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FRISCO, TX — It’s time for the Dallas Cowboys to begin the long, arduous task of retooling this offseason to try and finally change their fate in the season to come, and though it'll be headlined by a search for the successor to Mike McCarthy, there is a lot more to work through than simply that and the ramifications of that decision. This means first identifying what went wrong in 2024, which is to say nearly everything that could have.
Assessing each position will be paramount going forward — having a very honest conversation about where things sit on the roster as free agency and the 2025 NFL Draft draw near.
To that end, this series will take a look at each position, starting with quarterback.
Past: It's fairly obvious how unfairly positioned the position of quarterback in Dallas has been since the days of Troy Aikman, who took an already legendary franchise to new heights and became a more than worthy successor to the likes of Captain America himself, Roger Staubach, who carried the torch following the greatness of the late "Dandy" Don Meredith.
Meredith was the first superstar quarterback in Dallas, and Staubach led the team to two of their five Super Bowl victories, with Aikman one-upping him with three Lombardi trophies.
The post-Aikman era was an unmitigated disaster until Tony Romo, an undrafted free agent who was criticized similarly to a first-overall pick, won the starting job in 2006. Romo went on to set franchise records and keep the Cowboys relevant until an injury in 2016 opened the door for Dak Prescott to have the best rookie season of any quarterback in franchise history.
There was no looking back afterwards, because the Prescott era had begun, and with a bang.
Present: That said, it is what it is, and the standard is the standard: a Super Bowl win.
Prescott is finding himself up against the same wall that once housed the criticisms of his most immediate predecessor, Tony Romo, and the degree of difficulty in his preparation this offseason is increased substantially by his recovery from a season-ending hamstring injury that will require several months. It's unknown when he'll be cleared to start the offseason program, and he'll be champing at the bit to do so when considering how anxious he will be to turn the page from the struggles of 2024 — with a shiny new megadeal in tow that only adds more pressure to the situation.
Future: So many questions and nary an answer to any of them as of yet.
Cooper Rush proved himself a capable backup, yet again, despite a slow start and forgettable finish, helping to lead the Cowboys to a 4-2 record in six starts. The veteran quarterback has spent the great majority of his NFL career with the Cowboys, save for a short stint with the Giants, and that means he'll likely lean toward wanting to stay put as he enters free agency; but that is a two-way street and the Cowboys will have other options both inside and outside of the building.
One such option is Trey Lance, a player the Cowboys gave up a fourth-round pick to acquire only to relegate him to emergency duties only en route to awarding him only a single start, and that didn't arrive until what might be his last game in/for Dallas. Lance put plenty of good, and some bad, on film in the regular season finale against the Commanders, but were there enough positives for the team to consider paying him more for development over paying Rush less for comfort and predictability?
And is Lance even interested in sticking around, knowing he'll never have a shot at being the starter in Dallas (as in never, ever)??
Those are the types of conversations that will happen in a few weeks.
Lastly, don't forget about Will Grier, who reunited with the Cowboys in November but didn't see any regular season action, though ultimately signed to the active roster from the practice squad in Week 18 before having his contract extended.
I do like Grier as a dark horse in this race, so don't go counting him out just yet.
Grier has just as much familiarity and comfort with Prescott and the organization as does Rush, and more so than Lance.
Just saying.
