The Dallas Cowboys are in an awkward position as a franchise. Jerry Jones said at the beginning of the offseason that Dallas would go “all in” on winning in 2024. This has left fans confused considering the Cowboys did not make any major moves in either free agency or the draft. One former NFL player has an interesting theory on why the Cowboys are doing what they’re doing.
On a recent episode of the Green Light Podcast with Chris Long, Long theorized that the Cowboys could be ready to enter a rebuild.
Chris Long: “If CeeDee Lamb’s not practicing, if CeeDee Lamb’s not playing, they’re walking Dak into a shredder. It might be a lame duck year for him. it might be a lame duck year for Mike McCarthy,” Long said. “They might be talking about trading Micah Parsons, although I wouldn’t, but there’s a lot of stuff that could be on the table with Dallas that we just don’t know about.”
The Cowboys and Jerry Jones stance not to deal with extensions right now is putting questions out on the whole team. After many years of building and maintaining a talented playoff team, but not getting over the hump into the Super Bowl, what Chris Long is saying could be true, that Jones is ready to hit the restart button.
Every year seems like a make or break year for the Cowboys. However this upcoming season could be with so many key players having contract issues and the uncertainty of the coach.
One question around this whole situation is why wait a year to rebuild? Jerry Jones (81) isn’t getting any younger and it makes no sense to waste contract years on players you may want to deal later on.
Could Jerry Jones be paving the way for Bill Belichick in 2025?
Chris Long got even more specific with his theory — he thinks Jerry Jones is making room for a Bill Belichick rebuild in Dallas.
“I look at Jerry Jones and I wonder if he’s like hey we’re going to f—–ing hit the reset button for real this time, as crazy as it might sound,” Long said. “Because I would pay CeeDee but maybe they’re like we’ll go grab some picks for this guy and start the clock on a new regime. Have Dak play out this lame duck season and go forward, and next year hire Bill Belichick, who Jerry Jones has been quoted as saying ‘I know him personally and I like him, there’s no doubt in my mind we could work together, none.’ And you know when Jerry puts the ‘none’ at the end of that he means he’s thinking about it in my opinion. Wouldn’t it be interesting if all the tea leaves I’m reading point to Dallas hitting a reset button, which would be just like insane.”
It’s actually a plausible theory.
Mike McCarthy has been on the hot seat before and doesn’t have great job security. He seemed like a no-brainer firing after the Cowboys’ embarrassing playoff loss to the Packers. McCarthy also got a new agent earlier this spring.
Belichick, of course, parted ways with the Patriots this offseason so he is available as well.
Belichick is part of the former Cowboys coach Bill Parcells coaching tree. He is also a friend of Jerry Jones, so he makes a ton of sense as a hire.
Skeptics may ask: why would Bill Belichick sign up for a rebuild? It’s possible that Bill Belichick wants a final chapter of his professional career outside of New England, similar to what Brady did in Tampa Bay.
We’ll have to wait until next offseason to know for sure.
