00:00This is Ryan Fowler in Philadelphia.
00:02Yep, NBC Sports Philly saying the rumor is the Cowboys will be playing the Eagles on Thanksgiving.
00:10So Philly at Dallas for Thanksgiving Day, which would be your typical 325.
00:14I don't know what network gets the Cowboys game this year, but that is Ryan Fowler of NBC Sports Philadelphia.
00:20And I consider that a pretty significant advantage, Cowboys.
00:24I don't know about you guys, but when you get a team you know you're going to beat on Philly.
00:30Thanksgiving, it feels like a waste of that advantage.
00:32Give me my biggest rival on Thanksgiving at home where they're pissed off they've got to be traveling on a
00:38holiday and they're on a short week, hopefully.
00:41And Cowboys are in that three-game and 15-day stretch or whatever it is.
00:46Is it three games in 11 days or whatever?
00:48Three games in 12 days, isn't it?
00:50Yeah, I think 12 sounds right.
00:52Yeah, but Eagles on Thanksgiving, that makes it more fun.
00:55It does, and no matter what the records are, right?
00:57That one's always going to be a big game.
00:58What day is that?
01:00I mean, what week is that for the season?
01:02Week 13, I want to say, but I could be wrong when we look.
01:07All right, Eagles depth chart-wise, Chief had the news for you about 45 minutes ago.
01:13They are the fifth-ranked roster in the NFL right now, but I expect that to change.
01:19Maybe that's naive, but I felt like what we saw last year is a deterioration of that offensive line.
01:24But they went out and got Grenard, didn't they?
01:26They went and got Grenard, and they still have the great secondary.
01:28They lose their defensive coordinator.
01:30But I imagine losing the strength of their offensive line.
01:34They were one of the best offensive lines for a decade.
01:36That changed last year.
01:37I don't see that snapping back into form.
01:40As Lane Johnson is older and Landon Dickerson had the injuries, wasn't the same player last year.
01:46The loss of Jason Kelsey is really starting to be felt.
01:49You know, my bias going in is I'm thinking the Cowboys are going to win this division.
01:53I'm with you.
01:54You agree with that, Brian?
01:56Brian, are you going to pick the Cowboys to win the division?
02:00Let me see the schedule.
02:01Seriously, let me see the schedule.
02:02The Eagles have the seventh easiest schedule in football this year, and you have the fourth hardest.
02:07Yeah, let me see how this is.
02:08From the Warren Sharp article we did.
02:10It is weird.
02:10I don't understand how that all works out.
02:13They won the division.
02:14It is strange.
02:15And yeah, I'm not expecting either team to be like a world beater.
02:18I'm thinking 10 wins can get you the division.
02:20But I am expecting this defense to take great strides.
02:24And if this offense does not regress massively, this should be a team that is pretty darn solid
02:30and competing in the NFC.
02:33So again, this isn't looking ahead to any type of postseason success for Cowboy fans or like
02:37screw you, whatever.
02:39I do think they can win the NFCs this year.
02:41The Eagles broke the streak of the repeat champion.
02:45To me, they could implode at any minute.
02:49And it's felt that way for years, and they still have success.
02:52But A.J. Brown getting traded, how much of an impact does that have, if indeed that ends
02:56up happening?
02:57Barkley another year.
02:59Health-wise, how is he going to be?
03:01And Jalen Hurts.
03:02This is such a show-me-year, prove-it for Jalen Hurts.
03:05Their offense with a new offensive coordinator again.
03:07I don't know.
03:08I'm not really buying into the Eagles having an amazing season to just run away with the
03:11division.
03:11That is amazing, though.
03:13Fourth most difficult to seventh easiest, just because of the difference in your divisional
03:19opponents, or the difference in your conference opponents, based on where you finished in
03:22the division.
03:23They're going to get Chicago, Carolina, Seattle.
03:25Cowboys will get Packers, Tampa, Rams.
03:28Their extra game is the Steelers.
03:30I believe the Cowboys' extra game is the Vikings.
03:33It just doesn't make sense.
03:35And that's why I don't think you can take this stuff to the bank.
03:38It's the Ravens.
03:39Isn't the extra game you get an AFC team?
03:41I think it's the Ravens.
03:42Oh, that's right.
03:43So the Cowboys' extra game is the Ravens, which is harder.
03:45Yeah, that is tougher.
03:46The Ravens is definitely, I would say, the tougher one.
03:49I mean, the Steelers beat the Ravens last year, but I guess the Ravens were so injured.
03:53Yeah, and any time you're in Rodgers playing the Cowboys, that's never easy.
03:57Okay.
03:57Blog of the Boys did three veterans that make sense for the Cowboys.
04:00Right now, I think they should go get all three of them.
04:02You got Bobby Wagner, Von Miller, and Joe Mixon.
04:06If you could only get one, guys, which of those three would help the Cowboys the most right now?
04:11Oh, okay.
04:13It's Von Miller.
04:14It's Bobby Wagner.
04:15It's Joe Mixon.
04:16I mean, nobody's going to bring up Joe Mixon here.
04:19It's either Von Miller or Bobby Wagner.
04:21Yeah, I'd probably go Bobby Wagner, Joe Mixon, Von.
04:25I think Mixon would give you more than...
04:27I don't think Von Miller's got anything left now.
04:29I think you'll have a couple of games, but I feel like I remember last year thinking to myself,
04:35yeah, we need to retire the Von Miller conversation now.
04:37Well, I made 36 pressures, nine sacks.
04:41Okay.
04:41Nine sacks last year?
04:43I would have led the Cowboys.
04:43And I don't know.
04:44Maybe if you watched the film, six of them were...
04:46He had nine sacks?
04:48Yeah, he did.
04:49He did.
04:50You know, so...
04:51In Washington?
04:51He did.
04:52Wow.
04:53Wow.
04:5336 total pressures, and that's not elite, but he probably only played half the snaps or so.
05:00Yeah, I mean, just in a designated pass rusher role, Von Miller.
05:06I mean, especially when you still have questions about the overall pass rush for this team.
05:11Now, is that more than Bobby Wagner, though?
05:14No, Bobby Wagner would probably play every down.
05:16Bobby Wagner would help you a lot.
05:18Well, Bobby Wagner would play rundowns.
05:20I don't think you want Bobby Wagner to be able to throw in the football.
05:23But you also, right now, with your linebacker situation, I don't...
05:26He's probably going to have to, unless Barham's really able...
05:30And Barham's not a cover guy either, overshown what's his health looking at.
05:34I mean, that's just kind of...
05:35In a perfect world, yeah, sure.
05:36I just don't know that you have much better options.
05:40Okay.
05:41You see, A to Z sports, this is a perfect segue into what they wrote today.
05:44Is a top 10 defense possible?
05:47You know, and in the C note every day, we talk about what people are writing about your
05:51football team.
05:52And I just, based on what you just said right there, if you sign Bobby Wagner, you'd be
05:57forced to play him on passing downs?
06:00Probably.
06:01If your plan is anything similar to that, I just don't know how you could imagine having
06:06a good defense.
06:07Like, that middle of the field was so vulnerable last year.
06:11And the worst defenses in the NFL have that in common.
06:14Because it's an easy out for good quarterbacks.
06:17I don't know how you could be serious about it.
06:20I think your goal right now would be, can we get in the top 20 of defense?
06:24And if we get great answers with Barham and D winners, then I'll be willing to re-evaluate
06:30what I think this defense is capable of.
06:33But I thought that was a ballsy, like, peak off-season clickbait headline.
06:37Top 10 defense?
06:38Are you freaking kidding me?
06:39No, I think that that's a stretch.
06:41I mean, if you could get top 15, I'd be ecstatic.
06:43Now, I did D winners.
06:45If Overshawn's healthy, you could probably rock, because you'll just play two linebackers,
06:48because you'll go big nickel on passing downs, you'd probably go D winners and then Overshawn.
06:52But that's just the thing that's scary about Overshawn.
06:55If he's hurt, maybe Barham can take that over.
06:58Maybe it's Shamar James.
06:59Maybe Justin Barron gives you something.
07:01But if not, then you probably are forced to keep Bobby Wagner on the field.
07:04But the addition of D winners might help limit that.
07:07But out of those three, I still would lean Bobby Wagner.
07:09Is D winners a passing game linebacker at all?
07:12He's definitely better.
07:13He's the best one on your team, yeah.
07:16Well, you know, from my understanding, that's going to be very crucial for Christian Parker.
07:19So maybe they feel like they want to get into the offseason, get into training camp,
07:25maybe get through that first preseason game and see how Overshawn and winners look.
07:29And maybe they could get through this thing by the skin of your teeth.
07:32But if I'm in that building today, I'm going up to the Joneses and saying, guys, we're actually pretty close.
07:40But if we have this big of a hole on our defense, and we're talking about one of the cheapest
07:45positions in all of sports,
07:48there's like three off-balls inside linebackers making over $20 million a year.
07:53We could drop between $8 million and $12 million in the trade market or free agency here.
07:58You know, maybe Wagner's $5 million or $6 million and fortify this group significantly.
08:04Okay, Blogging the Boys wrote, what's next for George Pickens and the Cowboys?
08:08I feel like we're locked into this experience in 2026, right?
08:11George Pickens is going to show up at some point.
08:13Probably mini camp so it doesn't get fined, then training camp so it doesn't get fined.
08:16But it comes down to, do you think one more great year of George Pickens will really change the league's
08:21mind about him?
08:22And I don't, you know?
08:25So at this point, I anticipate that when we get to next year, it will be up to George.
08:31Would you like to sign like a three-year, $90 million contract to get some certainty?
08:38Four years, $120 million contract?
08:40Or would you just like another year on the tag?
08:42So I think only George Pickens can answer that right now.
08:44But if this year didn't satisfy the league to a complete extent, you know, 31 teams, we're good.
08:55We don't want George Pickens.
08:5612 months isn't going to change that.
08:58You know, once players get reputations like this, it usually does not go away.
09:03I mean, I don't know.
09:05I think if Pickens has, I mean, what if he has an even better year?
09:09Year two with Dak, year two in this offense, more time to put plans together.
09:13If you're Clayton Adams and Brian Schottenheimer, and it feels like by the end of the season,
09:18everybody's talking about, man, George Pickens was your most productive receiver this year.
09:22More productive than CeeDee Lim.
09:23He's 1,500 yards.
09:24He's nine touchdowns.
09:25Yeah.
09:26And especially when you consider the age, you know, unless you get some weird off the field
09:31or he's constantly being benched to start games like you saw a couple times last year.
09:36Yeah.
09:36Like if that stuff's not happening and he's doubling down on his production and actually leveling up
09:42and he's hitting the market as a 25-year-old bona fide number one wide receiver,
09:47I think teams will be back in.
09:48Do you think the Cowboys will let him?
09:50Do you think the Cowboys will let him go?
09:51Yes.
09:52I don't think they're going to pay two wide receivers.
09:54Yeah.
09:54I don't think they're either.
09:55They already are.
09:57Aren't they right now?
09:58$27 million.
09:58If he ends up getting $30 plus, and that's just for a one-year thing.
10:03And I think they're in on that for this year.
10:05They're trying to maximize, smartly so, this like three-year DAC window,
10:08which could be extended, especially if the defense gets fixed.
10:11But I think that I just keep going back to what Steven said during the presser,
10:16and that's basically we don't want to pay two receivers is what I got from it.
10:19But it is weird because, like, you're taking a $27.5 million cap hit on your cap right now this
10:24year.
10:25Like, that's a lot of money.
10:27Yeah.
10:27When you give them the long-term deal, you're spreading that out,
10:29and the cap hits aren't nearly as much.
10:31Yeah.
10:31So I get what you're saying, Dawson, in regards, like, you are paying them,
10:35and you're paying them all of it right now this year.
10:37I don't think C.D. Lamb's – is C.D. Lamb hitting you for $27.5 million on your cap
10:41this year?
10:42I would have to look.
10:43I doubt it, but I can pull it up.
10:44Like, probably not.
10:45So it is like a weird deal.
10:49But DAC's numbers are going to get big here soon.
10:51Oh, yeah.
10:52They just continue to get more and more astronomical.
10:54They just continue to get more and more astronomical.
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