Key Off-season questions will determine if we make the playoffs in 26

shabazz said:
The biggest concern of all those are will they buy free agents in their prime that are truly above average at their positions?

If they don't; all the other factore are moot.....or mute as they say in Rio Linda.
Click to expand...
EIB
 
jazzcat22 said:
A lot of good questions. The main one that will drive this, and is the answer to many of the other questions and actions.

Have Jerry & Son really changed. And do what they say they are going to do.
Or is it more lip service.

What if they do not sign FA’s as they say. Will the same excuse come up. Well we tried to get this player and that player. But it just did not fall our way.

All we can really do is sit back and wait and see. And yes, hope for the best.
Click to expand...
Well Jerry says they are changing things up..

And Stephen says nothing is changing..

So I have no idea what we take from that :huh:
 
CTcowboy203 said:
If we have a top 15 offense and a top 7 offense everything is on the table - also to think you are going to go from historically bad to top 10 is a bit unrealistic imo
Click to expand...
Quite possibly, but top 10 or higher is most likely what it would take.
 
This is just my opinion. i don't claim any level of expertise on the subject but I have tried my best in understanding the math, for which I have some amount of experience.

I think that the salary cap has been so screwed up by the Jones's that signing a high price veteran would be extremely detrimental to their future years.

Every time that the Cowboys renegotiate a contract to free up space, they are pushing the money forward to years beyond the actual time the player is going to be active.

these are called "voidable years". At that point they are being paid money allocated to that year and referred to as "dead money".

For example, Zac Martin will receive 16.5 million dollars in 2026.

I realize there are counter-examples to what I believe but I just don't see the math and i think strategy and circumstances are different with each team.

Some teams have starting QBs that are still on their rookie contracts while others have the highest paid quarterback in the league.

Some teams have a pair of productive receivers. Although both are not elite, they combine for a highly successful offense. Other teams have two of the highest paid receivers in the league in 2026.

Some, in fact, the majority of teams have a highly productive, highly accurate kicker on a typical kicker minimum-wage contract while other have to negotiate an elite contract with the agent for their kicker......the agent.....for their kicker.

If Jerry could buy a Super Bowl,. then he would. He's done it before.

Jerry brought in Deion Sanders in 1995 and paid him the highest contract in the same year the salary cap began and it cost him half the team over the next 2 years.

I would love to see the Cowboys bring in some additional elite talent with a sensational signing.

I would dread another period similar to the Campo seasons of 2000-2002 as a result of irresponsible cap management.
 
Bobhaze said:
Every NFL off-season is important. Especially for the 18 teams that did not make the playoffs the prior season. In the case of the Cowboys, we haven’t made the playoffs two seasons in a row and the last playoff game we played was the 48-32 shellacking put on us by the packers.

In the current decade on the 2020’s, we’ve made the playoffs 3 seasons (2021-23) and missed the playoffs 3 seasons (2020, 2024 and 2025) This off-season could not be more important in getting this team back in contention.

IMO, here are the key off-season questions that will determine if this team is able to turn it around and get back to the playoffs in 2026:
  • Are Jerry and Stephen truly changing the way they conduct an off-season (as they “tell us” they are) or not?
  • Will the Cowboys join the teams that are serious about spending some cap space in free agency or will they continue their long practice of dumpster dives and minor cheap moves?
  • Will the strategy of placing George Pickens on the non-exclusive franchise tag pay off in the long run or not? (Will they be able to sign him long term?)
  • Will the Cowboys draft defensive help that will have immediate impact? (And will they avoid drafting injured players?)
  • Will Christian Parker be able to turn this awful defense around into a playoff defense in one off-season?
  • Will young players already on the team - like Shavon Revell, Donovan Ezeiruaku and Tyler Guyton make a big step forward this year?
  • Will the Cowboys and Brandon Aubrey get a new deal done?
  • Will Brian Schottenheimer be a more effective HC with more attention to details?
This question list is certainly incomplete. Feel free to add some more and/or answer the ones here.

NFL seasons can be won or lost in the off-season. This off-season is one of the most important in a long time for the Cowboys if we are to avoid missing the playoffs 3 years in a row.
Click to expand...
Gadzooks. I largely agree.
But rest assured, we'll reach too high in the draft instead of landing the surething workmen like Styles and bring in a couple of defencive retreads and pass that off as an active FA season.
 
plasticman said:
This is just my opinion. i don't claim any level of expertise on the subject but I have tried my best in understanding the math, for which I have some amount of experience.

I think that the salary cap has been so screwed up by the Jones's that signing a high price veteran would be extremely detrimental to their future years.

Every time that the Cowboys renegotiate a contract to free up space, they are pushing the money forward to years beyond the actual time the player is going to be active.

these are called "voidable years". At that point they are being paid money allocated to that year and referred to as "dead money".

For example, Zac Martin will receive 16.5 million dollars in 2026.

I realize there are counter-examples to what I believe but I just don't see the math and i think strategy and circumstances are different with each team.

Some teams have starting QBs that are still on their rookie contracts while others have the highest paid quarterback in the league.

Some teams have a pair of productive receivers. Although both are not elite, they combine for a highly successful offense. Other teams have two of the highest paid receivers in the league in 2026.

Some, in fact, the majority of teams have a highly productive, highly accurate kicker on a typical kicker minimum-wage contract while other have to negotiate an elite contract with the agent for their kicker......the agent.....for their kicker.

If Jerry could buy a Super Bowl,. then he would. He's done it before.

Jerry brought in Deion Sanders in 1995 and paid him the highest contract in the same year the salary cap began and it cost him half the team over the next 2 years.

I would love to see the Cowboys bring in some additional elite talent with a sensational signing.

I would dread another period similar to the Campo seasons of 2000-2002 as a result of irresponsible cap management.
Click to expand...
Of course it would. However, if we want any shot at all to compete for a super bowl, we have about a 2 year window. Maybe 3. At that time we will fall apart anyway, so why not make a push?
 
CTcowboy203 said:
If we have a top 15 offense and a top 7 offense everything is on the table - also to think you are going to go from historically bad to top 10 is a bit unrealistic imo
Click to expand...
They went from 31st in 2020 to 7th in both yards allowed and scoring in 2021!
Fixing the Mike position and playing the secondary in a coherent scheme that suits their skillset should go along way.
Maybe not top 10, but top 15 shouldn't be out of the question!
 
Jerry and Steven haven't changed they just know that they've had two losing seasons and they have to throw the fans enough of a bone to keep interest and become a little more relevant.

It's already a stretch that they're on TV every week it can't be considered absolutely ridiculous so some improvement is necessary.

That said we have a tough schedule next year it's going to be no cake walk.

In a perfect world I'd grab Trey Hutchinson nacobi Dean.
And maybe bring back Nashon Wright.
Then I'm going to try to draft those Styles Brothers that's a couple elite athletes right there.

I hope that gets the defense to middle of the pack and maybe we can make the playoffs lose in the first round and go back to the drawing board while Jerry gaslights the fans that we made progress.
 
Bobhaze said:
Every NFL off-season is important. Especially for the 18 teams that did not make the playoffs the prior season. In the case of the Cowboys, we haven’t made the playoffs two seasons in a row and the last playoff game we played was the 48-32 shellacking put on us by the packers.

In the current decade on the 2020’s, we’ve made the playoffs 3 seasons (2021-23) and missed the playoffs 3 seasons (2020, 2024 and 2025) This off-season could not be more important in getting this team back in contention.

IMO, here are the key off-season questions that will determine if this team is able to turn it around and get back to the playoffs in 2026:
  • Are Jerry and Stephen truly changing the way they conduct an off-season (as they “tell us” they are) or not?
  • Will the Cowboys join the teams that are serious about spending some cap space in free agency or will they continue their long practice of dumpster dives and minor cheap moves?
  • Will the strategy of placing George Pickens on the non-exclusive franchise tag pay off in the long run or not? (Will they be able to sign him long term?)
  • Will the Cowboys draft defensive help that will have immediate impact? (And will they avoid drafting injured players?)
  • Will Christian Parker be able to turn this awful defense around into a playoff defense in one off-season?
  • Will young players already on the team - like Shavon Revell, Donovan Ezeiruaku and Tyler Guyton make a big step forward this year?
  • Will the Cowboys and Brandon Aubrey get a new deal done?
  • Will Brian Schottenheimer be a more effective HC with more attention to details?
This question list is certainly incomplete. Feel free to add some more and/or answer the ones here.

NFL seasons can be won or lost in the off-season. This off-season is one of the most important in a long time for the Cowboys if we are to avoid missing the playoffs 3 years in a row.
Click to expand...
I’m afraid the answer to almost all of these is “no”.

I imagine they’ll figure out Aubrey and I think Schottenheimer will improve.

It sucks.
 
BULLET!!!
Come on Bruh, how many 85 year olds would actually do a 180 degree turn? It never happens, so therefore DAL will never be in a SB until the front office changes.
 
exciter said:
They went from 31st in 2020 to 7th in both yards allowed and scoring in 2021!
Fixing the Mike position and playing the secondary in a coherent scheme that suits their skillset should go along way.
Maybe not top 10, but top 15 shouldn't be out of the question!
Click to expand...
Secondary? What is this secondary yee speaketh of?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Staff online

Members online

... and 241 more.
Total: 2,196 (members: 341, guests: 1,855)
Robots: 1,499

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
472,743
Messages
14,430,681
Members
24,198
Latest member
Boys-fan
Back
Top