For the Dallas Cowboys, the season was difficult. The Cowboys are sitting this one out following their first losing season since 2020, despite having made three consecutive postseason appearances. This year has been full of blowouts, injuries, and constant annoyance at the front office for this, that, and the other. This is not a novel situation. Jerry Jones is often the target of criticism, some of which are justified and some of which are not.
From causing a distraction to his players with facilities tours to not erecting blinds at AT&T to keep the sun out of his players’ eyes, Jerry receives plenty of blame for why the Cowboys haven’t been able to win a title in what will now be 30 years. After all, he’s the common denominator; why should we blame anyone else? There are real issues brought on by the front office, even though the “Jones blaming” might occasionally be a bit corny (to borrow a word from his language). Although it is their duty to assemble a formidable squad, the Cowboys consistently play extremely quietly in free agency. The players they draft are crucial to their success.
They let several key players leave and free agency and take their sweet time extending the ones they keep. Many would argue that the Cowboys were doomed from the beginning when they look back on this season. Their quiet in free agency showed that they were all out in a season where they were meant to be all in. Where went everything wrong? Here are a few hot-button issues and their impact on the 2024 season.
Waiting too long sign Dak and CeeDee
The front office didn’t have to wait until the last minute to re-sign their two most important offensive pieces, but they did just that. In the case of Dak Prescott, it literally came down to the last minute because he was extended hours before kickoff. If the Cowboys had signed them early in the offseason, they would have had more cap space and could have spent more in free agency, but since they were never going to be big spenders, there was no point in doing so. In the end, they paid the same amount as if they had signed them in the spring, and the only thing it accomplished was keeping CeeDee Lamb out of training camp.
Putting too much faith in Zeke
One of the biggest fumbles of the front office was how they handled the running back position. They were fine letting Tony Pollard leave in free agency rather than spending finances his way, but they did very little to replace him. They brought in seasoned backs like Ezekiel Elliott, Royce Freeman, and Dalvin Cook at a cheap price. In the end, they concluded that Zeke was their man. Elliott ended his second stint in Dallas with career lows in every category. It took the squad half the season to employ Rico Dowdle effectively, despite his strong final stretch performances.
Hopefully, the squad learn from their mistake and provide a bit more firepower in the backfield. The Cowboys concluded the year with the third-worst yards-per-carry average this season.
Trusting a rookie left tackle
After 13 years with the Cowboys, Tyron Smith was eventually let go by the team this season. Smith has missed time in each of his last eight seasons with the team due to his inability to maintain his health as he has aged. The Cowboys made the decision to move on and sought a solution in the draft. That answer was expected to be the first-round selection, Tyler Guyton. Guyton, regrettably, suffered from a variety of health and performance problems this season.
Getting dependable play at left tackle wasn’t one of the offensive line’s many injuries that the Cowboys dealt with well overall. Smith suffered another injury while playing for the New York Jets, so it seems wise to move on from him at this time, but hopefully Guyton will perform better in year two.
Being too cheap at defensive tackle
Defensive tackle has long been a weakness for the Cowboys. Whatever they try never seems to work. This year, they traded away a future late-round conditional draft pick to acquire Jordan Phillips from the New York Giants. They managed to lose that pick by keeping him on the roster. Fail. They also predictably signed Linval Joseph who played for Mike Zimmer during his time in Minnesota. Overall, it wasn’t too bad. Mazi Smith makes some positive steps forward, but they can never be strong in this area. They were the third-worst team in the NFL for yards per carry at the end of the season.