The Dallas Cowboys enter the 2025 season with a lot of uncertainty. A first time head coach, the defense’s best player in a contract dispute, and the starting QB coming off of a serious hamstring injury are all storylines to watch as the Cowboys seek to end a 29 year Super Bowl drought.
and that’s a wrap on TC ‘25 🫡#CowboysCamp | @AmericanAir pic.twitter.com/cUYOmHSSUu
— Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) August 21, 2025
I’m as pessimistic about the Cowboys going into the season as I’ve been in more than 20 years. The shocking hire of Bill Parcells in 2003 gave me some hope, and he rebuilt the team into a playoff contender. Wade Phillips had a couple of nice seasons with the roster Parcells built and molded, and after a few .500 seasons, the Cowboys won a couple of playoff games under Jason Garrett. Under Mike McCarthy, the Cowboys went 12-5 in seasons in which Dak Prescott remained healthy. Not that any of these teams were legitimate Super Bowl contenders; the Cowboys haven’t been in the NFC Championship Game since their last Super Bowl season of 1995. Many of those teams provided reasons for optimism entering the season. I don’t have as good of a feeling for this year’s team.
Dak Prescott looks to get back to his form of 2023 coming off of a partial avulsion of his right hamstring. He’s been a full participant in training camp, though he will not see action in the preseason. Not crazy about this, but I understand not wanting to get hurt. I worry about how sharp he will be opening night in Philadelphia, especially in a new offense with new players around him. WR George Pickens was acquired from Pittsburgh in the offseason, and if he can remain focused and cut out some of the silly stuff that he’s been a part of in the past, he and CeeDee Lamb could form one of the better WR duos in the league. There’s no clear cut lead RB on the roster as Javonte Williams and Miles Sanders figure to split the majority of the carries. The Cowboys hope that Sanders can regain his pro bowl form of 2022, but that is when he was running behind a fantastic offensive line in Philadelphia. This one in Dallas is talented but young. Former Tulsa OL Tyler Smith has earned Pro Bowl recognition at LG, C Cooper Beebe had a solid rookie season a year ago, and Dallas took Tyler Booker out of Alabama in the first round to play RG. Former Oklahoma OL Tyler Guyton is injured this preseason and wasn’t particularly effective a season ago when he was healthy. It’s an offense that has some potential, but the Cowboys must get production from Pickens and good play up front if they want to consistently put up points.
that’s how you wrap up training camp 🗣️#CowboysCamp | @AmericanAir pic.twitter.com/VsWx52fYWz
— Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) August 21, 2025
The biggest story of the offseason has been whether DE Micah Parsons will be on the field for week 1 in Philadelphia as Parsons conducts a “hold in,” meaning he’s with the team but not practicing. I still feel like a deal will get done and Parsons will play, but between Jerry Jones’ mouth and Parsons’ trade request, a lot of posturing is being done in public. On Michael Irvin’s YouTube channel, Jones recently said that he’s offered Parsons more guaranteed money than any non QB has ever received. With Jones, it’s hard to tell what’s true and what’s not, but the bottom line is this; it’s up to the GM to get deals done, and to this point, Jones has failed. The Cowboys do have leverage in that they hold Parsons’ rights for the next four seasons if they want to use the franchise tag, though the cost of doing so escalates every year. One line of thinking is that the Cowboys would be better off trading him for a big haul or even letting him walk and using that money elsewhere. I could handle that idea more if I had more confidence in Jones’ ability to put a roster together, but since I don’t, it’s hard for me to wish away a potential Hall of Fame player.
Jerry Jones opens up about Micah Parsons, his personal health struggles, more
Watch the full interview now: https://t.co/ImsQzBRJSE pic.twitter.com/snRlOsBUMm
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) August 22, 2025
I’d bet a lot of money that new defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus would love to have Parsons available. CB Trevon Diggs is still getting over a knee injury that he suffered late last season, and he could miss a few games to begin this year. If Diggs can get healthy, he and DaRon Bland could be a nice tandem at corner. Both guys are risk takers at the position, and while that can lead to creating turnovers, it can also lead to big plays for the offense. Two new LB’s are in Dallas this season, as former Sooner Kenneth Murray comes over from Tennessee and Jack Sanborn arrives from Chicago where he played for Eberflus. DT Osa Odighizuwa has been a solid contributor, but DT Mazi Smith has been a disappointment in his first two years in the league. There’s still plenty of questions about the Cowboys’ ability to stop the run, and between that, injuries at CB, and Parsons’ status, it’s hard to have a lot of confidence in the Cowboys’ defense until proven otherwise.
If the Cowboys are going to make the playoffs this season, they must rack up wins over the first half of the schedule. After opening night in Philly, Dallas could be favored in their next five games, but beginning with the Sunday before Thanksgiving, the Cowboys play six straight against playoff teams from last season, and the first three are against the Eagles, Chiefs, and Lions. There’s too many questions on both sides of the ball for me to pick Dallas to make the postseason. I’ll say 9-8 for the Cowboys this year, but it could easily be worse than that if solutions to preseason questions aren’t found.
Matt Meyer
@Bluto51
