Cowboys offseason roundtable: Biggest disappointment, biggest roster questions

With organized team activities and minicamp finished, the Dallas Cowboys have roughly a month before their team charter departs for training camp in Oxnard, Calif., on July 23.

It’s been a pretty uneventful five months since Dallas’ season ended in stunning fashion in the wild-card round at AT&T Stadium. As a way to summarize what has happened since and what lies ahead, Cowboys reporters Jon Machota and Saad Yousuf shared their thoughts in their latest roundtable.

Biggest thing you learned during the offseason? 

Machota: That Jerry Jones’ definition of “all in” is very different from most others. When Jones said the Cowboys would be “all in” this offseason during Senior Bowl week, most assumed that would mean a franchise active in acquiring talent. Dallas responded by being arguably the NFL’s least active team. Not much was added via free agency or trades. Meanwhile, the Cowboys lost several starters, like Tyron Smith, Tony Pollard and Tyler Biadasz. Heck, they didn’t even get any of their top players signed to contract extensions. Jones’ version of “all in” meant there is so much riding on this season that significant changes will follow if there’s another disappointing finish. And those could include an entirely new coaching staff and new starting quarterback.

Yousuf: Mike Zimmer’s defense is going to be different. We’ve only seen OTAs and minicamp, and I’m not saying Zimmer’s defense will be better or worse than Dan Quinn’s units in Dallas, but it will be different. Whether you talk to other coaches on the staff or players in the locker room, you get the idea that Zimmer has a way he likes things to be done. He’s known for his fierce, hard-nosed style of coaching, and that’s different from Quinn as well, but schematically, I expect to see some notable differences, too.

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Biggest disappointment of the last few months?

Machota: For a team that needs so much help from younger players taking second- and third-year jumps, we have no better idea of what to expect from the top of last year’s draft class, like Mazi Smith, Luke Schoonmaker and DeMarvion Overshown. None of those three participated in OTA or minicamp practices open to reporters. Smith is working back from offseason shoulder surgery. Schoonmaker was dealing with a hamstring injury. Overshown is coming back from a season-ending knee injury, so his absence was expected. By not being very active in improving their roster outside of the building, the Cowboys have put a major emphasis on their last few draft classes taking on much larger roles. Not sure how there can be a lot of confidence in that happening as we sit here today.

Yousuf: I don’t think there’s any one segment of the offseason that you can feel unequivocally great about. If the Cowboys sat out free agency but handled some of the pending contract extensions, that’s something. If they didn’t do either of those things but made a splashy trade, that would be something. Instead, the offseason mostly flew by on cruise control — the draft was a bright spot — and the team didn’t get better, and some could argue that, on paper, it got worse.

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What are you most excited about heading into training camp?

Machota: Seeing Trey Lance in live action is high on the list, but No. 1 is the changes Zimmer will make to the defense. Will it look much different from what Quinn had been doing the last three seasons? I’m wondering if what we end up seeing is a defense that doesn’t take the ball away as much but might be more fundamentally sound, particularly against the run. Of course, how Micah Parsons is being used will be a major factor. There’s only so much that can be gathered from OTAs and minicamp. Training camp and preseason will give us a much better idea.

Will Trey Lance show enough in training camp to entertain the thought he could replace Dak Prescott next season? (Chris Jones / USA Today)

Yousuf: Lance’s training camp and preseason was always bound to be interesting because of what the Cowboys gave up to acquire him last year, but Dak Prescott’s contract situation makes Lance’s summer even more intriguing. The lingering holes on the roster also make Lance’s summer interesting. Will he show enough for the Cowboys to feel some confidence in him as the guy in 2025? Does he show enough to be an immediate trade chip to get help at another position for the Cowboys? Does he flame out immediately?

Biggest question you still have on the roster?

Machota: It’s pretty similar to my feelings entering free agency and then the draft: running back and defensive tackle. I’ll stick with defensive tackle for this response because we just got done watching OTAs and minicamp where Smith and Osa Odighizuwa didn’t participate because of injuries. Those two are the projected Week 1 starters. And defensive tackle is going to be much more expensive to upgrade via a trade if the Cowboys decide they don’t have enough in the middle come September.

Yousuf: Defensive tackle is a good one, and running back is the other obvious one. But the more I watched the team practice this spring, especially with CeeDee Lamb holding out, the more I have questions about the depth of the wide receiver unit. The Cowboys need Brandin Cooks to be the guy he was when he was younger with other teams. They need Jalen Tolbert to be a legitimate No. 3-level talent, if not more. If Lamb gets hurt during the season, there could be some questions and concerns about that group.

Most notable offseason quote?

Machota: When I asked Parsons about his relationship with Zimmer earlier this month, he responded by saying that they’ve probably said a total of 20 words to each other. I was just surprised there had not been more interaction between the two.

“He’s a very quiet person,” Parsons said. “All I keep hearing from the coaches is that Zim likes it this way. But I like it this way. I can’t wait to have my true sit-down with him. I think it’ll be pretty cool, because obviously old-school mindset, old-school mentality. He’s had a lot of great players, but he ain’t never had a Micah before. It’ll be fun. And I think it’ll be unique.

“There are a lot of similarities with how he uses me with how (Dan Quinn) used me in the system. But he has more tweaks and turns of how he’s going to set things up. There’s some things that I gotta get used to, too. It’s gonna be a compromisable relationship.”

Yousuf: At the pre-draft news conference, Jerry and Stephen Jones were asked about the message they would convey to frustrated Cowboys fans. After Jerry went through a lengthy monologue about the salary cap, Stephen cut right to the point.

“The thing I would say too is that the elephant in the room is our playoff success,” Jones said. “We can win an offseason like we did last year and get an ‘A’ … but guess what? We didn’t get it done in the playoffs. … Until we have the success in the playoffs, that’s the biggest question that everybody is going to ask. ‘How are you going to get over that hurdle?’”

Obviously, it’s true, and everybody on the outside has been thinking it for years. But usually, at least publicly, the Joneses like to find silver linings and sell the fan base on sunshine. It was notable to hear Stephen acknowledge that, at this point, anything beyond success in January is a moot point.

(Top photo of Dak Prescott: Perry Knotts / Getty Images)