The Dallas Cowboys always have some of the most fascinating storylines in the NFL, but heading into 2024, it’s almost impossible to predict what Jerry Jones and company have planned.
If you listen to Jones, he’s sticking by his statement that Dallas is going “all in” for 2024 with the goal to finally get over the playoff hump and secure another Lombardi Trophy.
That logic made sense following the Cowboys’ early exit from the playoffs. They had a team loaded with talent on both sides of the ball and their franchise QB Dak Prescott, was leading the MVP conversation for most of the year and finished 2023 with one of his best statistical seasons as a pro. The Dallas Cowboys were undefeated at home and entered the playoffs as a No. 2 seed.
But as anyone with a pulse has come to expect, Dallas choked in the first round of the playoffs, falling to a young Green Bay Packers team who barely snuck into the postseason.
There were questions whether Jerry Jones would make significant moves after the loss, but he didn’t. He retained head coach Mike McCarthy for 2024 and made it clear Prescott was the team’s QB moving forward.
Almost every NFL Insider predicted the Dallas Cowboys would give Prescott a contract extension to free up cap space and add new talent in free agency — but instead — Jones hasn’t done a thing and is letting Dak Prescott play out the final year of his contract.
But there are questions surrounding the futures of the other two star players for the Cowboys, CeeDee Lamb and Micah Parsons.
As of now, the organization hasn’t reached a contract extension with either player but the belief is Lamb will get a new deal done with the Cowboys before the start of the 2024 season.
CeeDee Lamb is coming off a first-team All-Pro campaign and only has one year left remaining on his rookie deal. He has established himself as an elite receiver, and that’s why Bleacher Report writer Alex Ballentine believes the Dallas Cowboys will make him one of, if not the highest-paid WR in the NFL.
While the expectation is the organization will lock down Parsons to a long-term deal after this season, the Cowboys lost several key pieces from last year’s unit along with defensive coordinator Dan Quinn.
Defensive ends Dorance Armstrong and Dante Fowler followed Quinn to Washington so with Williams now out for the 2024 season, there is very little depth behind Pro Bowl defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence and All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons
Dallas Cowboys Sign Defensive Ends Al-Quadin Muhammad And Shaka Toney
On Thursday, the Cowboys added depth at defensive end after working out a trio of pass rushers.
Dallas head coach Mike McCarthy spoke to the media and addressed the injury to Williams.
“First with Sam, that’s a really tough break,” Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said at his Tuesday press conference . “Especially for him because he was clearly going to be a primary contributor as we all felt. Excellent offseason, did the extra. Was able to see him do some work over the summer in person. It’s unfortunate when these things happen. He’ll do a great job in rehab.”
Williams was gearing up for his third season in the NFL, all with the Cowboys, before the injury. The 25-year-old played in 11 games last season, with 17 combined tackles, four sacks and one forced fumble
On Thursday, the Dallas Cowboys made the move to bring in a reinforcement by signing six-year veteran defensive end Al-Quadin Muhammad to a one-year contract, per ESPN. Muhammad was a sixth-round pick (196th overall) by the New Orleans Saints in the 2017 NFL Draft, which is where he played as a rookie.
After being released at the end of the 2018 preseason, the Indianapolis Colts picked him up, and he made a home there on the active roster for four seasons from 2018-2021, playing in 64 games and starting 25 of them. Muhammad recorded 11 of his 12 career sacks with the Colts in that span with the 12th coming in 2022 with the Chicago Bears. He returned to Indy last season, but the 29-year-old spent all of 2023 on the Colts’ practice squad
While the Cowboys have been linked to former Bengals and Jets pass rusher Carl Lawson, the organization hasn’t signed him after working him out earlier this week.
Instead, the Dallas Cowboys added former Washington defensive end Shaka Toney.
Toney, 26, entered the NFL as a seventh-round pick of the Commanders in 2021. He appeared in 26 games during two seasons in Washington, totaling 16 tackles, three quarterback hits and 1.5 sacks.
Toney, a former teammate of Micah Parsons at Penn State, played under Cowboys defensive line coach Jeff Zgonina in Washington.
The Commanders waived Toney in April, days after the league reinstated him from a one-season suspension for violating the league’s gambling policy.
