Perfect Cowboys 2024 NFL Draft plan: Fortify OL, add complementary RB and more ways Dallas can ace next class

The 2024 offseason is an inflection point for the Dallas Cowboys with some major decisions looming on the horizon. 

The Cowboys entered the postseason with a 12-5 record. They were the NFC’s No. 2 seed — guaranteeing home playoff games for at least the first two rounds of the postseason — and boasted the NFL’s highest-scoring offense (29.9 points per game). Quarterback Dak Prescott led the NFL in touchdown passes (36), wide receiver CeeDee Lamb led the league in receptions (135) and they possessed the NFL’s only perfect record at home (8-0). Edge rusher Micah Parsons led the NFL in quarterback pressures (103), quarterback pressure rate (21.8%) and pass-rush win rate (35.3%), which is when a defender beats his block in fewer than 2.5 seconds. 

None of it mattered in their 48-32 Super Wild Card Weekend faceplant against the seventh-seeded Green Bay Packers. Now, head coach Mike McCarthy enters 2024 on the final year of his contract with the franchise in a literal make-or-break season. Ditto for Prescott. However, he is set to have a $59.5 million cap hit in 2024, the second-highest in the NFL behind only Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson’s $64 million, in the final year of his contract. Dallas will likely make a decision on him in the offseason via a restructure or extension. Decisions likely also need to be made on Lamb, who enters 2024 on his $17.9 million fully guaranteed fifth-year option, and Parsons, who after three NFL seasons is extension eligible for the first time in his career. 

Dallas doesn’t have its own pick in rounds four through six. It traded its fourth-round selection to the 49ers in exchange for quarterback Trey Lance, the third-overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. The Cowboys sent the Chiefs their 2024 fifth-round pick in exchange for a 2023 sixth round pick that became cornerback Eric Scott Jr. Their sixth-round pick was sent to the Houston Texans as part of…


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Author : Garrett Podell

Publish date : 2024-01-23 14:25:12

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