Are Super Bowl expectations realistic for the Dallas Cowboys⁉️👀 | NFL Live

Are Super Bowl expectations realistic for the Dallas Cowboys⁉️👀 | NFL Live

Todd Archer covers all things Cowboys. He joins us now. Todd, the big story looming over the team this off season. Micah Parson’s contractor at the moment, lack thereof. What did Jerry Jones say about that today? Well, let’s start where Micah is. He’s here. That’s the good news, right? He’s in one of these hotel rooms. There was some question as what he would be, but back at June at the mini camp, Micah said he would be here. The question now becomes, will he practice? Will we see some sort of hold in? Two years ago, the Cowboys didn’t see Zack Martin held out of training camp before getting a deal done last year. CD Lamb missed most of training camp before he getting a deal done. For Jerry Jones, though, he’s not concerned about Micah and the contract, believing it eventually will get done. Uh, two years ago, we were here and I think Zach Martin wasn’t here. He had his situation, although he had a contract. So, you worked through that. I was looking at this documentary and uh uh it spent some time going back in the Emtt Smith negotiation and uh what was going on there. There’s nothing new about what we’re talking about here today relative to contracts. That’s been going on a long time. Now uh if we you say well if you don’t get him in are you going to lose the first two games and then go on to win the Super Bowl? Well, we’ll take that. Just because we sign him doesn’t mean we’re going to have him. He was hurt six games last year. Seriously. We’ve signed I remember signing a player for the highest paid at the position in the league and he got knocked out twothirds of the year. You can get hit by a car. Seriously. And so there’s a lot to look at over a lot of years that could make a big difference. Have you ever heard of any clubs committing to players and then they didn’t pan out after they committed to them? We have. Well, we all know it’s been 29 years since the Cowboys won a Super Bowl. They had the longest NFC championship game drought. And if they break both of those codes this year, he’ll be with a rookie head coach and Brian Shottenheimer. Yes, he’s a rookie head coach, but he has experience, 25 years in an assistant. And he grew up under his dad, Marty. 200 wins in the NFL, but no Super Bowl. Brian said if the Cowboys do get a Super Bowl this year, he’s going to give his dad a ring. Well, Parson’s the headliner deserve. We’ll get to that sound in a second. Todd leads the NFL in pressure eight since his debut in 2021. Four full seasons in the league. I’m running empty here in studio, but Mina, Andrew Hawkins, Field Yates, they signed up for 60. And I had a great vantage point of these guys reacting to that Jerry Jones sound we just heard. Field, what do you make of how the Cowboys have handled Parson’s contract extension and what Jones said today? Yeah, first of all, Phil, if Jerry ever decided to retire from being the owner of the Cowboys or GM of the Cowboys, I feel like he’d be a great analyst on television because the man is a walking sound bite machine. You know, Jerry Jones, I do believe, and I know Todd has talked about this and reported on it, that there was nearly a deal in place between the Cowboys and Micah Parsons much earlier this off season. What I will say though from Micah Parson’s vantage point is that Jerry referenced at least one of those prior holdins, hold outs, whatever you want to refer to them as, the Cowboys have been doing this dance over the past handful of seasons pretty frequently. Dak Prescott, his contract negotiation, CD Lamb, Zack Martin, even going back to Ezekiel Elliott. I think what those negotiations may embolden Micah Parsons to do is play a little bit on his terms and understand that sometimes being patient and letting other players that play the same position like Max Crosby and Miles Garrett and TJ Watt getting new deals could end up working to his advantage because it would not surprise any of us if Michael Parsons eventually surpasses Hawk the recent deal that TJ Watt just signed. I think you’re spot on, Phil. And and I get that Jerry Jones is used to this process. He’s okay with waiting to the very last minute and paying whatever tax comes along with that, but the reality is it’s a distraction and it has an ability to derail your season too early. Like yeah, in a perfect world, you miss two games and then go win the Super Bowl, but we know that’s not how this works. Every week is super important. and the Zack Martin situation, the CD Lamb situation, even for Michael Parsons, you’re better off getting him in the building and practicing because you need him to be the best defensive player in the league if your goals are legitimate. Hawk, you mentioned that tax. If you just look at the perom added cost of Dak Prescott and CD Lamb last goound, that might have been the difference between getting, I don’t know, a Derrick Henry in the house in Dallas. Mino the defense where Parsons is is the Germaine topic here. Not great last season. 28th total defense, 31st scoring defense. Do you expect improvement for that side of the ball this year? Yes and no. Yes, because a lot of the struggles last year had to do with injuries, missing starting cornerbacks. Demarcus Lawrence, Micah Parsons missed a few games, though not as many as Jerry Jones weirdly said. Um, so even just having more healthy players on the field, you’re going to see some improvement there. I also think pass rush opposite Parsons is a area that I’m excited about. Micah was the second most doubleteamed edge in football last year, so it’s a real opportunity for one of those young edges or Dante Fowler to step up. Uh, but the no I said earlier that’s just because of the run defense which has been the thorn in this defensive’s side now for a few years and it’s an area where I don’t see a lot of improvement on this roster unless Mazy Smith dramatically improves on the inside or they find value at the linebacker position which looks to be one of the weaker position groups in the NFL quite frankly with the Marvin Overshon still injured. Um, I think that’s still going to be an area of concern for them and a problem hopefully mitigated to some degree by the offense. And going back to a point that Hawk made and one that Jerry Jones had said, this is not new for the Cowboys. If you look at Dak Prescott, CD Lamb, Zack Martin, all three signed their deals in August or September. You know what else isn’t new for the Cowboys or at least their fans? Having most of the back of January off. Forget about the Super Bowl. Dallas hasn’t played in an NFC title game what, 1995, the year DVDs were first available to the public. You got a team of this caliber. All their conference title highlights are on VHS. That 29-year drought, twice as long as any other active drought in the NFC, and as the Cowboys leadership tells us today, the time to win is now. I think that we’ve done u we’ve addressed many areas that u uh bit us as I look at what last year was about. Y’all are going to ask about some of those I’m sure here today, but I think we’ve addressed them in a good way that will make us better. Uh having Dak under center is a good place to start. Super Bowl champions is always the expectation. So yeah, you think that’s a realistic goal? I think it is a realistic goal because we we can win the Super Bowl. Like why not? Why Why can’t we win? Do you think it’s unrealistic? You think the roster is in place to do that? I think it is in place to do that. Yes, sir. Now, Dallas won just seven games last season, but field 12 wins each of the three years before that. What do you make of the Super Bowl expectations or standard in Dallas this year? Well, Phil, first of all, it’s July 21st. Every team better believe very confidently in its own outlook for this upcoming season. There’s a reason why these players have made it to where they are. It’s not just physical gifts. It’s often the mentality that is required to become a professional athlete. I don’t personally view the Cowboys in the top tier of the NFC. And the most dramatic difference from where they were during those three straight seasons with at least 12 wins is that this division now was a whole lot topheavier. Of course, the Eagles are the favorites to win the Super Bowl this season as the reigning champions. And the Jaden Daniel le Washington Commanders have totally changed the complexion of not just this division, but really this entire conference in the NFC. If we see two teams from this division once again playing into the into the playoffs next season, none of us will be surprised. I think Dallas is going to be a good team. I don’t think they’re in that elite stack of teams in the NFC right now. Hawk, this is a team that did help its offense in the offseason, specifically trading for George Pickkins. What does that do for Dak in the passing game? Look, I I would be surprised if they won the Super Bowl, but I would also be equally surprised if this offense doesn’t look much better when everyone’s healthy because George Pickkins is there. I think it rightsized it now. They have to be stout up front. That’s been an issue. But whenever you have two receivers with number one capabilities, specifically the ability to get down the field, every defense has to respect it. Every defense has to play it straight up. And what that does is it opens up the run game. Not to mention, you have Ferguson over the middle, one of the better pass catching tight ends in the National Football League. So the expectation is with those weapons and with that ability to force defenses to play them honest and not play to CD Lamb, Dak Prescott should be the better version of himself. Yeah, I share Andrew’s optimism about this passing attack. These two wide receivers are a nightmare for opposing secondaries. You really can’t play very much man coverage against them. Very few defenses have the corners to match up with both CD Lamb and George Pickins. So, what that means is this is an offense that’s going to see a lot of too high. Can the run game take advantage of those favorable looks? Can this young offensive line progress? Uh Jaden Blue was the running back that they drafted. Can he emerge not just maybe as a third down option, but on earlier downs as well? Those, I think, are going to be the questions that determine how good this offense is because the ceiling, I believe, is up there with just about every offense in the NFL. But in that division, you got to put games away. Got to convert in the red area. Last year, Dallas 30th in yards per carry and 31st in red zone efficiency. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music]

On NFL Live, Todd Archer, Mina Kimes, Andrew Hawkins and Field Yates join Phil Murphy to discuss the Dallas Cowboys’ ongoing contract situation with Micah Parsons, expectations for this upcoming season and more.

0:00 Jerry Jones’ comments
2:47 Should the Cowboys be worried about contract situation with Parsons?
7:28 Should the Cowboys have Super Bowl expectations this season?

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