00:00I know it's hard to envision a world where the Cowboys are ever irrelevant.
00:04The Cowboys now are spiraling.
00:05Not going to win a championship.
00:07This is the time to rip the bandaid off.
00:09Me personally frustrated, and I frustrated myself with my play.
00:13We've seen frustrating years, and this is one of them.
00:15It's proper frustrations.
00:17We've got to look at all the things that have happened.
00:19Everybody's got a role in this.
00:24Hey, what's going on, everyone?
00:26Welcome into First Take.
00:27Thank you for being with us, and I got everybody in studio.
00:32My guy, RC, in July.
00:34It's a whole new deal.
00:35It's a whole new deal, man.
00:37I mean, how did I get so lucky?
00:37I was standing in line outside, and I was like, man, how do I get in here?
00:41You guys are so big time now.
00:43Thank you for having me.
00:43Is this your first time in the new studio?
00:45My first time.
00:45What did you think?
00:46I think it's crazy.
00:48Where do the people pop up in the wall at, though, Molly?
00:50That's what I want to see.
00:51Pac, Mike T, how we doing, guys?
00:54Good to see you, Molly.
00:54Good to see you.
00:55Summer's going well.
00:56Everybody's looking clean, so I'm glad I came back to everybody being here.
01:00I can't believe this is your first time, though.
01:01No, it's a good spot.
01:02You're going to run into quite a few people, I'll tell you that much.
01:04Is there important people here?
01:05Oh, there's important people.
01:06We're way low on the totem pole ESPN out here.
01:10All right, guys.
01:11Speaking of important people, let's get into those Dallas Cowboys.
01:14They have not played in a Super Bowl since 95.
01:17They haven't reached an NFC Championship game in the past 30 years, the longest drought in the
01:20conference after the Commanders and Lions made it each of the past two years.
01:24The Cowboys finished 7-10 last year and will have a rookie head coach and Brian Schottenheimer
01:29replacing Mike McCarthy.
01:30But as the veterans report to camp, they're keeping their hopes high.
01:33Here's Cowboy Pro Bowl guard Tyler Smith on expectations.
01:38Hi.
01:38Super Bowl champions.
01:39That's always expectations.
01:41So, yeah.
01:42You think that's a realistic goal?
01:43I think it is a realistic goal.
01:45Why?
01:45Because we can win the Super Bowl.
01:47Like, why not?
01:48Why can't we win?
01:49Do you think it's unrealistic?
01:50You think the roster is in place to do that?
01:52I think it is in place to do that, yes, sir.
01:55You know, that's like when you look in the mirror.
01:57It's like, why not me?
01:58Why not us?
01:59Just one of those moments.
02:00You talked about that earlier.
02:00Right?
02:01Anything can happen.
02:02RC, tell me this.
02:03Do you feel like Dallas is closer to the NFC Championship or missing the playoffs entirely?
02:09Okay.
02:10So, this is a tough question because I believe the Dallas Cowboys are a playoff team.
02:13And so, I went with the NFC Championship.
02:15And when you look at their division, that's the hard part.
02:18The Philadelphia Eagles, the reigning Super Bowl champions, Jaden Daniels, and the Washington
02:22Commanders, what they accomplished last year.
02:24But I believe in Dak Prescott.
02:26I believe in George Pickens and CeeDee Lamb and a defense that should be vastly improved
02:31with Matt Ibraflus, who wasn't a great head coach in Chicago.
02:35But one thing that defense did was get after the quarterback, stop the run, and keep you
02:39from having big plays offensively.
02:41And so, to me, it's going to be about how quickly they gel when you think about the big
02:45three on the offensive side of the football.
02:47CeeDee Lamb, George Pickens, and Jake Ferguson at the tight end position.
02:51If there's protection and Shadi can start to moving and getting things going the way he
02:56wants them offensively, this team has a chance to be really good.
02:59Mike T?
02:59Yeah, I see it totally different.
03:01And here's why.
03:01If you take the division winners relatively the same, and we talk about three playoff teams,
03:06the three wildcard teams, it's two in the north.
03:08To me, it'll be Minnesota and Green Bay if Detroit wins.
03:10And I don't think they're better than Washington guys.
03:12I just think their window has closed.
03:15I believe in Jaden Daniels, Dan Quinn, Adam Peters.
03:17And I do think Brian Schottenheimer will make Dak Prescott better.
03:20And RC said earlier, like, Matt Iberflus will be a consequential hiring, Molly.
03:25But at the end of the day, they're not in the top seven in the NFC.
03:28I think they'll compete with Washington.
03:29I think George Pickens is the most impactful addition of the offseason in the NFL because
03:34of what it does for this team and how it right sizes this offense, right?
03:37You have two number one options on the outside.
03:39You talked about Ferguson in the middle.
03:41Now Dak Prescott, your all-everything quarterback, is going to get the ability to play at his best.
03:46Here's how it trickles down.
03:47Defenses have to play you honest up top.
03:49It probably opens up your run game.
03:51It's the same drives to assist your defense.
03:54Big question.
03:54Offensive line, defensive line.
03:56And if Micah Parsons is the Micah Parsons we expect in this year, I think the Dallas Cowboys
04:01absolutely are as close to the NFC champions.
04:03And two, look at this trio when you think of their quarterback and their two wide receivers.
04:07You're going to put them up there.
04:08To me, they're going to be the second best trio in all of the NFL.
04:11I believe the Cincinnati Bengals are number one with Joe Burrow, Jamar Chase, and Tee Higgins.
04:15But when you think about Jalen Hurts, Devontae Smith, A.J. Brown, you can also go to Detroit
04:21with Amon Ra, St. Brown, and J. Mo Williams.
04:23They can do everything offensively.
04:25They have a piece when you look at Dak Prescott, who was the second in MVP voting just two years ago.
04:30Had over 35 touchdowns.
04:32Only nine interceptions.
04:34George Pickens can win 50-50 balls.
04:36And now, Hawk talked about this on Get Up.
04:38He's going to get some of those one-on-one matchups with the number two and number three
04:43corners of other football teams, along with Jake Ferguson, to me, being a top five receiving tight end.
04:49This team has endless possibilities on the offensive side of the football.
04:54It's going to be about the physicality of each front line.
04:57And we are doing this thing where if we're not expecting the Cowboys to be a Super Bowl winner,
05:03they have to be the bottom of the barrel.
05:05And I don't think it has to be one of the other.
05:08Yeah, I would take everything RC said, and I would just remove Dak Prescott,
05:11and I would put in Jaden Daniels.
05:13When you think about it, he was earnestly in the MVP conversation as a rookie.
05:17He'll be better with Cliff Kingsbury.
05:19And then you think about, well, they have questions about their offensive line.
05:21Now you have Laramie Tunsil and Josh Connerly.
05:24You get Deebo Samuel.
05:26Hopefully they get Terry McLaurin figured out.
05:28But to me, I like Dak Prescott.
05:30I love Jaden Daniels.
05:32And by the way, the other thing about Dak guys, like if we're being candid,
05:35two of the last three years, he didn't finish the season.
05:37So that matters as well.
05:39And I just think Washington has surpassed Dallas.
05:42And I think because of the strength of the North, they're on the outside looking in.
05:45What would you say Dallas' biggest hurdle is?
05:49Defensive line, stopping the run.
05:50I mean, when you watched them a year ago, that was something they didn't address, right?
05:53And the other part was the run game.
05:54But I think they have addressed that.
05:55But that's where George Pickens helps take a little pressure off that and alleviate that
05:59pressure to say, hey, you need to be able to run the ball.
06:01They will.
06:02That'll be a focal point for them.
06:03But if teams want to stack the box against someone like George Pickens and T.D. Lamb on
06:07the outside, good luck.
06:09Well, you know what their biggest obstacle is?
06:11Their owner.
06:12I'm surprised it took us that long.
06:16I mean, if we're going to talk about obstacle, it's going to be, right?
06:19We looked at the hiring process last year, and we were thinking about all of these hot
06:23names that were going to be guys that can have opportunities to interview for this job.
06:29And then they settled, which we felt like, or I felt like, on Brian Schottenheimer.
06:33Is he settling with Brian Schottenheimer or hiring Brian Schottenheimer because he feels
06:38like he can have a level of control, right?
06:40Brian Schottenheimer needs to have the keys to the entire organization.
06:44He needs to be able to do exactly what he wants to do offensively, especially with Jerry
06:49Jones going out and getting him an added piece.
06:51There can't be too many cooks in the kitchen again in Dallas.
06:55Jerry Jones has to understand he's not going to continue having year after year to do this,
07:00right?
07:01And so it's about now releasing some of that power, releasing some of that control, and
07:06allowing a head coach to be a man.
07:08But Mike T., learning to let go, it's very hard in life.
07:10Yes, it is.
07:11I would say this too, Bobby, just to follow on RC's point.
07:15I think it's their strategy that has hurt them.
07:18We go back to Zeke Elliott, Dak Prescott, go to C.D. Lamb, and now presumptively Micah Parsons.
07:24Micah Parsons is going to get signed.
07:25It just cost them a lot more money.
07:27And when you're in an arms race with Washington and Philadelphia, instead of paying
07:30Micah Parsons $34 million, which is what Nick Bosa is, they're going to pay him $41 million
07:35plus.
07:36Now when you lose guys like Jordan Lewis, DeMarcus Lawrence, those are good players you
07:40could have afforded if you had paid your guys proactively.
07:43Well, I agree with both of you when you talk about Jerry Jones.
07:45When I think of Jerry Jones, the issue was Jerry Jones the GM, not Jerry Jones the owner.
07:50And through this season, the Jerry Jones GM has done a little better than we've seen
07:54him in the past offseason.
07:56Okay, fair enough.
07:57I don't know how we discussed NFC's and no one mentioned the Eagles, but that's where I
08:00want to go now and focus it.
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