Dallas Cowboys’ offseason moves have completely undercut coach Mike McCarthy

He presides over the richest franchise in sports, and Jerry Jones is asking his team to do “more with less.” How very corporate of the owner of the Dallas Cowboys, this in an offseason where he is “all in.”

Our favorite Pro Football Hall of Famer is 81 years old, and he is not stupid. He just thinks you are.

The NFL’s offseason is nearly three months old, and to improve their team the Dallas Cowboys have done the equivalent of sitting on their couch while playing with their phone in front of the television. Not nothing. Just close.

How can anyone take the owner of this team seriously when he carnival barks, “All in!” while declaring they will need to do more with less.

This is the seven-figure “earning” CEO telling their employees they’re going to have a great year while cutting back staff, reducing vacation time and eliminating dental and eye care benefits, amid raising prices for the consumer and record-breaking profits.

This now includes reports that suggests the Cowboys will not re-work quarterback Dak Prescott’s contract for salary cap relief this offseason.

Sorry, Mike McCarthy.

The loser in this scenario is the head coach who enters the final year of his contract. And the established, veteran players like Zack Martin, Dak Prescott, Micah Parsons, Tank Lawrence, CeeDee Lamb and the others who desperately want to win.

In fairness to Jerry and vice president Stephen Jones, this is not the first offseason a Cowboys follower has made the observation that the team’s inactivity will lead to a horrible regular season. The last time the Cowboys can say they were “all in” with offseason moves was when they caved to running back Ezekiel Elliott with a six-year, $90 million extension.

That was in 2019. The team finished 8-8 that season.

It’s 2024, and three straight 12-5 seasons with playoff appearances in each of those years says the Cowboys have made more right than wrong moves. This is not a bad football team.

McCarthy and his staff and players assembling three straight 12-5 seasons has become one of the more under appreciated feats in the NFL in that time. That achievement has been tossed in the garbage because of disappointing, frustrating and embarrassing playoff performances in each of those years.

“I don’t see it as more pressure. I think it’s just the reality of the industry,” McCarthy told reporters at the NFL owner’s meeting this week in Florida. “You can’t lose sight of the big picture. Make no bones about it, I’m extremely blessed to be here. I’m very much engaged where my feet are.”

That’s a 60-year-old man who has lived, and knows there are worse things in this world than living out the final year of a contract as an NFL head coach. Mike’s got it pretty good and he knows it.

He can influence certain decisions by the team, but it’s not his name on the check. They give him the players, and it’s his job to win with them.

The odds of the Cowboys finishing 12-5 for a fourth straight season and making the playoffs again are actually worse than the team returning to the postseason and advancing beyond the divisional round. Eventually it catches up with you.

The problems that teams such as the 49ers, Packers, Bills and Dolphins last season exposed for the Cowboys are still there. More so.

There were, and are, major issues at linebacker. Believing DeMarvion Overshown will fix them immediately is stupid. He was a rookie last season who never played in an NFL game because he suffered a season-ending torn ACL in training camp.

Signing veteran linebacker Eric Hendricks helps, and he’s not Mike Singletary.

There were major issues in the middle of the defensive line, and their best run stuffer, Johnathan Hankins, signed a free agent deal with Seattle. End Tank Lawrence isn’t growing younger, and he needs help.

There are issues on the offensive line. Even if letting Tyron Smith go in free agency was a smart move because they don’t think he can last for even 14 games, the departure creates a major need at left tackle.

The Cowboys experience more than a decade ago with free agency left such a deep scar on Stephen Jones that he does not want to go there again. If you want to blame the deal for free agent cornerback Brandon Carr, go ahead.

Carr signed his $50 million deal in 2012, and he wasn’t bad. He just wasn’t worth that money.

The priority now for the Cowboys in their offseason is to maximize production from their current investments. The person who gets a pass on this is the quarterback, because he’s the quarterback.

The person who will feel most of this isn’t Jerry, but his head coach.

And he’s not stupid.