TAKING STOCK: 2022 DALLAS COWBOYS

BY ADAM GREENE

Another year, another disappointing postseason performance for the Dallas Cowboys. This time an NFC East title and home game in the Wild Card round was ruined by a 23-17 loss to the NFC runner-up San Francisco 49ers in a game Dallas was barely in for three quarters.

This is the Mike McCarthy era in a nutshell and the performance of his Cowboys mirrors the playoff face plants of so many of his Green Bay Packers team. McCarthy is once again riding the coat tails of a talented quarterback to waste years of that signal caller’s career and, really, all of our time.

DALLAS COWBOYS

2021-22 Record: 12-5, first place NFC East

Playoffs: Lost 23-17 to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Wild Card Round

NOW WHAT?

Well, the answer is something owner Jerry Jones didn’t do to this point and that’s fire Mike McCarthy. Of course, McCarthy never should have been hired in the first place, but here we are. The Cowboys did have a Super Bowl roster, but have managed to screw that up this offseason, all but giving away wide receiver Amari Cooper in a trade with the Cleveland Browns, cutting starting tackle La’el Collins and angering Randy Gregory with contract details that he decided to sign with the Denver Broncos.

This team now has less talent than when McCarthy was hired and unless he and Jones can ace the upcoming draft and maybe steal a free agent or two, the Cowboys will enter 2022 with the worst roster of McCarthy’s tenure.

They did get lucky in that they kept offensive coordinator Kellen Moore and defensive coordinator Dan Quinn. Quinn was all but out the door, but I suspect he smelled blood in the water on McCarthy’s head coaching chair and decided to remain in the building as the natural choice to replace him.

Of course, there’s always the lurking specter of Sean Payton, who will be spending this coming season in a Fox booth. It’s Super Bowl (or at least a lengthy and impressive playoff run) for McCarthy or bust this coming season. I’d bet on bust.

FREE AGENCY

While the Cowboys lost plenty this offseason, they did manage to keep edge rushers DeMarcus Lawrence and Dorance Armstrong, linebacker Leighton Baner Esch, safeties Jayron Kearse and Malik Hooker and they mitigated the disaster of chucking Cooper by re-signing Michael Gallup, who’s coming off a knee injury. They added James Washington as their third wideout and franchised tight end Dalton Schultz.

Dante Fowler Jr. has been a consistent under performer in the wrong situation, but with the pressure off (and facing one on one match ups), he’s a solid role player.

DRAFT

In my first mock draft, that has since been obliterated by trades, I had Dallas taking Travon Walker to bulk up the interior of their defensive line out of Georgia. If he’s there, and he should be, that’s still the pick. With their second rounder, No. 56, they need to think about repairing the offensive line they’ve stupidly decimated by taking a guy like Max Mitchell out of Texas A&M. In the third round, I’d stay on the O-line by selecting Sean Rhyan out of UCLA or Zach Tom from Wake Forest.

NFC EAST

The Cowboys, by their roster alone (even a weaker one), remain the class of the division, but one key injury could doom this team to Wild Card or worse. They have, unquestionably, the worst head coach of the four teams in the NFC East and it’s only a matter of time before they’re either caught or McCarthy is fired.

Follow Adam Greene on Twitter @TheFirstMan.

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