OXNARD, Calif. – Strange dichotomy this Dallas Cowboys 2024 training camp.
Was a sunny, 73 degrees on the opening Thursday at the River Ridge Sports Complex for the first day of practice, stuffed into this day a near one-hour camp opening press conference featuring owner Jerry Jones, COO Stephen Jones and head coach Mike McCarthy.
Yet there seems to be a cloud hovering overhead, certainly the lingering low-level cumulus ones caused by the 48-32 playoff loss to Green Bay that abruptly ended what seemed to be a promising 2023 season.
There is the contractual holdout by star receiver CeeDee Lamb as well, the two sides at least going back and forth with proposed deals, this topic taking up the majority of outside attention.
There is the issue with quarterback Dak Prescott being in the final year of his previous four-year deal, though both sides saying they want to be with each other going forward. Yet there has been seemingly little movement toward that end.
As Stephen Jones said of the negotiations, "There is no animosity, no anxiety. It's the nature of the business."
Another issue hovering is McCarthy being in the final year of his contract, and with all these other topics stealing the priority list, it took 20 minutes, 20 seconds for Mike to be asked a question. And of all things, his was pertaining to football, if you can imagine that.
Because of all this, you would have never known the Cowboys are returning 10 Pro Bowl players from last year and a total of 14 players on the 91-man roster with Pro Bowl credits on their résumés, a seemingly insignificant fact crushed by Jerry Jones' talk of dealing with "ambiguity" heading into the start of this training camp. Think while taking notes must have written the word "ambiguity" or some form of it at least 20 times.
Or that of the 91 guys on the roster thanks to rookie free agent Denzel Daxon's international status, 89 of them were on the field practicing. The CeeDee absence accounted for one missing, landing on reserve/did not report Friday, and the Cowboys placed cornerback Trevon Diggs on PUP so he can continue rehabilitating his surgically repaired knee instead of participating in these no more than first four OTA-like practices that would have taken away from his routine. Remember, CBA rules state teams can occupy these players no more than 11 hours a day during camp, another nod to these new school ways.
Sure, the Cowboys are saddled with many questions going forward, creating so much unknown. Not only with these contract negotiations, but now trying to replace their starting running back, starting left tackle, starting center, starting third receiver, starting defensive end, starting defensive tackle, starting linebacker, starting cornerback, starting safety/linebacker and two significant rotational players.
But that's what happens during this salary cap era when teams draft and develop so well, turning guys into stars needing to be paid. This has been happening back since the 1994 start of free agency when during a three-year span (1994-96) the Cowboys lost 24 players during free agency, 14 of those starters. Couldn't afford to put a prime ribeye on every plate when contractually retaining the likes of Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin, Emmitt Smith, Daryl Johnston, Deion Sanders, Charles Haley, Jay Novacek, Larry Allen, Darren Woodson and Leon Lett, just to name a few.
Talk about ambiguity, or as Jerry says, "We've got a lot of ambiguity in the team. I have ambiguity everywhere in the things that I look at and do. And so maybe the best thing that God gave me was a tolerance for ambiguity. … As a matter of a fact, since we last met here last year, there's been even more ambiguity thrown on the table. Hello, NFL."
And now the Cowboys have the rather unique cap complications with three players probably wanting to become the top paid player at their respective positions, Lamb, Prescott and Micah Parsons, with Jones slightly exaggerating the potential cost consuming 70 percent of the cap. Maybe not that much, but certainly we could argue 40 percent, putting a serious crunch on managing the team-wide salary cap.
That, compounded with little to no free-agency action this offseason on top of that playoff loss, does not make the vocal fan minority happy with the state of things, allowing the endearing media to preference its probing questions with the ever-popular, "So what do you tell your fans?"
Well, Stephen Jones surprised by stating 99 percent of the Cowboys' season ticket holders renewed by the deadline, and of the 1 percent who didn't, those tickets were swooped up. Oops. Ain't social media great.
All this … all this … taking place on Thursday before the first whistle blew, that until Prescott took center stage for a good 24 minutes, his presence categorically reminding one and all how lucky the Cowboys are to have him as their quarterback. Their face of the franchise. Why not do yourselves a favor by listening to Dak answer questions for those 24 minutes. Remarkable.
Now, criticize Dak if you want for posting a 2-5 playoff record since taking over for Tony Romo in 2016, who by the way was 2-4 in playoff games. And before that, Quincy Carter was 0-1 with Aikman from 1996-99 going 1-3. Don't forget that stat pointed out a few weeks back, the one about in three of five Dak's playoff losses the Cowboys gave up at least 30 points.
But let's not be in such a hurry to diminish what he accomplished during the 2023 regular season. Leading the NFL with 36 touchdown passes, tying for second with himself and Tony Romo, one behind his 37 of 2021 for the franchise single-season high. Ranking first in the NFL with 410 completions, his second season with 410 completions, second to only Romo's 425 in 2012. Ranking second in the NFL with a 69.5 completion percentage, second highest in franchise history (69.9 percent, Tony Romo in 2014). His 4,515 yards passing third in the NFL. And his 105.9 QB rating second to Brock Purdy's 113.0, and now second in franchise history (Romo, 113.3 in 2014).
Pretty heady stuff.
But Dak's quality is not just about the numbers. It's how he handles himself. How he leads. How he answered some tough questions thrown his way on Thursday, this after Stephen Jones anointed Dak as a "rare leader."
When asked about being in the final year of his contract, with negotiations seemingly going slowly, he said, "I'm focused on now. It's always been my message; I think I've always told you that. I'm about being present where my feet are, and that was kind of the team message. … Once this thing kicks off, I'm going to do what I can to control my game, my effort to help this team win."
When asked about working to improve off a near-career year last year, Dak said, "You never stay the same. You're either getting better or getting worse, and I'm not going to get worse. I'm intent on getting better, improving my game each and every way that I can."
Then came another of those "fan" questions. Like, what do you say to the fans who are so disappointed about how the 2023 season ended in that devastating loss to Green Bay.
"Be fans, or don't be fans," Dak said. "If you're a fan, you're going to turn the page just as we do. You're going to move forward understanding you've got better ahead of you. I just talked about being present and being in the now. That's in your belief, what you're believing in, and that's how you see your family, your friends, your favorite team. That goes to life to move on.
"Yeah, sorry obviously but nobody hurt. It hurt us more than it hurt them. And obviously it's on us to get back and do better – yeah, move on."
The Cowboys are fortunate enough to move on with Dak, in this year for sure, and as he says, don't fret the future. Just stay where your feet are in the present, one way he can deal with, as he says, being "obsessed with getting better."
And that's not being ambiguous.
