Cowboys Could Be Facing REBUILD With Another Poor Season | Tear It Down or Retool?

Cowboys Could Be Facing REBUILD With Another Poor Season | Tear It Down or Retool?

could the Dallas Cowboys actually consider blowing things up if they have another losing season we’ll break it down next You are Locked On Cowboys your daily Dallas Cowboys podcast part of the Locked On Network Your team every day Welcome back to the Locked On Cowboys podcast Part of the Locked On Podcast Network your team every day We’d like to thank you for making us your first listen of the day I am your host Marcus Moer You can follow me on Twitter Marcus Moer Joining me today as always is Lena Mcool You can follow him on Twitter Mcoolbc And on today’s show we are answering your Twitter questions And we’ve got some really good ones including this first one uh from George He wants to know “If the Cowboys don’t make a real push to push or they don’t make the playoffs do you think they could consider blowing up the roster and rebuilding in 2026?” Landon I think I think 2026 would be tough to kind of try to do it that year I mean just because you still got a lot of Dak money on a very very new contract Um I I think it it and I also think it depends on what we’re talking about right well let’s talk about that What What kind of I I’m assuming he means blow it up like “Hey tear this thing all the way down to the studs and then start over right does that mean getting rid of Dak and getting rid of like Lamb?”
Well let’s let’s go with his scenario right like they don’t make the playoffs or or listen I mean in those situations where Dak they don’t make the playoffs like is is that because Dak didn’t play for eight games or is that because Dak played all mo a majority of the games he played poorly and I think that kind of matters now we can kind of you know dissect it both ways if they want to keep Dak and they want to kind of just blow things up you know around him I mean it wouldn’t really be that hard because I mean most everything is kind of been blown up recently and nothing’s really committed to outside of CD Lamb who and M you know potentially Micah Parsons if they sign him at that point I think those two guys would be pretty difficult to get rid of Um I I I I think it’s it’s it really all depends on on kind of what you’re talking about because even kind of stripping it down to the studs means potentially trading away top players for draft picks But a lot of your top players like you’re kind of ju just getting through the process of signing them to long-term deals
Yeah It’s funny because this team does not have a lot of older players right so it doesn’t feel like a team that’s gone allin and now they’re just going to have to kind of reap what they sew Like look at the offense right your oldest player your oldest starter is Dak Prescott The next oldest starter on your team on offense is Terrence Steel at 28 You’ve got some other guys like Will Greer Kelvin Harmon Dakota Shepley Like those guys are like between 28 and 30 They don’t really count right so the majority of your rosters between the ages of 22 and 27 on on offense And then on defense it’s the same way Like your oldest player on defense is Dante Fowler He’s on a one-year deal Donovan Wilson he’s on the last year of his contract Solomon to Thomas is 29 He’s on a one-year contract Malik Hooker on a one-year contract He’s 29 This is a very very young team and all those you know aging assets they’re all free agents next year So I I I I understand the question like do you start maybe trying to trade away some of these better younger players for for more assets and draft picks maybe But who are those players that you’re trading away
yeah I mean honestly I think the only thing that kind of qualifies for what you know this this scenario that that’s being laid out is trying to find a way to move off of Dak Prescott And and I I just I just don’t know like it would have to be a very specific scenario And even then like there’s like a a you know a a formula of like how bad could Dak be while still being wanted by another team to to make a trade because otherwise you’re not going to cut him because he’s gonna I mean you probably aren’t going to cut him because he’s going to cost you so much money anyways I think the most likely scenario is that if the Cowboys have another disappointing season this year that likely they’re just going to try to have to run it back at least one more year with Dak Prescott because like you said otherwise like you know all the moves that that they would have done they probably were going to do if they had a successful season in a lot of ways and and I I think that there isn’t really a way to blow it up any further other than re-refiring your head coach and you getting another new defensive coordinator Uh and and obviously at some point Dak Prescott is going to be included that if you’re truly trying to blow up this team
Yeah we should also mention Dak has a no trade clause So that would complicate things even further right he’s going to only want to go to a situation again I think there are other ways to blow it up And actually what I think would be the most likely scenario is you move on from all those guys that are on one-year deals your Donovan Wilson’s you know Malik Hooker and then maybe what you also do is you don’t resign some of the young players like Jake Ferguson and Don Bland and you just which is kind of what they’ve been doing the last couple years anyways but maybe you really let a lot of those guys go stock up on the comp picks start to try to save some money for future years But I just don’t think they are in a position where they can really tear this thing to the ground because they’ve got the league’s highest paid quarterback They’ve got one of the highest paid receivers They’re going to have the league’s highest paid defender And you can’t really tear it down when you’re paying those three guys that much money
It’s it’s ironic that you’re wearing an OU shirt because all my old U buddies used to talk about how U doesn’t rebuild they reload right and that’s kind of what Dallas has always been doing And that’s honestly kind of what you’re describing here too is like it’s not truly a rebuild right because like outside of like getting rid of your head coach and your quarterback it’s it is kind of just like reloading the pieces around the main port part portion of the team because and and that’s not a commentary on your answer That’s a commentary on the question because ultimately like there isn’t a way for the Cowboys to blow this up the way that would be satisfactory to for you know meeting the the drasticness of what you’re describing And and and I think the only way to do it is is mechanisms that aren’t going to be available to this team until at least 2027 or beyond because of Dak’s contract
Well I I will say there’s one other way that they could blow it up if they have a poor season and that’s the front office Now they’re not going to move on from Jerry Jones and Stephen Jones like
that’s not what I’m talking about here
But could it if if let’s say this draft class ends up not turning out to be anything and last year’s class doesn’t end up being anything and Mazy Smith continues to struggle maybe they feel like “Hey Will Mcclelay you’ve had a great run here but we need to get a fresh voice in here Hey we’ve got this analytic staff that we’re paying a lot of money Let’s move on.” like that is one way that they could change things up in Dallas without actually changing the roster too much on the field But I hesitate to think they would even do that because Jerry Jones and Stephen Jones like working with those guys And and also I think you know for all the folks that would be calling for the head of Dak Prescott or you know calling for this team to be blown up they would probably come screaming in from offstage and go no no no no Not those guys We like those guys So
that’s Yeah Yeah Yeah ultimately we don’t make change for change sake like like have a plan in place and and replace the parts that need replacing Uh but right now you know the guys that are the most consequential for the outcome of the Cowboys season they’re going to be here for a little bit
Yeah it it doesn’t feel like even with a bad season even if they go six and 11 it seems like they’re just going to have to make some changes on the edges like they’ve been doing the last couple years And until I think honestly until we get a little bit further into the D that contract he gets into the mid30s of his career then we can start talking about them really resetting things and rebuilding things But
the Cowboy Dallas Cowboys don’t rebuild It’s just not what they do
No not at this point Certainly
All right let’s talk uh some more about the Cowboys this offseason What will the offense look like this year under Brian Shottenheimimer compared to last year under Mike McCarthy we will get to that next This episode is brought to you by Monarch Money If you ever wish managing your money felt easier with Monarch Money it can Whether you’re trying to grow your savings or you’re planning a big purchase Monarch Money puts you in the driver’s seat It’s like having your own personal CFO giving you full visibility and control over your finances Monarch Money is more than just a budgeting app It’s a complete financial command center You can track all of your accounts all of your investments and your spending in one place So in addition to managing your money you can also build your wealth My family and I we’ve been using Monarch Money for seven or eight months now It’s unbelievable how much money we’ve been able to save after getting rid of some of these small purchases that Monarch Money recommended us getting uh rid of Take control of your finances with Monarch Money Use code lockdown NFL at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year That is monarchmoney.com Code lockdown NFL for half off your first year Welcome back to the Loton Cowboys podcast We’d like to thank you for making us your first listen every single day Uh this next question comes from JJ He wants to know “What will the offense look like this year how will we or what kind of differences will we see between Brian Shottnimer and Mike McCarthy i I think the first thing that we kind of have to remember is that the the passing game is is you know the passing offense for the last few years I mean honestly it’s the Dak Prescott offense right it’s it’s about what Dak wants to throw Mike McCarthy and Jason Garrett and all the different head coaches and offense of Kelling Moore and all the different guys that have had input have you know Lahan they’ve all kind of you know pulled the the the you know the influenced a little bit this way and this way and that way but ultimately at the end of the day they’re going to run the plays that Dak likes to run and that Dak’s comfortable running You’re going to see a lot of seam routes to tight end You’re going to see stop routes You’re going to see nine routes You’re going to see deep posts you know it’s it’s it’s g you’re gonna see interesting stuff from the slot with CD Like it’s all that’s still going to be the same as it was I think where we’re going to see the kind of differences is how they’re lining up formationally what they’re doing before the snap and and then also separately the changes in the run game right like how they’ve changed schematically in the run game Uh the mixture of the different run concepts that they’re using um you know not so overly overly reliant on zone running and and and specifically outside zone Um you know maybe just more uh kind of vertical displacement in the run game with inside zone you know duo uh uh you know man power schemes You’ll see uh more guards moving coming across tackles coming across formation to block guys on the edge Um I’m hoping that that’s where you know I think that the most amount of creativity and change that we’re going to see is in the run schemes You know I I think with with the Cowboys passing attack they’ve got CD Lamb They know what CD Lamb does well They’re going to move him around get him open and then obviously with the addition of George Pickkins it’s just going to accentuate that accentuate drawing coverage The addition of the run game will also have an effect on the pass game passing game as well So it doesn’t sound like when you write it down on paper like you know maybe what I described sounds like a lot but when you write it down on paper it doesn’t sound like a lot but when you kind of lay it out and then kind of talk about how it all interacts with each other uh I do think that you know the changes that they’re making around the edges are going to have a significant change uh on the offense and certainly you know just health and availability of your superstars and and and chemistry with your superstars uh is going to make a huge difference between last year this year I
I think this is one of the things I’m the most excited about because we really don’t know and unlike other coaches and even like Mike McCarthy we kind of knew what the Cowboys offense was going to look like under Mike McCarthy coming from Green Bay you know a lot of shotgun looks a lot of receivers on the field We really don’t know with Brian Shottenheimimer because even though he’s been the Cowboys offensive coordinator before this has been Mike McCarthy’s offense And even when he was like in Seattle you know we saw him try to let Russ cook a little bit which is more you know throwing the ball down the field but Pete Carol always tried to rein him in that way So this is the first time that we get to see Brian Shottimer run his offense
and we just don’t really know what it’s going to look like I think you’re right Like I think it’s going to be very Dak centric and he’s going to run the things on offense that he wants to run but do we see Dak under center more do we see more you know inside zone do we see more gap stuff do we see them run more screens i mean that’s something that Seattle did really well uh during the Pete Carroll Brian Shottimer era So I I don’t know I think this is one of the real mysteries that we won’t really know until we get to like week one and it’s all unveiled on that you know Thursday night football game But I’m excited to see how different it really could be Yeah I think the under center thing is an interesting kind of fulcrum on this whole thing to discuss because you know Dak clearly has a preference to operate out of the out of the shotgun and and I think
that’s detrimental to the run game you know I mean I mean operating like that is it’s it’s just it’s just you know it’s problematic in having a diverse run game right and I’m wondering if
can you explain that really quickly just maybe to people that don’t understand why
I just because you know your angle of attack the the the ability to kind of hide you know the be actually running the football All of that can be kind of a lot more easily gleaned from the shotgun And it’s and it’s and it’s a lot simpler when you have a quarterback who’s under center who can you know turn around toss the ball he can turn around hand off the ball All the gaps on either side of him are available the court the running back is usually behind him which doesn’t kind of indicate what you know the power of where they were going to go So
I’ll give you another one Just a really easy visual Think about a running back in shotgun When they’re getting the ball they’re usually like stationary right then they’ve got to accelerate right
but if you’re under center in the in the you know the running the quarterback is tossing the ball to the running back or they’re handing it off the running back is already in motion He’s already starting to gain speed So it’s easier to run downhill out under center compared to in shotgun
Yeah and and I just think you it doesn’t limit the concepts as well like that you can run that some concepts just can’t be run very well from shotgun So anyways I think that that’s going to be an interesting conversation that that I think Dak is going to have with Shottenheimimer about preference versus what’s best for the team And I I actually think that Shottenheimimer because Dak is kind of integral in getting him hired specifically I wonder if Shottenheimimer might have more you know say here not say obviously because they’re both he’s the head coach but like he might be able to convince Dak a little bit better than than McCarthy that this is probably better for the team and this is you know this is what you need to do a little bit more in order to kind of create a positive offensive atmosphere that you’re going to benefit for from So I I do think that that’s an interesting conversation and part of the of the uh push and pull that’s going to need to happen between what’s Dak friendly and and and what you know necessarily is good for the team So I was watching some 2016 uh Dak Prescott for a project that I’m working on Um and it it’s shocking to see how frequently they were under center and I mean obviously the offensive line was really good That was peak Ezekiel Elliott but the the whole offense seemed to function very well My question for you Landon is now that we’re going into year 10 for deck uh you need some mobility if you’re going to be running some of those you know play action boot uh because that’s sometimes a long stretch play if you’re going to run outside zone I don’t know how much outside zone they’re going to run but it also takes more athleticism to run play action and stuff Does Dak still have that at this stage of his career
i’m sorry Did you Did you not see the pictures from this weekend or D
I just wanted to ask I just wanted to see Well I mean no it’s obviously it’s a legitimate question I mean
because there’s like Pton Manning got to a stage in his career where he couldn’t play under center anymore and that’s why Denver had to use the pistol because the athleticism was just gone
Pton Manning is a was a different athlete than Dak Prescott To be fair to Dak Prescott
I agree
Uh and I think that that’s what I was I think that’s the answer to this question too is that I think that Dak is athletic enough Look Dak isn’t isn’t you know one of these quarterbacks that you’re want running the football consistently or you know what I’m saying like we we all readily admit that but he certainly is still athletic enough to handle being under center getting out there and and handing the ball off when needed Like I and maybe that’s also part of the reason he’s been kind of getting into all all the extra shape is he knows hey if I’m gonna be playing under center to kind of help this running game that means I need to be on the move a little bit more doesn’t mean that that means I’m going to be you know pulling the ball and running it
No just more boots and stuff like that where he’s going to be throwing on the run
That’s right And I think that that’s going to provide a ton more opportunity and it’s going to open things up a lot more You know sometimes it could just get stale when you’re go leaning too far into a player’s preference Sometimes you kind of need to pull it back a little bit and and blend it in with what’s best for the team what’s best for the running game which ultimately is also what’s best for Dak Prescott
I just had to ask I mean I know there’s some a little worried about the I I I agree with you I don’t think I don’t think he’s going to be a a threat as a runner that much anymore at this stage of his career even though I saw some of the picks I just think he’s trying to get into better shape so he can execute the play actions better He can get to his spots a little bit quicker That’s all He’s he’s an well above average athlete for a 32-y old quarterback Let’s let’s let’s go there like he’s a very good athlete for a 32year-old quarterback who pocket passing quarterback right yeah So that’s we don’t need to worry about that necessarily
All right let’s talk more about Dak because apparently over the last two weeks everybody wants to know what’s Dak Prescott’s legacy I’ve been avoiding this conversation forever now but let’s do it Let’s talk about Dak Prescott’s legacy next Welcome back to the Lock On Cowboys podcast We’d like to thank you for making us your first listen every single day For your second listen check out the lockdown NFL scouting show as training camps get closer and moves are being made Host Kyle Krabs and Joe Marino will make you the most informed NFL fan this off season Find lot on NFL scouting on YouTube or wherever you get your podcast All right Lynon let’s talk Dak Legacy This question is from Evan longtime listener He’s been asking me to do it for a while He said “All right fine Let’s do it.” Legacy talk Where does Dak rank for you guys for Dallas QBs and what would a Super Bowl do to change that ranking i mean this is a pretty straightforward question and a pretty straightforward answer First of all I think you have to rank quarterbacks by tiers I mean I mean I know somebody who may be doing something very different than that but uh like I I I just think that it’s it’s so tough to kind of parse these guys and and god help anyone who is Uh so I for me like the tier that he belongs in is the same tier that I would put Tony Romo and uh Danny White right like I think the three of them are firmly in
that top tier just beneath uh you know Aman and Stack and I think you know outside of that like the other the rest of the folks kind of fall into the the tiers below that but I think that there’s pretty clearly two groups of of of good Dallas quarterbacks uh you know the elite tier the hall of famers and then the hall of very good you know uh and I think you know the answer to your question is what what would be the difference to get you I mean win the Super Bowl and then you get into the other one I honestly think for Dak
uh one Super Bowl would do like for me to put him in that in that other tier even though those guys other guys won multiple I totally get that was a different era I I I think I think you know his performance in his career as a Cowboy combined with that one Super Bowl I think uh yeah I think it puts him in there I
agree
Uh yeah he that’s where he’s at for me If you want to know where he’s ranked all time I have him 66 actually I’ve been like I said working on quarterback Uh it’s kind of crazy how similar Tony Romo and Dak Prescott’s careers have been kind of up until this point with injuries Both of them have had MVP caliber seasons before Uh Dax was in 2023 Ramos was in 2014 Both came up just a couple votes short of winning that Um but neither of them have gotten past round two of the playoffs Both of them have exactly two playoff wins so far to their careers It’s it’s wild So yeah they’re in that tier Maybe I think some older Cowboy fans maybe would put Danny White still slightly ahead of those guys because he did get them to multiple NFC championship games He was also an awesome punter which we can’t forget But
my question for you is who’s the sixth best quarterback all time in Cowboys history And those are your top five
That’s a good question Um I mean
I guess it probably would be Don Meredith right i mean Meredith is Meredith is the fair question just because of of for legacy reasons and for you know obviously obviously he was a very very good quarterback Uh I just didn’t you know I don’t I never considered him like in that that tier just you know I that that tier that that that Romo and and and and Danny and and and Dak all exist in like it it got created above his head I think at a certain point because of their performance So uh I I I think It’s Dan It’s Don And then it’s it’s uh it’s Quincy probably I guess I mean I don’t really I I don’t I I can’t like
I I I mean I mean I Who else would would be would be next you know in line I think all everyone has a very kind of in that What about Craig Martin yeah I don’t know I mean again like what are we ranking them on because I I think that the game was played very differently when Craig Morton was was the quarterback for the Cowboys
So which is what which is kind of the problem with Dawn right it’s like it’s just a very different sport at this point you know so
I I I do want to ask one more D question before we head out
Yeah
How much and again legacy talk is so ridiculous I just want to mention how absurd this is but
Yeah Yeah How how much do you think Dak Prescott being the NFL’s highest paid quarterback for we’re going on year two of it now could impact his legacy like do you think that’s what people will remember the most about Dak by the time he retires is that hey he was the highest paid quarterback in the league for multiple years and that’s kind of the height of his achievements I hope not I mean I I don’t know I I don’t I don’t think of it like that I I don’t look back and think you know about players like and then like how they’re ranked in the money necessarily but I guess the people that track that kind of thing like they probably will I mean like because it’s really fortunate that way Like he he just happened to he played it better than any other quarterback has played it right
yeah for sure Or sure I mean he created an absurd amount of leverage he was in such a specific scenario because of everything that happened with the with the way he came into the league you know and so it’s it’s it’s just a it was just a kind of a timing thing but also Yeah I mean he’s look the everything that’s special about Dak Prescott we that we love you know not all of it is on on the field you know some of it is who he is as a person and and frankly how he handled that whole situation was was really uh uh I I I you know deaf and on top of that like it was really important for the other players in the league you know and I think that that so there’s there’s other parts of Dak Prescott that you know he hasn’t really shown out on the field necessarily the way that we see him off the field and what what an incredible person he is off the field and and if he can match what that is then I think you know he’s going to have an incredible the legacy at that point Yeah I I do think this is a big year for Dak because if he can put it to see put together a season like he did let’s say in 2021 or 2023 and even if the Cowboys don’t do a lot of damage in the postseason just having another one of those years where it’s 30ome touchdowns and under double digit interceptions I think you’re just starting to talk about a different caliber of quarterback somebody who’s been pretty dog on elite for seven eight nine years of his career Uh but with unfortunately with a bad season or another injuryfilled season now people are going to think about him as hey this is the quarterback that was really good that couldn’t stay healthy kind of the way that we think about Tony Romo the last you know few four or five years if he’s a winner he’s an inspiring you know incredible human who overcame the odds to win the Super Bowl If he doesn’t win it he’s the guy that came up just short you know and he falls into that unfortunate category
All right that is it for today’s show We want to thank you for making lockdown Cowboys your first listen every single day On tomorrow’s show we’re going to talk about the tight end position for the Cowboys going into training camp Make sure you guys tune in for that Uh follow Landon on Twitter mccobcb I’m Marcus_ Go follow the LT Cowboys podcast wherever you get your podcast We are free and available on all platforms And we will see you right back here tomorrow

Marcus Mosher and Landon McCool dissect potential changes for America’s Team. From Brian Schottenheimer’s offensive strategy to Prescott’s legacy among Cowboys greats, no stone is left unturned. The duo explores formation shifts, run game diversity, and how Dallas can maximize its star quarterback’s strengths.

Will the Cowboys reload or rebuild if they have another poor season in 2025? Can Dak Prescott elevate his game under a new system? Please tune in for expert analysis on Dallas’s path forward and where their signal-caller ranks in franchise history.

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