NFL Week 15 overreactions
USA TODAY’s Prince Grimes breaks down the best storylines from NFL Week 15.
Sports Seriously
The Dallas Cowboys have three more weeks to get through before what figures to be a busy offseason, and speculation about just how busy it is is in full swing.
Will Dallas have a new defensive coordinator? Where will their draft picks end up and who will they take? They have an extra first-round pick because of the Micah Parsons trade, and Parsons is no longer playing this year after a knee injury. But he did put out an optimistic update.
The Dallas Cowboys team physician kept himself busy with a reconstruction of Patrick Mahomes’ injured knee. Here is a look at what Dallas is up to.
Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator
In three weeks or so, the Dallas Cowboys could be in the market for a new defensive coordinator if Matt Eberflus is pushed out.
The site Blogging the Boys threw out a number of names for potential replacements. Here are the ones that headed the list.
Jim Schwartz, defensive coordinator, Cleveland Browns
The speculation is that the Cleveland Browns could fire coach Kevin Stefanski, freeing up Schwartz, who is by far the biggest name on this list.
Jim Leonhard, Denver Broncos defensive pass-game coordinator
The No. 2 assistant on one of the top defenses in the league would seem to be in line for his first NFL coordinator job. He was briefly Wisconsin’s interim head coach in 2022.
Mike Pettine, Minnesota Vikings outside linebackers coach
Pettine and Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer were on the New York Jets staff together in 2010 and ’11. He was also the head coach of Cleveland in 2014-15.
Ken Norton Jr., Washington Commanders linebackers coach
The former Dallas Cowboys star now works under Dallas’ previous defensive coordinator, Dan Quinn. He has coordinator experience with Seattle and Las Vegas.
Leslie Frazier, Seattle Seahawks assistant head coach
Frazier was the defensive coordinator for six seasons with the Buffalo Bills before spending the past two seasons in Seattle.
Dallas Cowboys draft picks 2026
April’s draft can’t get here soon enough and Dallas is sitting on two first-round picks. The Cowboys’ next pick won’t be until the fourth round, then it has three fifth rounders. At the moment, Dallas is sitting on the 15th (their own pick) and 24th picks (Green Bay’s in the Micah Parsons trade).
Most projections have them taking a linebacker with that 15th pick and either an edge rusher or defensive back with the later first-round pick.
Here is their draft picks, which are projections based on their predicted finish. A run of losses would improve their draft position.
Round 1
1524 (via Green Bay)
Round 4
15 (115)
Round 5
15 (155)38 (178) – compensatory pick40 (180) – compensatory pick
Round 7
1 (216 via NYG)14 (229 via Kansas City)
Micah Parsons
The reason Dallas got those picks from Green Bay, Micah Parsons, is now out for the year with a torn ACL.
Parsons has since issued a one-word tweet that said simply, “September!” with a picture of a wounded lion.
In other words, he’s aiming to be healthy for next year’s season opener. That would be about a month sooner than the typical 9 1/2-month timeline for these injuries, but seemingly a reasonable goal.
Brian Schottenheimer
Dallas Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer was hard on himself, probably appropriately so, after Dallas’ loss to Minnesota Sunday night.
“I’m frustrated that,” Schottenheimer told the team’s website. “We didn’t find a way to get this game done. I’m frustrated that we were that poor on third down. We’re better than that.
“I’m better than that.”
Dak Prescott
Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott was similarly blunt.
“Yeah, I mean, it’s sh-tty at this point,” he told the team’s website. “It’s hard to even go back to those highs, but yeah, I mean, you’d beat two good teams. You beat the two Super Bowl teams here, and in a matter of what, eight days? Nine days —something like that. And then, you go on the road and have to play a really good team, and they got the better end of us last week.
“… We didn’t do the things necessary to win, or score in the red zone. And to come into this game, and we couldn’t get an answer for Cover 0, and we didn’t score in the red zone. You add those two things together, and you’re gonna lose by eight [point]. It’s unfortunate and it sucks, but it’s the reality of the NFL, and this sh-t’s hard.”
Dr. Dan Cooper Dallas Cowboys
Dan Cooper is the Dallas Cowboys head team physician. He is in the news for performing reconstructive knee surgery Monday on Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes after Mahomes tore his ACL on Sunday.
He had previously performed knee surgery on Chiefs receiver Rashee Rice last season. He was the Dallas Stars team physician from 1993 to 2011 and has also consulted for the Spanish football team Real Madrid.
When does Dallas play again?
The Cowboys host the Los Angeles Chargers Sunday, Dec. 21, at 11 a.m. MT/noon CT. The game will be on FOX.
Super Bowl 2026
Super Bowl LX is set for Feb. 8, 2026, at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., the home of the San Francisco 49ers. The game kicks off at 4:30 p.m. MT/5:30 p.m. CT and will be televised on NBC and Telemundo.
Per ESPN’s Football Power Index, Dallas has a 0.0% chance of making the Super Bowl this season.
Bret Bloomquist can be reached at bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on X.