Marist Liufau figures to start this season, inside or out. Damone Clark, the Cowboys' one-time starter, played just 14.8 percent of the snaps last season, bypassed by Overshown and Marist, and started just two games. That's it for linebackers of significance, making this another position of great need.
If you are keeping score, let's see, that's offensive line, defensive end, defensive tackle, cornerback, wide receiver, running back, linebacker, and we haven't even discussed backup quarterback with Cooper Rush headed toward free agency and so, too, Trey Lance, though sounds as if the Cowboys would rather move on from their third guy to draft a developmental QB in the later rounds. Think taking Dak Prescott in the fourth round of 2016, and at that, with their second fourth-round pick.
Quite exhausting.
Oh, but wait, let's throw this one in there, too. How convinced are the Cowboys that last year's 29th pick in the first round, Tyler Guyton, can make a huge jump from his rookie season?His 2024 effort was marred with a few nicks and bruises and growing pains playing a position with little experience. Got no problems allowing Richards to challenge him for the starting job or taking another tackle within the first four rounds. Remember, veteran backup Chuma Edoga is a free agent, and time must be running out on previous backup draft choices like former fifth-round tackle Matt Waletzko and former fourth-rounder Josh Ball, no more than a practice squad guy last year after spending 2023 on IR.
Now you see what we're talking about here with all these impending decisions. This is a team of a great many needs. So let's not get all hot and bothered with this, well, they got to have this, or they got to have that heading into free agency. Or trying to determine the biggest need in the draft when it comes down to the 12th pick on April 24. It's a blank canvas all these decisions will impact, and they better shake a leg getting them figured out.
The Cowboys need a lot, including having to re-sign punter Bryan Anger and deep snapper Trent Sieg. And if you don't think that's important, go ask kicker Brandon Aubrey how much those two in the kicking-game operation contributed to his success the past two years.
Key now will be the in-house decisions they make on their own personnel first, Schottenheimer emphasizing, "We're always going to start with our guys. We know them, right? We've got history with them. We've developed those guys. We understand their strengths, their weaknesses, what they bring to the table from a culture standpoint. So again, it all depends on how things go. It's a very competitive business. It's a very competitive time of year."
Got to be right evaluating player-potential projections, medical assessments and prioritizing salary-cap expenditures. It's a lot.
Yep, Schottenheimer is not exaggerating when he says of what the past few weeks have been like for this first-time head coach, "You go to sleep at night, you have a pretty good plan of what the next day's going to bring, and you wake up and there's certainly things that you anticipated. But you wake up in the middle of the night and you're like, 'OK, I got to do this. I didn't think about that.'"
And now you understand the definition of one of my Cajun-raised daddy's favorite expressions, "boocoodles."
