Good try, good effort all around. After entering the season with championship aspirations, the Dallas Cowboys are officially giving up on 2020, and they’re not even trying to hide it. Losing quarterback Andy Dalton appears to be the straw that broke the camels’ back, as the team traded away Everson Griffen for pennies on the dollar. That wasn’t the only move, as NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reports that the team will part ways with Dontari Poe and Daryl Worley later in the day.
The Dallas Cowboys Are Giving Up – What Comes Next?
Any chance of winning a Super Bowl realistically came to an end when Dak Prescott suffered his gruesome ankle injury. Andy Dalton is a fine backup, but he’s not a championship-caliber quarterback. Still, Dalton was good enough to win an anemic NFC East, so the Cowboys could still make their way to the playoffs.
However, that dream appears to be over. Andy Dalton took a vicious blow to the head in Week 7’s matchup against the Washington Football Team, sending him into concussion protocol for the first time in his career. Dalton wasn’t playing well, but he had the raw potential for league-average play. That possibility simply doesn’t exist with Ben DiNucci, and the Cowboys seem to realize that.
Poe and Worley weren’t playing well, but this is still a move that worsens the 2020 Dallas Cowboys. However, it also frees up approximately $5 million in cap space over the new two seasons, according to Over the Cap. The Cowboys obviously have to find a way to pay Dak Prescott, and these moves will help free up salary space for Prescott.
Should Mike McCarthy Come Back?
Of course, since the Dallas Cowboys themselves are clearly done with 2020, it’s time to start evaluating the 2021 Dallas Cowboys. Assuming he’s healthy, Dak Prescott will be the starting quarterback for the 2021 Cowboys. Dalton’s failed stint under center disproved the notion that anyone could succeed in this offense, and the team will need to do whatever it takes to ensure Prescott stays in town. However, the same cannot be said for the head coach.
Mike McCarthy came to the Cowboys after a year away from the game. The longtime Green Bay Packers head coach reportedly spent that year off devoting himself to understanding football in a brand new way, and appeared eager to prove that he wasn’t just a product of Aaron Rodgers.
That didn’t work. Obviously, you can’t blame McCarthy for Prescott’s season-ending injury. However, you can blame him for a historically bad defense and having the team completely fall apart without Prescott. The Cowboys were never going to be legitimate contenders without Prescott, but they shouldn’t be a bottom-five team with Dalton.
As frustrating as it is to say, the Cowboys should probably move on from McCarthy at the end of the year and restart their search for a new head coach. Hopefully, the Cowboys can find someone like Eric Bieniemy of the Kansas City Chiefs or Arthur Smith of the Tennessee Titans.
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