Tomorrow the Dallas Cowboys will hold their first training camp practice of the year at Oxnard. As usual, there is no shortage of intrigue and drama around the star as the team embarks on the 2024 NFL season.
At the moment the biggest headlines are regarding the contracts of the three most-important players on the team. The Cowboys' top priority is apparently negotiating a new deal for superstar wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, who is holding out of training camp. Then there's franchise quarterback Dak Prescott, whose cap hit is over $55 million this year.
Finally there's pass rusher MIcah Parsons, who still has two years left on his rookie deal but will eventually sign a contract making him the highest-paid defender in the league and the sooner they get on that, the better.
To some extent having to pay all three of them is a good problem for the Dallas front office to have. However, a top-heavy roster can only get you so far - as this team has discovered the hard way three years in a row with early playoff exits. To get to the next level, the Cowboys need more role players to step up and do their part.
For what it's worth, Parsons thinks that's exactly what's going to happen. He's predicting a lot of breakout years in 2024, per Todd Archer at ESPN.
"The mindset I have is we have seven All-Pros or however the count may be. It might be more, it might be less, we got at least three guys I know can be All-Pro. I think a lot of guys are going to have breakout years. I think that plays into it too. When you talk about all these guys, it just leads to saying, 'Hey, when are the other guys going to step up and be better for the team?"
The greatest needs the Cowboys have right now are these: they could use somebody other than Lamb and Brandin Cooks to step up at wide receiver, they desperately need rookie left tackle Tyler Guyton to hit the ground running, someone has to step up and replace Johnathan Hankins and now would be a great time to find any hidden stars at running back.
That's a lot of needs at this point in the NFL's calendar year, but the team has been somewhat slow on the draw to address them. Expect team owner Jerry Jones to be put to the fire when he has his usual pre-training camp press conference on Saturday.
