Morning briefing: 3-Jan-25 – “Jerry’s dream of winning a Super Bowl is dead without major changes”

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Blogging the Boys

Former NFL team president: “Jerry’s dream of winning a Super Bowl is dead without major changes.”

The Dallas Cowboys have developed a very comfortable way of doing things lately.

[O]utside of Dan Quinn, not a single Cowboys coordinator under three successive head coaches (Wade Phillips, Jason Garrett, Mike McCarthy) over a span of 18 seasons was promoted into a head coaching job with another team.

But it’s not just the absence of future head coaches among the assistant coaching ranks that should raise all sorts of alarms. The fate of former Cowboys offensive and defensive coordinators (Dan Quinn’s potential move to a HC position notwithstanding) once they leave Dallas is an unmitigated disaster and is a flaming indictment of the Cowboys front office.

The Cowboys don’t like to sign an up-and-coming college guy as one of their coordinators – it’s too risky. They don’t want a bunch of unproven assistants with new ideas on their staff – it’s too risky. And they certainly don’t want some hotshot coach challenging the status quo in Dallas – it’s too risky.

Or as Bryan Broaddus said last year on 105.3 The Fan: “They don’t want to change.”

They don’t want Bill Belichick walking in here, they don’t want Jim Harbaugh walking in here and saying, “we need to do this differently personnel-wise. I don’t like the way we’re doing this personnel-wise. I don’t like this!” They don’t want that.

They don’t want that. It’s eeeeasy for them now. Mike [McCarthy] is not going to get in their way about personnel. Mike is not going to get in their way and say, “Hey, we need to do something different here.” He’s not! He’s not going to do it differently.

It’s totally comfortable for the way these guys operate. They don’t have anybody questioning their personnel moves. They get to draft, they get to sign players, their own players. They don’t do things the guy in Philadelphia does – or people who are fighting for their jobs.

That’s what this football team is. They handed it off from a guy who used to do crazy things (and I was part of the crazy things he did!). The crazy stuff will get you fired. But he handed it off, and that’s where we are now. They don’t want to change. Because they’re comfortable in the way they are operating.

So they settle for the easy options on their coaching staff, and hope that by sticking with big names with a big past, some of that past glory will magically rub off on them.

But in a league that thrives on risk-taking and innovation, going conservative on your coaching will get you exactly to where the Cowboys are: 29 years and counting since the last conference championship game.

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Bleeding Green Nation

The 2024 Eagles have 6 Pro Bowlers (and 2 obvious snubs)

Plus, 12 more were named Pro Bowl alternates.

As an MVP candidate, Barkley was a no-brainer. He’ll probably end up as Offensive Player of the Year. The Eagles have had three different Pro Bowl running backs over the last three years: Miles Sanders in 2022, D’Andre Swift in 2023, and now Barkley in 2024. RB Factory.

Baun getting Pro Bowl love is great to see. But it would really be an injustice if it stopped there. Baun deserves to make first-team All-Pro with how awesome he’s been this year. Baun is the first Eagles off-ball linebacker to make the Pro Bowl since Jeremiah Trotter Sr. in 2005, by the way.

• A.J. Brown and Jordan Mailata not making the team is obviously laughable. I mean, come on.
• DeVonta Smith has yet to make a Pro Bowl. Which feels so weird because he’s so obviously that kind of caliber player. Tough for him, though, when A.J. Brown is also on his team and he’s up against a lot of other really good WRs. I don’t think DeVonta loses sleep over this stuff but I do think it would be nice for him to eventually get some Pro Bowl recognition.

The flag football game at the 2025 Pro Bowl Games will take place on Sunday, February 2. The Eagles will hope that their players are preparing for the Super Bowl instead of hanging out down in Orlando.

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Bleeding Green Nation

Eagles Injury Report: Jalen Hurts still not practicing

Thursday news and updates.

The Eagles listed five players under DID NOT PARTICIPATE: Jalen Hurts, Kenny Pickett, A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, and Saquon Barkley.

Hurts still hasn’t practiced since suffering a concussion in Week 16. I’ve seen people ask if it’s fair to be concerned about his availability for the Eagles’ Wild Card game. I think it’s still too early to say on that front. I’ll be interested to see if Hurts is able to be limited on Friday or if he might go through a pregame workout on Sunday. If he does neither of those things and he’s also not practicing next week, well, yeah, that’s obviously a big concern.

Pickett is dealing with his ribs injury. No need to play him in a meaningless game. Tanner McKee is on track to make his first NFL start and Ian Book will be his backup.

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Big Blue View

Latest updates on New York Giants GM, head-coaching situations

It sounds like John Mara will sit with both men and let them make their pitches for why they should stay and how they think they can fix the current mess

Sports Illustrated NFL insider Albert Breer is continuing to say that co-owner John Mara remains undecided and will hear out both men before making a decision. Breer writes:

I think that owner John Mara will sit down with both guys, get their plan for 2025, and decide from there. It’s really hard to judge what happens next. The two will be judged independently of one another, that I know, and it’s certainly possible that Mara’s decision could be affected by his outside options — if, say, the New York Giants knew they’d land Mike Vrabel, who could bring the Maras some Bill Parcells vibes.

And even the decision in a vacuum is difficult. On one hand, I get the Giants’ desire not to turn everything over again—the past decade has been chaotic inside that proud franchise, with five head coaches and three GMs employed over that span. I also think Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll have a solid foundation of really good players, with the quarterback decision of 2023 undermining a lot of things. On the other, the Giants have been one of the worst teams in football the past two years, and are worse this year than last.

Add it all together, and I’d imagine if the Giants make a change it’ll be with a plan for what’s next in mind, rather than just a hard reset with no roadmap for what’s ahead.

ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler considers the Giants’ coaching job a “wild card” in trying to figure out how many openings there will be in the upcoming cycle. Fowler says:

While Brian Daboll’s 3-13 campaign in New York could prove a fireable offense, people there believe he’s going to fight for his job on Monday or Tuesday of next week with a detailed plan. And owner John Mara really doesn’t want to endure a regime change.

The day after the NFL season ends is called ‘Black Monday’ as many of the coach/GM firings are made Sunday night or Monday morning.

It seems, though, that deciding the fates of Daboll and Schoen may take a little longer than that.

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Big Blue View

Mike Kafka’s future with Giants uncertain, even if Brian Daboll is retained

Would Kafka look to move on after losing his role as offensive play-caller?

Relegated to a background role this season after calling the plays for his first two seasons, the future seems uncertain for New York Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka.

If head coach Brian Daboll loses his job after Sunday’s season finale against the Philadelphia Eagles most if not all of Daboll’s coaching staff will be looking for new employers.

What will Kafka do, though, if Daboll is retained by the Giants? He deflected when asked about that on Thursday.

Kafka did clarify that he is under contract to the Giants for next season.

Kafka, 37, has been a hot candidate on the head-coaching interview circuit the past two years.

Last offseason, he had two interviews with the Seattle Seahawks for their vacancy, and one with the Tennessee Titans. After the 2022 season, he interviewed for openings with the Carolina Panthers, Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts and Arizona Cardinals.

If Daboll remains as head coach, it would seem unlikely that Kafka would stay on. Being bumped back down to a non-play calling role can’t help him advance his career, so it would seem logical that he would look for a job with more responsibility.

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Front Office Sports

NFL Pro Bowlers Rake In More Than $3 Million in Combined Bonuses

Ten NFL stars received six-figure bonuses for making the Pro Bowl, including two punters.

en NFL players received bonuses for being named to this year’s Pro Bowl. The incentives totaled $3.05 million and ranged from $150,000 to $500,000. There were two offensive players, six defensive players, and two special teamers—both are punters—who received bonuses.

Here’s the list, according to Spotrac:

• Brenden Schooler (S, Patriots): $500,000
• Vita Vea (NT, Buccaneers): $500,000
• Logan Cooke (P, Jaguars): $400,000
• Marlon Humphrey (CB, Ravens): $250,000
• Rashan Gary (DL, Packers): $250,000
• Xavier McKinney (S, Packers): $250,000
• Saquon Barkley (RB, Eagles): $250,000
• Landon Dickerson (G, Eagles): $250,000
• Terry McLaurin (WR, Commanders): $250,000
• Jack Fox (P, Lions): $150,000

While six-figure payouts are no small sum, they are worth more for certain players. Schooler, who is in his third season, is on a three-year, $9 million contract with only $3.6 million in guaranteed money. The $500,000 incentive accounts for 14% of the guaranteed money in his entire three-year deal.

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