What Is Going On With the Dallas Cowboys?

After a 7-win 2024, Dallas enters 2025 with many question marks, highlighted with a controversial trade request from star edge rusher Micah Parsons.

Last year, the Cowboys underperformed, as starting quarterback Dak Prescott was injured for half of the season. But things were worse than that.

“No, it’s bigger than Dak being injured,” Cowboys reporter for The Athletic Jon Machota shared in a recent installment of 32 on 32.

The new 32 on 32 series is where we will preview every single NFL team’s season with a team reporter.

The Cowboys entered 2024 with expectations high, per usual. However, they were justifiable after a 12-win 2023, and after extending core pieces Prescott and CeeDee Lamb in the offseason. However, it was far from ‘the year’ that Dallas fans were hoping for. After a disastrous playoff loss the year before, the effects lingered into the following season.

“You won’t get anybody in the building to admit to this, but I think that there was a genuine hangover from that loss the season before when they lost to the Packers in the playoffs,” Machota claimed. “I think it’s the worst loss in Cowboys history when you factor in the players that they had, how healthy they were going into the playoffs, getting the two seed and on top of it they were the best team in the NFL for two years straight playing at home. And then to drop the way they did and play as poorly as they did, that was a head scratcher. I don’t think anybody recovered from that.”

(Image by SI.com)

But the Cowboys still entered the next season with a pretty similar core group, though regressed significantly.

“That team never looked good even when Dak was healthy,” Machota continued. “Injuries were a big part of it. Your top defensive ends combined to miss 40 games. Dak is a big part of it, maybe they are able to turn it around late in the year with him. But when he was lost for the season, that was pretty much your final nail in the coffin.”

But now into the offseason, Dallas’ problems have only gotten worse. Star edge rusher and a 3x top-three finisher in Defensive Player of the Year, Micah Parsons, has requested a trade from the team after little movement on a contract extension.

Parsons wrote in an online, public request that he was willing to be extended earlier in the offseason and sacrifice millions to stay in Dallas, but has since endured little progress.

When Machota and I spoke, however, this conversation was different. And Machota said that even if it would end up ugly—like it is now—the situation would find a way to be resolved.

“It doesn’t seem like it’s very far apart,” Machota shared. “It’s just about hammering out that final deal. Kind of similar to the Dak deal. Cowboys want a larger contract. Player wants a shorter contract so they can get back to free agency quicker. I just think it’s a bad move on both sides if something doesn’t get done.”

Well, about one month later, Parsons seems to have little interest in staying in Dallas, though Cowboys ownership seems to push it aside. Jerry Jones put it simply: “We’re not trading Micah Parsons — period.”

(Image by dallascowboys.com)

However, the animosity between the two sides continues to overwhelm training camp as Dallas prepares for its first season under new head coach Brian Schottenheimer, who is replacing Mike McCarthy, who mutually parted ways with the Cowboys after five seasons in January.

But other changes were made offensively, trading for Steelers star receiver George Pickens to pair next to Lamb.

“The addition they made trading for [Pickens] has been a big one,” Machota said. “He made some nice plays, certainly the clear complement to CeeDee Lamb as a wide receiver. He looks the part.”

However, the passing game is where most of its offensive production will come from. The rushing attack has suffered greatly since Tony Pollard left for Tennessee after 2023, and the Cowboys have done little to add to its rushing game.

“I just thought that they would do more at [running back] the last two offseasons,” Machota shared. “They just really haven’t done much in free agency or the draft. If you would’ve told me [Pollard] would sign elsewhere, and they wouldn’t draft a running back in the first three rounds or make a notable free agency signing, I would’ve said you’re crazy.

“The Cowboys, when they’ve been good, have had an elite back. They don’t have that right now. They have a group of guys that can potentially be good, but nobody really knows who that is.”

But as Dallas prepares to make the postseason after missing it for the first time in four seasons, they’ll encounter challenges, particularly in its schedule.

The Cowboys close the season with games against the reigning champion Eagles, reigning AFC champion Chiefs, reigning NFC number one seed Lions, the 14-win Vikings, 11-win Chargers, and 12-win Commanders in six of its final seven games. If they start slow, their chances will be doomed in the final stretch.

“They’ll have to start hot, they won’t be able to make up for it on the back end,” Machota claimed. “It’s in their best interest to try and get off to a hot start. I think somewhere between eight and 10 wins makes sense. If they have the injuries like they had last year, it can certainly be a five-to-seven win team.”

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Chase Coburn

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