The Dallas Cowboys have probably been the most maligned team in the NFL this offseason, as they did virtually nothing in free agency and had a rather questionable draft.
On top of that, the Cowboys have made very little headway in contract extension talks with Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb and Micah Parsons.
Former NFL wide receiver Plaxico Burress is the latest person to join in on piling on the Cowboys, saying that he thinks Dallas may end up blowing the team up if it disappoints again in 2024.
Burress set the bar at the NFC Championship Game and said that if the Cowboys don’t make it that far, there may be major changes coming in Dallas.
Fellow analyst Craig Carton went as far to say that the “dismantling” may have already begun, citing the fact that the Cowboys haven’t signed any of their big names to extensions.
So, is this a make-or-break year for Dallas?
In some ways, it may very well be.
Prescott is entering the final year of his deal and is reportedly asking for $60 million annually, a price the Cowboys don’t seem willing to pay. They may end up allowing him to play out the last year of his contract, and if Dallas falls flat in the playoffs again, who knows? It may allow Prescott to walk via free agency.
You also have to assume that head coach Mike McCarthy is on the hot seat and will almost certainly be fired if the Cowboys don’t make a deep postseason run.
Jerry Jones has a bit of a longer leash these days (just ask Jason Garrett), and many felt that Jones should have canned McCarthy after last season. Still, you have to imagine that Jones will not tolerate another playoff exit, or possibly missing the postseason altogether.
The Cowboys have registered three straight 12-win campaigns and have collected a couple of NFC East division titles during that span, but they have won just one playoff games in those three years.
Dallas has not made it past the Divisional Round of the playoffs since January 1996, and it has only captured four postseason victories overall since then.
This past season, the Cowboys were resembling Super Bowl contenders but were then routed by the Green Bay Packers in the Wild Card Round.
If Dallas has another exit like that, you can bet significant changes will be on the horizon.
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