Cowboys news: Jerry Jones acknowledges Dan Quinn as an eventual Dallas head coaching candidate

Plus other news from around the Cowboys.

Jerry Jones: Yes, I would consider Dan Quinn as head coach – Charean Williams, Pro Football Talk

Mike McCarthy seems locked in as the head man in 2022, but beyond that, Jerry Jones could see a scenario where Dan Quinn could be the Dallas Cowboys next head coach.

“All of us wanted Dan to stay, that was a key to our continuity here,” Jones said Thursday, via the team website.

Quinn will get another shot at being a head coach. The questions are: When and where?

Sean Payton turned down a chance to coach the Raiders in 2004 before leaving the Cowboys for the Saints in 2006, a year before Bill Parcells retired. Jason Garrett turned down the Ravens and Falcons in 2007 and became the Cowboys full-time head coach in 2011.

The Cowboys could end up being the team with which Quinn gets his second chance.

“He stays here because there always has been, with every coach, every one of those three coaches, have said they’d love to be the head coach of the Cowboys. Every one. Every one,” Jones said. “So my point is that has, in my mind, a lot of logic as to why they might not take a job now rather than one or wait and see how the cards go in the future.”

Jones then was asked whether he considered Quinn a potential head coaching candidate.

“He’s certainly qualified. He’s very qualified,” Jones said. “Yes, I would consider. If I didn’t have a coach, I would have been interviewing him for coach.”

Jones said the quiet part out loud: No coach will go into 2022 on a hotter hot seat than Mike McCarthy. He has an 18-15 record in two seasons, and the Cowboys were the only home team to lose in the wild card round of the postseason last month.

What Does The Cap Crunch Look Like In 2022? – David Helman, Dallascowboys.com

Next year’s team could look much different than the year prior.

As is always the case, the Cowboys have their work cut out for them heading into the 2022 offseason. Of their 21 impending unrestricted free agents, 10 of them were regular starters and another handful were significant role players. Several of them, such as Dalton Schultz, Randy Gregory and Jayron Kearse, could be headed for significant pay days on the open market.

Factor in the significant detail that the Cowboys are currently projected to be somewhere in the neighborhood of $20 million over the 2022 salary cap, and it gives them a lot to think about over the next several weeks.

“We’re going to have to make some tough decisions,” Jones said. “Not going to be able to keep everybody we’d like to keep and that’s part of it.”

Of course, a lot can be accomplished with a few clicks of a button. The Cowboys have often restructured their larger contracts to create cap space, and they’ll likely do that again. Dak Prescott’s massive deal can be restructured to create room, as can any of the larger contracts along the Cowboys’ offensive line. The Cowboys have restructured Ezekiel Elliott’s contract in the past, as well.

There’s also the interesting case of Amari Cooper, whose $20 million salary becomes guaranteed five days after the start of the league year in March. Because of the way his contract is structured, the Cowboys could save $16 million by cutting Cooper before then – a fact that’s been speculated about often enough that Cooper has been asked about it.

Dallas Cowboys: Trading Amari Cooper should not be an option – Dink Kearney, SportDFW

One story line that will definitely be worth watching is what, if anything, the Cowboys do with Amari Cooper.

Coop is a legitimate WR1

Before Dallas traded a first-round pick for Coop, they were sitting under .500 with a 3-4 record and Dak Prescott’s primary receivers were Allen Hurns, Deonte Thompson, Brice Butler, the reliable Cole Beasley, and the raw rookie, Gallup. Although Beasley and Gallup were promising in their roles, they were limited in what they could do because their fellow receivers were reserve options at best. In other words, Dak needed a true WR1 to keep coverages honest.

In Coop’s nine regular season games with Dallas, all he did was catch 53 receptions for 725 yards, average 13.7 yards a reception, and score six touchdowns ( Coop scored a receiving/rushing with the then Oakland Raiders).

But here is where Coop was the difference maker and elite gamechanger Dallas needed: On a Thanksgiving Day game against their archrival Washington Football Team, Coop caught eight passes for 180 yards and two touchdowns. Coop scored on back-to-back 40-yard and 90-yard touchdown receptions that not only sealed the win but put Dallas in first place in the NFC.

Two weeks later against the Philadelphia Eagles, Coop proved once again why Dallas trading a first rounder was well worth it. Coop lit up the Eagles pathetic secondary to the tune of 10 receptions for a 217-yard, three-touchdown win in overtime that crowned Dallas the NFC East champs. My Gawd!

Sidenote: Coop got mad and demanded that Dak change the play.

Coop single-handedly changed Dallas’ fortunes from a team on the precipice of missing the playoffs to one that won the NFC East and advanced to the second round of the playoffs. Plus, Coop had other career-changing games in losses that solidifies him as legitimate WR1. The following season Coop had an impressive 11 catch, 226-yard one score game against the Green Bay Packers.

Is Cowboys’ Dak Prescott a Super Bowl-caliber quarterback? – Tyrone Starr, The Landry Hat

With another early playoff exit in the books, the debate and discussion about Dak Prescott will surely intensify.

Possibly more so than any other playoff season, 2021 has seen some very high-level quarterback play. Last week’s showdown between the Bills’ Josh Allen and the Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes was a showcase of how two players at that position can take over a game.

Of course, Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott was one and done in these playoffs. While Prescott did not have a transcendent game by any means, his performance was not terrible either. The playoffs, however, is when the best players need to be at their best. Sadly, that was not the case this year for the QB. Now, this begs the question of whether Prescott can lead Dallas to a Super Bowl at all.

Let’s start by first looking at a list of current NFL quarterbacks who gave gotten their team to the Super Bowl. The number of Lombardi Trophy wins will be listed by each player as well:

Tom Brady – 7

Patrick Mahomes – 1

Nick Foles – 1

Russell Wilson – 1

Aaron Rodgers – 1

Joe Flacco – 1

Jared Goff, Matt Ryan, Cam Newton, Jimmy Garoppolo – 0

2022 NFL Draft: 6 way-too-early draft prospects for the Cowboys on offense – Brian Martin, Blogging The Boys

With only the Super Bowl left in the season, its quickly turning to draft time in the NFL.

The evaluation process leading up to the 2022 NFL Draft is still in the baby stages, but that doesn’t mean each and every one of us doesn’t already have prospects we would absolutely love to see end up with the Dallas Cowboys. It’s part of the reason why the draft process is so much fun. Everybody gets to compare notes and share who they’d like to see wearing the star in the not-too-distant future.

With that in mind, here are my way-too-early favorites for the Cowboys to add on the offensive side of the ball. These selections are based on the Cowboys current roster needs and how each prospect fits the parameters the organization typically goes by. That’s to hopefully make it as realistic as possible, plus it makes it a little bit more challenging.

QB – Skylar Thompson, Kansas State

Thompson is an intriguing player at 6’2”, 223 pounds, with an above average arm and athleticism who the Cowboys could target as a developmental QB. As things stand right now, he’s projected as a seventh-round pick or priority undrafted free agent. That’s about where the Cowboys could target another passer with Dak Prescott, Cooper Rush, Will Grier, and Ben DiNucci all still under contract for at least the 2022 season.

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