The Future of the Dallas Cowboys (2025 thru 2028)

by pallen722 | 3 years ago | 0 Comments

Up until last season the Cowboys have not been that has brought pride to the city of Dallas or to coach Allen. The first three years the cowboys had records of 7-10, 7-10 and 6-10-1. They may have only missed the playoffs by a few games each year but were losing games that they should have won. The QB position was a question each year with Dak Prescott and gun slinger Steven Hackett trading the starting role at the haphazard discretion of coach Allen. Last year Hackett was given the keys to the city while Prescott rode the bench during his last season in Dallas, and to the leagues surprise it worked. Hackett with much help from star running back Ezekiel Elliott led the Boys to a 11-6 season, first place in the NFC East and their first playoff appearance. The wave was short lived when the Cowboys went up against the Buccaneers in the wild card round. Although Hackett did lead a game tying drive to take the game to overtime, the team was just missing a pure passing threat to be able to pull out the win. This may have bought Coach Allen a few more years at the helm but it is time to take the next step and create a well-rounded offense that can lead Allen back to the Super Bowl where he belongs.

Team Outlook

2025 Season

Reviewing the above depth chart and looking ahead to the 2025 season as we approach the draft there is one massive issue in the lineup, and that is at quarterback. As much as Coach Allen has raved about Hackett it is clear that he is not the answer going forward. The Cowboys have completed 2 franchise changing trades to move up in the draft. In the end the Cowboys sent their current 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd round picks along with their 2026 1^st , 2^nd and 2027 1^st round draft picks to obtain the 3^rd overall pick in this draft. The draft is QB heavy with 5 first round talents. It looks that the Eagles will be selecting generation talent Garland with the 1^st overall pick, with Detroit’s pick still OTB, the Cowboys are looking to have their pick of QB prospects Carruthers, Stein and Swift. Speaking with Coach Allen, he has made it clear that he will be happy with either of the three and hopes that the QB is ready to adopt the game plan and work with the abundance of talent on the roster.

The Cowboys made many moves in the offseason with the almost 60 million in cap space they had after removing Dak Prescott’s contract from the books. The Cowboys signed WR JuJu Smith-Schuster and DT Alim McNeill to 4-year deals along with MLB Germaine Pratt to a 3-year deal to replace Keanu Neal next year. They also signed veterans C JT Tretter and OLB Eric Kendricks to 1-year deals to fill gaps in the roster while they try and dev talent taken in the later rounds of this draft. With these moves complete the Cowboys believe they have produced a playoff worthy roster to compete in the 2025 season.

2026 Thru 2028

Looking forward to years 2026 thru 2028 , Coach Allen hopes to develop a team that will continue to grow on the current roster. Trading away 2 years of 1^st round picks makes this a achievement that will need to be planned out ahead of time. Looking at the depth chart it is clear that there are a few positions that will need to be addressed.

Assuming that the 1^st round selection this year is successful the QB position should be set for the foreseeable future.

At RB, Zeke has been a staple of the team for the past 4 years, but he is now 30 years old and coming up on a contract year. The team in Dallas did not avoid this situation, Tony Pollard had been signed to a 4-year extension and last year SS talent Dionte Battle was drafted in the third round and looks to show that he is RB1 material this year as he splits carries with Zeke. Coach Allen has made it very clear that if Zeke can stay healthy and competitive thru this year that he will negotiate an extension to keep him on the roster.

At WR, it looks that with young SS Daniel Reynolds showing his talent and CeeDee Lamb signed to a 4-year extension that there should be no lack of talent for years to come.

TE is the first major issue to be addressed on the offense past next year. Robert Tonyan is now 31 and injury prone playing on a contract year. Tonyan has made it clear that playing in Dallas past 2025 is not in his plans. After Tonyan, the Cowboys have young talent in Bacon and Bates, but they have not shown that they are able to carry the TE room. Look for the Cowboys to try and find young talent to develop in the 3^rd round of the draft this year. If that does not go as planned, they will be looking to acquire a veteran talent in FA next year.

The offensive line has been addressed in the draft for the past 3 years. They have acquired young talent at LG (Tyler Vernon), RG (Todd Judge) and RT (Deionte Terry). La’el Collins will be able to hold down the left edge for 2 years, and JC Tretter is only on a 1-year deal at Center. With a lack of draft picks and time to develop a late round pick, the Cowboys will need to continue a carosel at Center and Tackle thru FA for the foreseeable future.

Moving over to Defense the Cowboys have been building for the future with much talent and depth at DE and DT. They have no plans to address these positions outside of resigning their talent in the coming years.

The linebacker core in Dallas has been one of strength for the past years but have now aged and their future is questionable with the team. The acquisition of MLB Pratt will help the loss of Neal after this year, but unless there is a change to a 4-3 defense in the next year, a 2^nd quality MLB will be required. OLB is no different, with aging talent and versatility decreasing at the position. The Cowboys will have to look to FA for young talent or possibly switch to a 4-3 scheme to reduce the responsibility on an aging LB room.

The defensive back room fronted by Trevon Diggs may look strong now, but holes are coming soon. Diggs and Joseph are signed for the next 4 years, but Chidobe Awuzie is now 30 and playing on a contract year. The Cowboys will need to try and find young talent in the late rounds of this draft and next or look to FA to fill Awuzie’s spot. AT safety Malik Hooker and Jonathan Abram are signed for the next 2 years, Isreal Mukuamu has shown he can be a play maker and at 25 years of age the front office is looking for him to take a step forward this year and be a full-time starter by 2027 as he is signed thru 2028. Coach Allen has a very close relationship with Abram after bringing him over in a trade 2 years back. He hopes that Abram can stay healthy in the coming years and continue to play into his 30’s.

Not many teams give much thought to kickers and punters, but that is not how the Cowboys and Coach Allen operate. It was a very critical point by Coach Allen to draft young talent in the draft 2 years back. He couldn’t be happier with the kicking tandem of Shamell Bush and Alex Beaver that were acquired in that draft and he has made it very clear that as long as he is the coach in Dallas Bush and Beaver will be kicking his balls.

The Draft is now just 1 day away, and the pressure is all on Dallas as they draft their QB of the future. I hope that everyone has Coach Allen in their prayers.