Dallas City News

Meet the committee: Cowboys share plans for Ezekiel Elliott, running back usage in 2024 – Calvin Watkins, DMN

Head coach Mike McCarthy tempers expectations for running back Ezekiel in his return to the Dallas Cowboys.

McCarthy said it wasn’t right to ask Elliott, who is third in franchise history in rushing yards, to become “the man” again.

“I don’t think that’s fair,” he said. “What do you mean? The guy carried the ball more than anybody in the history of football in the first couple of years. That’s not going to be his role, we’re a running back by committee. He’ll definitely play at the level that he’s played at in my time here. I anticipate that. I don’t see any drop off in the way he moves.”

It’s also been a long time since the Cowboys had a committee of running backs. DeMarco Murray, Felix Jones and Tashard Choice were a nice little committee in the 2010s.

“Hey don’t get me wrong, they all like to carry the ball like the old days and have those touches,” McCarthy said. “You want those guys fresh at the most important time of the year, that’s all part of planning and how you look at the projections in place.”

“The way we’re looking at it right now there’s been some of that and a lot of teams do that and do it successfully,” [Stephen] Jones said of running back committees. “A lot of teams kinda move toward that because of the wear and tear that comes with this league. As I said, too, we’re not done yet, continue to look at players, look for ways not only the running back spot but any other position on this team.”

Why the Cowboys think rookie left tackle Tyler Guyton has ‘tremendous upside’ – Jon Machota, The Athletic

The CBA prevents rookies from participating at the team facility before rookie minicamp, so the minicamp was the first opportunity for the Cowboys to see Guyton work out.

“It’s good to see him on the field,” Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said. “Obviously, his size, his athletic ability and he’s young, that’s exciting. He’s very passionate. He’s very enthusiastic about this opportunity. I really do like how young and raw he is. I think he has tremendous upside.”

“As I told them in the team meeting,” McCarthy said, “this is a really special, cool time of your life and it’s really a five-year sequence that you can change not only your own life but your family’s trajectory of what’s out there.

“They’ve made a huge first impression on everybody. … I hope that they stay above the standard tomorrow. And then it’s always cool when you see them integrate with the veterans, and that will occur on Monday.”

One UDFA to watch on each NFL roster – Thomas Valentine, PFF

Still looking for your pet cat? Here’s an option.

Dallas Cowboys: WR Cam Johnson, Northwestern

Johnson is an older prospect at 25 years old but joins the Cowboys after his best season in college football with Northwestern in 2023. The wide receiver caught 54 passes for 715 yards and six touchdowns, catching the attention of the Cowboys in the process. The Cowboys are starved of wide receiver talent outside of CeeDee Lamb and an aging Brandin Cooks.

NFL Has Deep Candidate Pool for Highly Desired Law Chief Job – Brian Baxter, BloombergLaw.com

The Cowboys’ Jason Cohen is one of many potential candidates for the NFL’s next general counsel.

Lawyers working for NFL teams are also possibilities. These potential candidates include Myles Pistorius from the Miami Dolphins, Jason Cohen of the Dallas Cowboys, and Hannah Gordon, a former NFL labor lawyer and chief legal and administrative officer for the San Francisco 49ers. Gordon left the club earlier this year to launch her own consultancy.

Could Cowboys consider blockbuster trade if losses pile up? – Mark Heaney, Inside the Star

Would the Cowboys consider a pre-emptive roster reset if the team stumbles out of the gate in 2024? Here’s a move the Cowboys could make if the team struggles this season.

Say Bye-Bye to CeeDee?

This would cause quite a stir, don’t you think? In all seriousness, Cowboys fans should prepare for the possibility that the front office sees more value in moving Lamb for a slew of draft picks than risk losing him in free agency. This is especially true if the season does not go as planned.

In a world where Dallas is winning games, they would not consider this in all likelihood. However, with Lamb on the last year of his deal and no extension in sight, they’d be silly not to listen if the playoffs were out of sight. Trading Lamb mid-season does not automatically mean losing him for good either.

The two sides have a good relationship, which has been stressed by Lamb this off-season. The Cowboys trade Lamb, net a first-round pick, and more in the process, and court him heavily in free agency if he does not reach an extension with that team. Dallas gets a draft pick haul to compete in 2025, Lamb can chase a ring this season, and the two sides then reconnect on a well-deserved contract in the off-season.

Is that happy ending for all a little pie in the sky? Perhaps, but we have seen players get traded in a contract year just to head back once free agency hit. Extending Lamb as soon as possible should be the team’s first option. But if they can’t agree to terms and they struggle out of the gate, they should consider this.

Rookie Hometown Hero Already Feels The Pressure Of Being A Dallas Cowboy – Richard Louis, Sport DFW

UDFA LB Byron Vaughns feels the weight of playing for the home team on his shoulders.

Dallas inked former Texas linebacker Byron Vaughns as an undrafted free agent, who is a Fort Worth native.

He has been around Dallas his whole life, as some of his family members are Cowboys fans. Even though he’s been with the Cowboys for a short time, Vaughns is feeling the pressure.

“I kinda felt that pressure, cause my cousin had a wedding the next day. I kinda felt that pressure talking to the people about them being Cowboy fans and what they expect from us this year. Knowing it’s a lot of pressure, it’s a part of the game. I can only handle what I can do.”

2023 rookie review: Asim Richards in position to break trend of later-round tackles- Sean Martin, Blogging the Boys

A deep dive on second-year tackle Asim Richards.

Richards appeared sparingly in five games on offense for the Cowboys as a rookie. His biggest gains in transitioning to the NFL should have come in practice reps and the weight room, as he looks to add the strength and power needed at this level to match an already technically sound and skilled game.

The Cowboys needed immediate replacements for both Tyron Smith and Tyler Biadasz in this year’s draft at left tackle and center, and feel they found these new starters in Tyler Guyton and Cooper Beebe. As a first-round pick, Guyton won’t seriously face much competition for the starting left tackle job, but Beebe will have incumbents Brock Hoffman and T.J. Bass to possibly rotate in at center. All three players – Beebe, Hoffman, and Bass – played guard in college, meaning the Cowboys will have solid depth behind Zack Martin and Tyler Smith as the starting guards no matter who wins the center job. This makes Richards something of an outsider option to play any guard, but the path for him to be the primary swing tackle is clearly ahead of the former fifth-round pick.

Besides Ball and Waletzko, only Chuma Edoga and Earl Bostick Jr. are competition for Richards to not occupy this important backup role in 2024. Richards is a downhill run blocker that likes to play in space but is light enough on his feet to protect on the edge, all things the Cowboys value greatly at the line of scrimmage and will be looking for in their starting group.