REBUILD: Can the Dallas Cowboys DEFENSE Transform Into Quality Unit This Offseason?

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Locked On Cowboys – "REBUILD: Can the Dallas Cowboys DEFENSE Transform Into Quality Unit This Offseason?"

Episode Date: December 17, 2025
Hosts: Marcus Mosher and Landon McCool
Podcast Network: Locked On Podcast Network

Overview

This episode digs deep into the Dallas Cowboys' roster-building challenges as they look to transform their defense into a top-tier unit for a shot at the Super Bowl. Hosts Marcus Mosher and Landon McCool answer listener questions covering the pragmatic path to defensive improvement, debate recent contract extension missteps, and forecast the future at running back. Episode highlights include practical roster solutions, candid evaluations of team-building decisions, and actionable strategies for 2025 and beyond.

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1. Can the Cowboys Rebuild the Defense in One Offseason?

Listener Question: With only two picks in the first three rounds, do the Cowboys have enough assets to rebuild the defense to Super Bowl quality, or should they prioritize free agency for certain positions?
(02:00–10:41)

Key Points

• Comprehensive Approach Needed:
  Landon: “Rebuilding the defense is a comprehensive plan…it’s not as simple as just nailing those two first round picks.” (02:35)

  • Must combine strong drafting, player development, improved coaching, and targeted free agency.
  • Incremental improvement from existing players and better health (especially from overshone) are crucial.

• Draft + Free Agency Strategy:
  Marcus: The two first-round picks should be spent on defense, not offense. Supplement with budget-friendly free agents and a couple of “mercenary” deals, like with Fowler or Clowney previously. (07:41)

• Free Agency: Prioritize Positions with Long Learning Curves:

  • Cornerback is highlighted as a tough spot for rookie impact—veteran signings might be more practical than hoping for instant success from a draftee.
    Landon: “I do think it makes some sense to go the veteran route for the cornerback position.” (06:41)

• Positions & Numbers Needed:

  • Both agree: 4 new defensive starters (DE, LB, 2 DBs) + 2 quality rotational players (DE, LB) = 6 key additions. (07:41–08:52)

• Comparisons & Perspective:
  Marcus: “Philadelphia is a really good example…just those two draft picks [in 2024] alone really transformed their defense.” (09:47)

Notable Quotes

• “If you could just get another, you know, better than just starting quality level cornerback in here, I think a lot of the other pieces kind of can fall into place.” – Landon (05:10)
• “You need six defenders. I think you can realistically get them.” – Marcus (08:52)
• “It does feel like a solid offseason worth of work, but definitely an offseason—not two.” – Landon (09:23)

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2. Cowboys’ Struggles with Contract Extensions

Listener Question: Why do the Cowboys keep having problems after signing players to big extensions? (14:15–22:07)

Key Points

• A String of Regrets:
  Marcus rattles off a list of recent extension failures: Amari Cooper, Michael Gallup, Trayvon Diggs, Terence Steele, Jalen Smith, Ezekiel Elliott.

  • “The Cowboys didn’t really get great value on those contracts.” (15:36)

• Causes: Bad Luck & Bad Process

  • Injuries: Some deals, like with Gallup and Diggs, soured quickly due to significant injuries.
  • Over-committing to ‘B-level’ Players: Too many extensions for mid-tier players (OSA, Ferguson, etc.)—not overpaying but clogging the cap and limiting flexibility.
    Marcus: “You’re also paying him $22M a year…if you didn’t make that move, it’s a little bit easier to keep Micah Parsons around.” (17:19)
  • Inflexibility and Pressure: Overlapping extensions restrict ability to make bigger moves or retain blue-chip stars.

• Some Contracts Were Unavoidable:

  • Landon: “For the most part, the salary cap is real…when you make a mistake over here, it leaves you little margin for error over there.” (21:00)

• Recent Hits and Misses:

  • Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb extensions are bringing strong returns, but were signed later than optimal, raising costs. Marcus: “They paid Dak—probably not paid him more than he’s worth—but they could’ve gotten this deal done sooner and paid him less.” (21:26)

Notable Quotes

• “I also think that there is a healthy portion of these where they’ve finally gotten on the bad side of injury luck…” – Landon (16:31)
• “It’s death by a thousand cuts…when you make a mistake over here, it leaves you little margin for error over there.” – Landon (21:00)
• “The problems that…are concerning and problematic for us are the re-signings—guys that you actually have a lot of insight on.” – Landon (20:00)

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3. The Running Back Room: Future Moves

Listener Question: What will the Cowboys do at running back—bring back Javonte Williams, draft a RB in round one, or something else? (24:37–31:09)

Key Points

• Javonte Williams Emerged as a Workhorse:
  Landon: “Javonte Williams was a resounding success. More than either of us could have expected.” (25:00)

  • The Cowboys should try to re-sign him, but acknowledge mileage is a concern; he took a massive workload this year.

• Need for an Explosive Change-of-Pace RB:
  “We need to have a conversation about…having a more serious candidate as a secondary running back…Javante Blue has basically been a failure to launch.” – Landon (25:25)

• Draft & Free Agency Options are Limited:

  • Few exciting FA backs available; usually, an explosive RB is found on Day 2 of draft. But Dallas lacks those picks.
  • First-round RB? More justifiable this year given the power scheme and OL improvements, but not officially endorsing the move. Marcus: “I could at least get behind it this year more so than in previous years where your offensive line was a mess and it got old really fast.” (28:47)

• Cost & Cap Reality:

  • Javonte is unlikely to break the bank (“I wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t even get [6–7M/year]”—Marcus, 29:49)
  • Names to watch: Kenneth Walker (Seattle), Breece Hall (Jets), while expensive, could offer home-run potential.

Notable Quotes

• “This is a real problem that I feel like previous Cowboys offenses in the modern era have run into...DeMarco Murray...he really tapered off at the end of the season.” – Landon (25:17)
• “Usually I’m not in favor of paying these guys, but...2026–2027, that is your window. Go try to win it right now.” – Marcus (31:02)
• “Let Landon like 2026, 2027. That is your window.” – Marcus (30:54)

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Key Takeaways & Memorable Moments

• Pragmatic Optimism: The Cowboys can rebuild defensively in one offseason, but only with precision across draft, free agency, and player development.
  • “It does feel like a solid offseason worth of work, but definitely an offseason—not two.” (09:23)
• Contract Extension Woes: Dallas has struggled extending players, often finding themselves stuck with injured or B-tier players. Injury luck, inflexible management, and roster construction strategy are all to blame.
• Running Back Realism: Javonte Williams should be retained, but not as a lone bell cow—sustainability hinges on finding another viable playmaker, even if the pickings are slim.
• Window for Contention: The next two years (2026–27) are identified as critical—push resources in for a title shot rather than worrying about long-term cap pain.

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Asset allocation for defensive rebuild: 02:00–10:41
• Extension difficulties, cap dilemmas: 14:15–22:07
• Running back strategy for 2026: 24:37–31:09

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For new listeners: This episode is a must-hear if you want the latest on Cowboys roster strategy, including clear-eyed critique of past decisions and realistic, actionable plans for 2025. The honest, conversational tone between Marcus and Landon makes complex cap and roster subjects digestible for fans at all levels.

Transcript

[Marcus Mosher]

Foreign.

[Landon McCool]

Podcast Network your team every day. The College Football Playoff is everywhere.

[Marcus Mosher]

Toughness, roles, sacrifices, place your focus.

[Landon McCool]

Is this where I think everything you got all damn day? The attention to detail is like none other.

[Marcus Mosher]

Be physical, be flat. We are the Hunter Chilene takes on Ole Miss, followed by James Madison in Oregon. It's time to bring it first round coverage of the college football playoffs presented by allstate Saturday at 3:30 Eastern on TNT and HBO.

[Landon McCool]

Max, are you ready?

[Marcus Mosher]

Let's go. With so much focus on trying to defy aging, there's no shortage of interesting biohacks out there at Anytime Fitness. We aren't pushing gimmicks. We're giving you a game plan based on your data so you can live better, longer. Join Anytime Fitness today. The Cowboys have a lot of work to do on defense this off season. We'll tell you if they can get it done and become a Super bowl contender next. You are Locked On Cowboys, your daily Dallas Cowboys podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast network. Your team every day. Welcome back to the Locked on Cowboys podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast network. Your team every day. We'd like to thank you for making us the number one sports podcast network. And today's episode is brought to you by fanduel. If you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit FanDuel.com and place your live NFL bets all season long.

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Welcome back.

[Marcus Mosher]

I am your host, Marcus Mosher. He is Lana McCool. And on today's show, we are answering your Twitter questions and we got some really good ones. And this first one is from Mario. He wants to know, with the Cowboys only having two picks in the first three rounds, those two first round picks, do we think they have enough assets to rebuild this defense into a Super bowl contender in one off season or do they need to prioritize some positions in free agency that maybe have a longer learning curve? What do you think?

[Landon McCool]

Yeah, I mean, I, I think they do. I mean, look, I think it's. Rebuilding the defense is a comprehensive plan. It's, it's not as simple or cut and dry as just nailing those two first round picks. And, and, and, you know, having adding two good, great defensive players to your roster, it's about doing that. Plus getting incremental improvement from some of these other players that you have on your roster. Plus having a healthier demarvian overshone going into the season. Plus maybe a new defensive play caller or, you know, new defensive coaching to kind of help get more out of it, out of your Players like it. It needs to be a combination of things that are all going to be working together to kind of get the level of improvement that you need. But, yeah, I do think that they have the assets in place that they need to kind of get it done. And I think that, you know, the draft picks combined with, you know, hopefully a little bit of free agent spending that they should be able to carve out with some, some, you know, trigger pulls of the contract. I, I think that they should be able to do what they need to do to get where they need to go to, to, to be a better defense, to, to go to the Super Bowl. Now the question is, are they going to do other things that they need to do? That's, that's a much more difficult question.

[Marcus Mosher]

All right, I want to get to the second part of that question because it, I think it's a really good one. Should the Cowboys prioritize in free agency positions that do have a little bit longer of a learning curve? Because I, I'm looking at like, the cornerback position. I think you and I are in agreement that they probably need one more cornerback, right? You have Duron Bland, you have Ravel. We'll see about Kaylin Carson, what he looks like in year three. Trayvon Diggs probably not going to be on this roster next year unless a lot of making up happens. They need another cornerback, but we know how tricky it can be to draft these guys from round one and have them play. Are they better off just, you know, saving 10, $15 million in free agency for a starter and then using that pick for a different position?

[Landon McCool]

They might be. You know, I think it's a good thought because you also, I mean, again, you know, we haven't quite, we haven't gotten into our draft prep yet, but I, I, obviously, yeah, I know. I, we, we have, but we haven't discussed it on the show. And I, I think that, you know, you and I have dipped our toe into it enough to know that there aren't a ton of, of, of kind of first round corners that are going to make Will Mlay sing the way that, that he needs to. And I, well, in the top corner.

[Marcus Mosher]

Is coming off an ACL injury and did not play a snap this year, which just.

[Landon McCool]

No. Well, he did get a Senior bowl invite though, didn't he? And that's gonna be interesting to see if he, if he goes up and plays there, that's, that's gonna be worth watching. But anyways, I, I think that you look at the other guys that are kind of coming out the, the LSU kid and a couple of the other guys. The, the Terrell's little brother. Yeah, they're all a little bit undersized. Right. So they're. I don't know how. I mean, I don't know if Will's willing to bend on there and, and potentially draft these guys. But even if he's not, I, I think the point still stands that, like, it probably is a better route if you have to kind of find a way to cobble together the different strategies to get the talents you need. I think the better route is probably to go with the known quantity with cornerback because you do have two guys that you like. I think if you could just get another, you know, better than just starting quality level cornerback in, in here, I think a lot of the other pieces kind of can fall into place a little bit.

[Marcus Mosher]

You.

[Landon McCool]

You're going to get Butler back. You're gonna. You still have Kaylin, Carson, and I think those guys can be better depth pieces. If you're able to find someone who can come in as your second or third cornerback, maybe it's easier to go a nickel route and go get a guy that's a, a really solid nickel player might be cheaper and you'll get more bang for your buck that if you don't want to necessarily keep Duron Bland in there. But if you want to play Bland, you can also easily go out and get a guy that's maybe more of a boundary type and, and kick Bland inside there. So you do have some options. But I do think it makes some sense to go the veteran route for the cornerback position.

[Marcus Mosher]

All right, so how many, how many defensive players do you think the Cowboys need to turn this unit into a. Let's just call it like a playoff caliber defense? I know that's. That's a little bit vague, but right now they obviously don't have that. So looking forward to next year, how many guys do you think they need?

[Landon McCool]

I think that. All right, well, let's just do some simple math, right? I think they need a starting defensive end, one starting defensive end, right. I think they need one starting linebacker. Right. I think that they need two defensive back starters of some form of fashion. I think you can mix and match there, but I think maybe a safety probably in there as well at at least one corner. So what's that, four? And then probably you're gonna need another two guys to kind of show themselves as reliable, quality rotational defensive player pieces at. Probably at defensive end and linebacker as well.

[Marcus Mosher]

Okay. And that's so that's six. That's honestly the exact same number I had. So the way that I'm looking at it is you've got two first round picks. I. We're saving those first round picks for defense, not offensive tackles. I'm sorry, everybody. So saving those for defense, right? So let's, so let's cross up two of those, right? For two first round picks on defense. I think you can get two mercenaries like you got this year with like Dante Fowler and J. Davion Clowney, guys that are going to cost between one and, you know, like two and six million dollars a year. I think. Was it. Fowler was one year, six million. Clowny was one year, two and a half million. Those guys are actually pretty easy to find. I think you'll be okay there. And that comes down to you need probably two, you know, quality guys in free agencies somewhere between the 6 and 10 million dollar range. And I do think they have enough assets. They're going to have the cap space, they can manipulate the cap however they want to do it. It's going to be tight. You're going to have to be really good at nailing down the right players for the scheme. And honestly that might be the most important part is getting the right coach in here to coach these guys up. But you need six defenders. I think you can realistically get them.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah. And, and to be clear, I think that it's probably four starters, right. And then two guys that are like, like starter, like Solomon Thomas level players that are not borderline starters. Right.

[Marcus Mosher]

Well, I think like Fowler's a perfect example. I don't know if Fowler's technically starting right now, but he's giving you good snaps off the edge. You're gonna probably need to replace Fowler this off season. I think you can do that fairly easy.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah. And I think, I think Fowler is a good example of how you did it. Clowney's honestly a good example of how you did it.

[Marcus Mosher]

Right.

[Landon McCool]

Able to get him basically mid season and it took a little while for him to get up and going, but he. Those kind of guys are available. Right. So, yeah, I, I do think the Cowboys have the assets required to kind of get this done. That's why we're not panicking about this because it does feel like a solid off season worth of work, but definitely an off season and not two.

[Marcus Mosher]

Yeah.

[Landon McCool]

So. So I, I think it certainly could be done. We see this kind of turnover happen all the time anyways.

[Marcus Mosher]

Yeah, there's a lot of teams that are able to, I mean, honestly Philadelphia is a really good example of this. Was it 20, 24? They drafted Quinion Mitchell in the 20s. They drafted Cooper de Jean in round two. And just those two picks alone really transformed their defense. It gave them some youth in the secondary, and that completely changed that unit. Now that they had some really good drafts, obviously as well, you can do it. The margins are going to be razor thin. But I, I don't think we're going into this off season feeling like they just don't have the resources to get it done. I think they can, and honestly, I think they're going to be. I think they're going to get at least four of those six. We'll see if they're able to get the last two.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah. And again, there's always, you know, talent acquisitions 365 days a year. So there's still going to be plenty of time, even if we get into the, the training camp situation, even if we get into the early part of the season to kind of course correct things a little bit. If you don't, don't get it all done.

[Marcus Mosher]

All right, let's talk about the Cowboys recent history of contract extensions because they've not had a lot of success there. What is going on? We'll try to break it down next. This episode is brought to you by Rocket Money. Do you ever feel like your money just disappears each month? It happens fast. A few subscriptions here, an impulse buy there, and suddenly the numbers in your bank account don't match the numbers in your head. But Rocket Money helps you get clarity. And it'll help you track every dollar and stay in control of your finances because managing your money shouldn't feel like a second job. And Rocket Money does the heavy lifting for you so that you can save more and stress less. Rocket Money finds subscriptions that you forgot that you were paying and helps you clean them up quickly. And seeing all your spending on one dashboard makes it easier to understand what where your money is going. I actually had a subscription today that I didn't know I was still paying. It was 25amonth. Rocket Money helped me find it and get rid of it. It's just, it's so easy to save money with Rocket Money. I cannot emphasize that enough. So take control of your finances and cancel your unwanted subscriptions with Rocket Money. Go to rocket money.com lock on today that is rocket money.com lockon rocketmoney.com locked on. Locked on. Listeners asked for more and now you can get it with the Everydayer Club for just $5 a month. You'll get every episode ad free plus access to our members only discord, exclusive audio from Locked On Sports today and other perks you won't find anywhere else. If you never miss a show, this is the next step. Join the Everydayer club [e-mail] everydayer club or visit the link in the show notes. That's lockedonpodcast.com everyday club, part of the Lockedon Podcast Network. Your team every day. Welcome back to the Lock on Cowboys podcast. We'd like to thank you for making us your first listen of the day. You already live the Dallas Cowboys every day. Why don't you take it up another level and go ad free for the lot on Cowboys podcast? Join the everyday club and you'll get our show with no interruptions, members only Discord access and so much more all for just $5 a month or 50 a year. Go to LockedOn cowboys.supercast.com or check out the link in the show notes to learn more. All right, we had a really good question from Jesse. He wants to know why do the Cowboys have so many problems when after signing some players to big contract extensions. I want to run through a couple of them over the last couple years. Again, this is not the entire list, but this is just a couple of these. So 2020 they gave Amari Cooper a five year deal worth $100 million. He was traded after the 2021 season. So two years on his new deal. Michael Gallup five years 62 million in 2022. He was released after the 2023 season. Trayvon Diggs got a brand new deal in 2022. He's gonna be gone after the 2025 season. I don't know if I'm breaking news here or anything, but don't think he's going to be back. That doesn't mention contracts like Terence Steele, Jalen Smith, Ezekiel Elliott, Dalton Schultz, all that age very poorly. What do you think is going on here?

[Landon McCool]

Well, I think part of it is some of those players have played poorly and, and, and frankly, like I, I don't know that I, you know, a couple of those contracts, I don't know if I blame the Joneses for that necessarily. I, I think a couple of them, I do. Trayvon Diggs, like, I think, you know, that one was a little bit scary. But you know, again, just because of the type of player he was, he. But the production kind of almost dictated that one. Right? I think the Terrence Steel one, you know, I think some of that has been injury Some of that has been, you know, bad play. But I, I look back at the Gallup one and you know, some of the ones like that where you signed the guy and you felt good about the contract at the time and, and just the player ended up just having a series of injuries that kind of derailed them and then.

[Marcus Mosher]

Well, I think the thing with the Gallup one though, they, they signed Gallup after the 2021.

[Landon McCool]

Oh, that's right. Well, maybe he's a bad example because I do think.

[Marcus Mosher]

But you're not wrong overall because like Trayvon Diggs, they signed him in 2022. In 2023, he tears his ACL and he's just had problems ever since then because even in 2022, the first year after signing Trayvon, he didn't have all the interceptions, but I actually thought he was a more consistent player. So some of this is injury lock Terence Steel is a good example. He got hurt I think the year after they signed him to a contract extension.

[Landon McCool]

And then that affected his play too as well. And so it's like, it's hard to kind of blame him a little bit with that, especially since he's played fine at times and in fact he's played pretty well recently. But you're right, it's hard not to look back at that contract, you know, kind of overall and say, man, the Cowboys didn't really get great value on those contracts. And, and I think it's, I mean, look, it's also had an effect on Jerry, right. And, and how they're, they're kind of reluctance to pay these sort of deals because I have to believe that they've looked, they have to look at some of these sit. And some of them is their own fault. Like, you know, obviously the Jalen Smith one is, is, was ridiculous because of his situation. Some of these are being done kind of, you know, as knee jerk reaction. I think, you know, we may look back at the Ferguson situation.

[Marcus Mosher]

That's exactly the Jake Ferguson and Duron Bland, I think Bland less so. But both of those guys, it seemed like they signed because they wanted to put some pressure on Micah Parsons.

[Landon McCool]

I think to me, the Bland situation, I think, I think Blade's a good player. I, I just have a hard time feeling mad about that one. The Ferguson one, like it feels like is kind of done more from the heart at this point because it does feel like we've gotten really kind of inconsistent play. We've been waiting for him to kind of get back to a place where he was even two years ago and it just hasn't happened. And in fact he's had another kind of really up and down year. So I don't know. Some of these I certainly lay at the feet of the Joneses. Like at the time the signing, what happened, I was scratching my head. But I also think that there is a healthy portion of these where they've finally kind of gotten on the bat the bad side of, of, of injury, luck and that sort of thing. And, and, and some of these guys get, get derailed like almost aft right after they sign their contract.

[Marcus Mosher]

Well, if I'm going to go back more than a decade now, but they signed Dez Bryant after that really magical 2014 season. And then in week one in 2015, he breaks his foot and he has a Jones fracture. And it just from that point on, Des was really never the same player. And it makes sense that's a major injury to an explosive athlete. Some of it is just really bad luck. But there is part of it where I think sometimes they sign too many players that are of like the, the B quality. And I'm going to give you an example. I, I, I'm a big fan of Oso Digizua. You know this, right? We've been fans of OSA for a long time, but they got into a situation this off season where their defensive tackle room was so bad that they had no choice but to pay OSA market value. Now, I don't think they're overpaying OSA really by any stretch, but you're also paying him $22 million a year. And I think if you didn't make that move, I think it's a little bit easier to keep Micah Parsons around. And I think they've gotten into situations like that with Terence Steele, with Jake Ferguson, with OSA Digizua where they're paying a lot of B caliber payers, not a caliber money, but just a lot of these guys that's kind of takes up the middle of your, your roster.

[Landon McCool]

I see. I look at the OSA thing a little differently. I, I think the mistake with the OSA contract was trading Micah Parsons because to me, you know what I'm saying.

[Marcus Mosher]

Like pair those two together and they're awesome together.

[Landon McCool]

That's, and I think that, that's the thing is that you were paying OSA for the production that he had given you and that you felt like you were going to get with him paired with Micah. But, but again it's, I, I'm certainly not deflecting blame from the Joneses because they Made the larger problem of, instead of, you know, I don't have a problem with the contract with Micah Parsons, but my solution to that is not to give, is not, not to give OSA the, the contract. It certainly isn't to trade Micah Parsons. So, yeah, I think, you know, some of this stuff, it's like it, there's circumstance like that, right. Where, and, and I think that there's some of that in the history of the Cowboys too, where they signed a player and then, you know, the scheme change happened and they don't fit the scheme change as well. And so there's, there's, there's just a lack of production versus what you signed the player for. So, but, you know, for, for the most part, I say that there is, there's the contracts that are bad with the, with the Jones, with the, with the Joneses, you know, usually right away that they were bad. Like you recognize as the, you know, the trade for Kenneth Murray that we keep referencing, like we were talking about how bad, how much that was a bad idea when it happened. You know, I, I think, you know, the, the problems that, that are concerning and problematic for us are the, the re signings. Right. The, the guys that you actually have a lot of insight on, these guys and yeah, like you said, like that are, you know, B level, you know, guys that you are estimating as a minus and giving them contracts that kind of reflect as such. I think the OSA situation may have some circumstance here, but it's a good example, right. Of, of that kind of situation.

[Marcus Mosher]

Yeah. And just to be fair, if, if you could change things, I wouldn't with osa, I would want to keep him on that deal because it's really hard to find good defensive tackles. I think he's playing to that contract, but I think because they paid osa, they were paying Trayvon Diggs, they knew they wanted to pay Duron Bland, they felt like they couldn't spend $45 million a year on Micah Parsons, and that's how a trade like this ultimately happens. It's not smart, but I mean, I, I, I guess I kind of see the logic behind it, at least a little bit.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah. I mean, again, it's, it's, it's death by a thousand cuts. Right. It's like, it's, it when you make a mistake over here, it leaves you little margin for error over there. Right. And I think that's where this is starting to catch up with the Cowboys a little bit when they've taken some big swings and had some big contracts that have left some dead money that have caused some problems for them and moving this money around a little bit, even though, you know, for the most part the salary cap is real.

[Marcus Mosher]

Yeah. And we should give them some credit. Like the Dak one. They took forever to sign that one. They paid Dak, probably not paid him more than he's worth, but they, they could have gotten this deal done sooner and paid him less. They did the same thing with CD Lamb. Both those guys are having really good years. I mean, CD Lamb's up to 94 yards a game. He's going to hit a thousand yards here in week six. 16. Dax gonna probably leave the the NFL in passing yards. He's been a borderline MVP candidate. So it's not like they've gotten every one of these.

[Landon McCool]

They're not being overpaid. Right. Like, it's not like you feel like those guys aren't earning. The problem is, is that you could have gotten both of those guys cheaper, which would have provided you more opportunity to have some more flexibility in other spots.

[Marcus Mosher]

Bingo. All right, let's talk about the Cowboys future plans at running back. Does that include Javante Williams? Should they draft a running back in round one? We'll get to that next this episode is brought to you by FanDuel. NFL Sundays move fast. One big play and suddenly everything feels different. That's what makes live betting with FanDuel so exciting. You're not just watching the game, you're reacting to it in real time. And with FanDuel, you can place bets as the action unfolds. The every drive, every momentum swing, every highlight moment. And live betting is the best when the game starts to shift, a receiver gets hot, a defense tightens up, or the momentum flips after a turnover. And FanDuel lets you jump into the moment with live spreads and money lines that adjust instantly, player props, that update, ask guys heat up. You can even bet on the next touchdown scores, drive results, totals, and so much more. It keeps you locked into every snap, every drive, and every possibility. So if you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit FanDuel.com and place your NFL Live bets all season long. FanDuel the game moves fast. And so can you.

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[Marcus Mosher]

Welcome back to the Lockdown Cowboys podcast. We'd like to thank you for making us your first listen every single day. Our final question comes from Ron. He wants to know what does the future look like at the Cowboys running back position? Do they bring back Javante Williams? Are they in position to spend a round one pick at running back now that they've re emphasized the run game? What do you think, Landon?

[Landon McCool]

I think first we need to take a step back and examine what happened this year with the running back position. Right. I think Javante Williams was a resounding success. I think more than either of us could have expected. He took on the role of a bell cow and carried the load for the Cowboys throughout the season. I would be thrilled to resign him and I think that the Cowboys should, you know, make efforts to try to resign him this year. Without a doubt. Having said that, like, I do think that if, you know, having gone through all this and if the Cowboys, and even during the Minnesota game, obviously I was, I was having these thoughts specifically. Right. It's hard not to. If the Cowboys were still in the playoff situation and, you know, there's a 2% chance or whatever it is that they are, I would be concerned about the running back situation going into the playoffs because I do think that Javante Williams has taken too many carries. He's getting beat up as we get later in the season. And this is a real problem that I feel like previous Cowboys offenses in the modern era have run into. Right. Like DeMarco Murray, even back when he was having his great seasons with the Cowboys. I mean, he really tapered off at the end of the season, the year when you really kind of needed him the most. So I do think that you find a way to resign Javante Williams, but I also think that we need to have a conversation about not having him necessarily split the load, but. But having a more serious candidate as a secondary running back, but also a guy who could provide a change of pace for them. Because I do think the Javante Blue situation has basically been, you know, a failure to launch.

[Marcus Mosher]

I mean, Blue has been nothing. He's given them absolutely nothing this year. I don't mind that strategy. What makes that hard this year is there's not a lot of free agent running backs to fill that role of like the 8 to 10 touch guy that gives you the explosive plays because teams just aren't letting that guy walk very often. And usually you can find that guy like in day two of the draft. I think I'm thinking of like Travion Henderson this year in New England. You know, that's a guy that can create a bunch of big plays, but they have impaired with Ramandre Stevenson and it's working, right? Yeah, but the Cowboys don't have a second or third round pick, so it makes it a little bit more challenging. As for the first round running back talk, I just saw Jeremiah Love declared for the draft. There's going to be a million mock drafts. Prepare yourself over the next four months of the, you know, linking Love to the Cowboys. I will say this. I'm going to concede this. I think of all the previous years. This is the first year where I think it would make more sense than in previous iterations of this team to go after that first round running back. Because you fix the interior for your offensive line, you're running a more power based scheme and that's where a really talented running back can be a difference where I think if you're running a lot of wide zone, everything is pretty clear on how a running back should read it. But if you're running more like, you know, man blocking stuff, it really, it's really up to the running back to have the feel and the vision to make plays. And one of the things that the Cowboys just haven't gotten this year is a lot of explosive runs. And I'm talking like the 25, 30 yard runs. And I think they have been there, but Javante's been so effective that it really hasn't been, it hasn't been an issue at all.

[Landon McCool]

I mean, I can't believe the words that are coming out of your mouth to be honest. But, but listen, you're, you're, you're not.

[Marcus Mosher]

Advocating for that, by the way. I'm not, I'm not saying they should do that. I'm just saying I could at least get behind it this year more so than in previous years where your offensive line was a mess and it got old really fast.

[Landon McCool]

Absolutely. I, I think the reason you say it is, is sound, but I, I agree. Like, I think, you know, but I want to go back to another point that we were bringing up is that I think that, that the, the kind of secondary running back that you've talked about. Right. The, the problem is even more complex than that where I think that those running backs have been elevated so much now that it's a cost issue. Right. And I don't even just mean money. I mean like in, in, in the resources to spend because Travion Henderson was not a third round pick. Right. And like, you know, and Jamar.

[Marcus Mosher]

Didn'T even have a chance at Judkins or Henderson. They were both gone by the time they get, they got to 4:44.

[Landon McCool]

So the point being is that, you know, the Cowboys have a position that is difficult to find and, and like is costly and you have two first round picks, but as we talked about earlier in the show, you had those kind of earmarked elsewhere. So how do you find that spot specifically at the running back position? I don't know. All I know is that I do feel like the Cowboys need that spot.

[Marcus Mosher]

And one more thing before we go. I, I think Javante is going to be very affordable. I think there's people projecting him to get like six and a half, seven million a year and honestly I, I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't even get that. Those type of running backs, like guys that just aren't clearly top 15 running backs, they're kind of destined to be in this like 1 year, 5 million dollar range like we saw last year for Javante. But I also wouldn't be opposed to the Cowboys going out and finding a more explosive, younger running back that they feel like can maximize the offense and a couple names out there. We'll see if Breece hall hits the market. It sounds like the jets really want to keep him, but I'm looking at someone like Kenneth Walker in Seattle who is going. He'll be going into year five. He's been awesome this year, but he's been splitting snaps with Zach Charbonnet. He's had some durability stuff as well. But I do think that would be somebody who could be an upgrade as a runner that could give you maybe some more of those home run plays. Again, usually I'm not in favor of paying these guys, but we've been saying for a while now, let Landon like 2026, 2027. That is your window. And if that means pushing Future cap into 2028 and beyond, I'm okay with that. Go try to win it right now.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah, I completely agree. I think it's a good strategy.

[Marcus Mosher]

All right, that is it for today's show. We want to thank you for making Lockdown Cowboys your first listen every single day. Check out the channel, download the podcast, wherever you get your podcasts. We are free, free and available on all platforms. Did we make your Spotify wrapped? Let us know. Tag us on our national loth on Podcast network account and we'll drop you a free code for the Everyday or club. Follow Landon on Twitter @McCool BCB. I'm @Marcus Underscore Moser. We'll see you right back here tomorrow. Everybody knows Shaq, but off camera, he's just a regular guy. People never believe me when I say I'm just like them. I take out the trash, do dishes, and I struggle with moderate obstructive sleep apnea, or osa. And a lot of adults with obesity also struggle with moderate to severe osa. You know, those scary breathing interruptions during sleep, the loud snoring, choking and daytime fatigue. I knew I had to talk to my doctor. Don't sleep on the symptoms. Learn more@don'tsleeponosa.com this information is provided by Lilly a medicine company.

[Landon McCool]

Traditions are a funny thing. They're why we tailgate in the pouring rain, wear full body paint and refuse to wash that lucky jersey. And just like in football, tradition is what inspires us at Tostitos to make our masa the traditional way, starting with whole corn kernels. No artificial flavors, colors or preservatives crafted for that perfect crunch. Tostitos tradition matters. Official chip and dip sponsor of the NFL. The College Football Playoff is everything.

[Marcus Mosher]

Toughness, roles, sacrifices.

[Landon McCool]

Life's a focus. This is where I think, everything you.

[Marcus Mosher]

Got all damn day.

[Landon McCool]

The attention to detail is like none other.

[Marcus Mosher]

Be physical. Keep playing. We are the winner. Taine takes on Ole Miss, followed by James Madison in Oregon. It's time to bring it first round coverage of the college football playoffs presented by allstate Saturday at 3:30 Eastern on TNT and HBO. Max, are you ready? Let's get him.