After failing spectacularly in 2024, the Cowboys seem content to try the same thing again next season.
It’s been a trying season for the Dallas Cowboys. After an embarrassing blunder on a blocked punt led to the Bengals’ game-winning touchdown in Week 14, the Cowboys fell to 5-8 on the year – and an incomprehensible 1-6 at home. Dallas is now three games out of the final Wild Card spot with four games remaining. The Monday Night Muff essentially ended the Cowboys’ season.
As the massively disappointing 2024 campaign plays out, Cowboys’ executive vice president / CEO / director of player personnel / son of the owner Stephen Jones took a moment to remind fans what they have to look forward to in 2025; more of the same.
“I think we knew we were gonna have a challenge in [2024] and [2025]. It’s gonna be really, really tight. We still have some money left over from guys who are not here today, and you’re gonna have some other guys that won’t be here in the future that you’re still gonna have their cap count,” Jones said, per the Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s Nick Harris on X.
That’s right, the Cowboys are stoking fans’ excitement for the team by claiming poverty and planning to run it back with the same group that failed so miserably this year. And this is after the team’s best defensive player, Micah Parsons, stated his willingness to take a pay cut if it meant being surrounded by quality players on a competitive team.
Deion Sanders estimates the Cowboys’ 2025 budget
Yes, quarterback Dak Prescott suffered a season-ending injury in Week 9. And, yes, having Dak back next season could certainly help. However, the Cowboys were just 3-5 in Prescott’s eight starts this season. They’re 2-3 with backup Cooper Rush under center.
With Prescott running the team in 2024, the offense averaged 21.3 points per game. In Rush’s five starts, the Cowboys’ offense has averaged 19.4 points. That’s a difference of less than two points per game.
Dallas finds itself in a difficult financial situation after the team signed Prescott to a four-year, $240 million extension just prior to the start of the 2024 season. The pact made Prescott the NFL’s highest paid player. Two weeks earlier, the Cowboys locked up wideout CeeDee Lamb on a four-year, $136 million deal.
Rush is playing on a two-year, $5 million contract. This season, Prescott is making $41.74 million more than Rush. And while no one in their right mind would say that Rush is anywhere near as talented as Prescott, you would expect $42 million to buy you more than just two points per game.
Dallas is also intent on bringing back head coach Mike McCarthy despite being on the verge of missing the playoffs for the second time in his five-year Cowboys tenure. The team has gone just 1-3 in the postseason under McCarthy with its sole win coming in the 2022 Wild Card round. Last season’s Wild Card loss to the Green Bay Packers extended the Cowboys’ streak of playoff futility as Dallas reached the postseason but failed to advance to the Conference Championship Game for the 13th straight time.
