Dallas Cowboys ride into season of high hopes after bumpy offseason

By David Helman
FOX Sports Dallas Cowboys Writer

DALLAS — If this was the offseason of a team preparing to take the next step, I can’t wait to see which direction that step is heading for the Dallas Cowboys.

The calendar has flipped to July, the equipment trucks are being loaded for the trip to training camp in Oxnard, California, right this moment, and yours truly has signed on for a 10th season covering America’s most visible and polarizing franchise — this time for FOX Sports.

As I prepare for the new role and the promise of a new season, I'll be honest: What I'm mainly thinking about is the dark cloud we've driven through to get to this point. 

From the time Dak Prescott failed to get that spike off back on Jan. 16, ensuring a 23-17 wild-card loss to San Francisco and a one-and-done exit from the playoffs, it's hard to think of much that has gone right for this organization. 

Watching offseason practices hammered that home. Gone was four-time Pro Bowler Amari Cooper, traded to the Cleveland back in March. Gone was longtime right tackle La'el Collins, released that same week. Gone was veteran pass rusher Randy Gregory, whose contract negotiations broke down at the 11th hour, prompting him to choose Denver over Dallas.

Even the pieces the Cowboys have managed to keep in place come with some sort of caveat. Michael Gallup re-signed for $57.5 million this year, but an ACL tear suffered in January has his availability for the start of the season in doubt.

Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones did manage to keep star defensive coordinator Dan Quinn in the fold after Quinn's brief flirtation with several head-coaching vacancies. But in doing so, Jones generated plenty of speculation that he might consider others for his own head-coaching gig, including former Saints coach Sean Payton as well as Quinn himself. 

Thus, through no apparent fault of his own, Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy’s future is one of the most widely scrutinized topics in the NFL this season.

Asked back in February if he felt he was putting undue pressure on McCarthy by speculating about other coaching candidates, Jones said something that has stuck with me all these months.

"Mike knows that someday, somebody other than him will be coach of the Cowboys," Jones said. 

Of course, that is undeniably true. It still struck me as an odd thing to say about a coach coming off a 12-win season — and it still does. Regardless of intention, it squarely paints a target on McCarthy and ensures that his job security will be a topic of conversation throughout the coming campaign. 

These are all just football talking points, and don’t even include a surreal procession of embarrassing incidents for the organization — from lawsuits and settlements, to a Cowboys player being questioned in connection with a murder investigation.

Factor all that together, and it gets hard to even keep track of all the wild stories the Cowboys have had to weather. I’d call it a roller-coaster ride, but those are supposed to be fun.

Maybe the fun part starts here. Can the Cowboys flip the script? 

That's their hope. The general thought process on the Cowboys is that they're a good team and a playoff contender, albeit perhaps not as good as the team that went 12-5 and was the NFC's No. 3 seed last season. 

The losses of players such as Cooper, Collins and Gregory, not to mention Gallup's potential absence, makes it hard to consider this team in the same class as NFC powers in Los Angeles, Tampa Bay and Green Bay — not to mention all the terrifying rosters over in the AFC. 

Don't tell that to the guys inside the building. 

Prescott was asked specifically about the notion the Cowboys have taken a step back just last month, an idea he predictably dismissed. 

"I know what this team has and the men that they have and the coaches and the leadership, and we definitely didn't take a step back," he said. "We're going to continue to get better, and that's what this offseason is about, and that's what moving forward is." 

That's the type of rhetoric you'd expect from your $40-million QB, and rightfully so. A franchise quarterback can be the great equalizer in this league — and speaking of expectations, those will only continue to rise for Prescott with every year his cap hit increases.

Prescott isn't alone in his optimism, though. For his part, Jones noted in May that he thought the Cowboys improved their roster "as much as we improved our team last year in the draft." That's a significant statement considering that last year's Cowboys draft class included reigning NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Micah Parsons. Those are heavy expectations to place on offensive lineman Tyler Smith, defensive end Sam Williams and the rest of Dallas' 2022 rookies. 

Does any of this sound like an owner or a team that's planning on doing worse than last year? 

And that's where things get particularly interesting, because there's this one undeniable fact staring the Cowboys in the face this summer: They are horrendous at stacking good seasons together. 

Pick any year from the past decade-plus. The surprising sprint to the 2018 playoffs, spurred by the decision to trade for Cooper, was followed by an 8-8 effort that got Jason Garrett fired. Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott's miracle rookie run that spurred the 2016 team to go 13-3 was followed by a middling 9-7 season that was completely marred by Elliott's legal issues. 

On it goes. The 2015 team was as hyped as any in recent history following the infamous "Dez Caught It" game, but things went up in smoke immediately when Tony Romo broke his collarbone in Week 2. The 2010 team started 1-7, getting Wade Phillips fired in the process and paving the way for Garrett's turn as head coach. The 2008 team picked up after arguably the best Cowboys team since the Triplets and limped to 9-7 and out of the playoffs by losing three of the last four, including the last-ever game at Texas Stadium. 

That was gratuitous, and I'm sorry if I triggered some bad memories for Cowboys fans. 

The point remains: This isn't what you could call a consistently successful franchise these past 25 years. And now the goal is to maintain the success of last season with a team that — in my opinion, anyway — is lacking some of its oomph from 2021. 

Of course, we all know preseason predictions are worth nothing in this league. The Dallas Cowboys have made me look stupid numerous times in the past decade, and I'll be the first to admit that if they do it again this fall. 

That could happen. The NFC East — despite key additions by Philadelphia and Washington — is still one of the weaker divisions in football. Dominating the division, which the Cowboys have done for most of Prescott's career, could pave a simple path to the playoffs.

Speaking of Prescott, the Cowboys do also employ the division’s best quarterback. As mystifying as his sputtering finish to the season might have been, it’s worth remembering he played the first half of last year at an All-Pro level. If Prescott rediscovers that form, CeeDee Lamb might be poised to make the leap into the league's elite receivers, and maybe this offense will be just fine after all. 

Then there's the shockingly star-studded defense, which all of a sudden has two candidates for NFL Defensive Player of the Year in Parsons and Trevon Diggs. 

For all the doom and gloom I just rattled off, there are some bright spots. It's just that they're going to have to shine extra bright to break through. 

However you choose to look at it, there's a lot at stake this season in Dallas, and a lot of potential for fireworks. The problem with fireworks is that they can be both extremely fun and incredibly dangerous. 

As we get set to do this all over again, I'm excited. Excited about another season. Excited about my new role, and about all the new ways I can help you follow this team. Most of all, I'm excited to see which way the madness turns from here.

David Helman covers the Dallas Cowboys for FOX Sports, providing daily insight and analysis on the NFL’s most visible franchise. Prior to joining FOX, David spent nine seasons covering the Cowboys for the team’s official website, DallasCowboys.com. In 2018, he won a regional Emmy for his role in producing "Dak Prescott: A Family Reunion" about the quarterback’s time at Mississippi State.