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Blogging the Boys
Former Dallas Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott joining Los Angeles Chargers practice squad
The Ezekiel Elliott return never quite took for the Cowboys at any point and he was slowly phased out over the course of the season as Rico Dowdle took center stage in the run game. Perhaps opportunities will be more present for Elliott with his new team, a club who features a fellow Ohio State Buckeye in the backfield in J.K. Dobbins.
For what it’s worth, if Elliott managed to stick around the Chargers into the 2025 season he would get a second chance to visit AT&T Stadium as a member of the visiting team as they are one of the squads Dallas will host in 2025.
Blogging the Boys
Chicago Bears request Mike McCarthy interview for head coach vacancy
McCarthy’s contract in Dallas will officially expire next week on Tuesday, January 14th, but owner/GM Jerry Jones has reportedly already made his decision even prior to the team’s season-ending loss against the Commanders. McCarthy cannot interview for any other head coach openings without permission from the Cowboys until then, something that the Chicago Bears are reportedly eager to do.
Chicago Bears have sought permission to interview Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy and are awaiting a response from Dallas, sources tell me and @toddarcher.
If the Cowboys don’t allow permission this week, the Bears could interview McCarthy after his exclusive negotiating window… pic.twitter.com/zoS7vHO5mF
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 6, 2025
The dynamics of how a potential Mike McCarthy contract extension in Dallas will be received relies heavily on what other teams acting more quickly do with their openings and interview decisions. The Bears have hardly been a model of success anytime recently, but they now represent the first and – at the time of this writing – only team from the outside interested in drawing Mike McCarthy away from the Cowboys.
According to NFL.com, the Bears have also interviewed Brian Flores, Aaron Glenn, Ben Johnson, Mike Kafka, Todd Monken, Drew Petzing, Artur Smith, and Anthony Weaver for their head coaching job.
Blogging the Boys
Old habits die hard in Cowboys season-finale as they lose to the Commanders
The Dallas Cowboys concluded their season with a 23-19 loss versus the Washington Commanders. Seeing the Commanders celebrate their last-minute win as they prepare for the postseason is sobering. The Cowboys came into this season with sky-high expectations before everything careened off a cliff. Injuries played a factor, yet losing another game at home sends the Cowboys into the offseason on a sour note.
Red zone issues
It’s great that Brandon Aubrey was perfect, making all five of his kicks (four field goals and one extra point) but that’s too much of a good thing. The Cowboys’ offense disintegrated once they reached the red zone. The glaring mistake was the previously mentioned poor throw by Lance to Dowdle, but that’s only one occurrence. Dallas was 1-6 on their drives in the red zone. They also outgained the Commanders 378 to 269. The one time they did score in red zone was a touchdown to Dowdle but that was only his second touchdown of the season. It’s been a recurring theme this season. Dallas goes on a long drive, and they must settle for a field goal.
Blogging the Boys
Adam Schefter: Cowboys expected to play Mike McCarthy situation ‘slower’ relative to rest of NFL
Adam Schefter just said on @GetUpESPN that his feeling around the Dallas Cowboys and Mike McCarthy is that the situation will play itself out slower relative to the rest of the NFL.
— RJ Ochoa (@rjochoa) January 6, 2025
This is unsurprising if you have been around the block with this franchise. Such a claim can be proven by the Cowboys themselves and receipts kept over just the last handful of days.
Just last Friday, Jerry Jones himself noted that “the hay is in the barn as far as our staff is concerned” and specifically said he did not think anything could happen during Sunday’s season finale that would impact the team’s upcoming decision on McCarthy and his staff.
The hay went from being in the barn to the team having no clue what was next. Consider that the interview process is indeed underway as noted and that there are currently five teams with head coach vacancies. This means that there are already teams who have an inside track relative to the Cowboys if Dallas does wind up in the market for a new head coach. The team is only hurting itself from a competitive standpoint by going about matters this way.
We have noted this before but will reiterate it in case you missed it or forgot, the last time Dallas moved on from a head coach was Jason Garrett and they obviously missed the playoffs before doing so. The Cowboys then waited until the middle of the Wild Card Round that they were not a part of to finally announce they were moving on from Garrett in a formal way. It feels like history is starting to repeat itself.
Big Blue View
New York Giants will keep Brian Daboll, Joe Schoen
General manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll are staying in their jobs despite a 3-14 season for the New York Giants. The Giants announced on Monday that both men will get a fourth season in the job and an opportunity to turn the franchise around.
In three seasons as head coach, Daboll has gone 18-32-1 (.363) in the regular season, and 1-1 in the playoffs.
Only Bill Arnsparger (7-28, .200), Pat Shurmur (9-23, .281) and Judge (10-23, .303) have lower winning percentages with the franchise.
Co-owner John Mara released the following statement:
“Now that our season is over, we felt it necessary to make this statement.
“Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll will continue in their respective roles with the organization. As disappointing as the results of the season have been, Steve (Tisch) and I remain confident in the process that Joe and Brian have implemented and their vision for our team.
“We look forward to the future and achieving the results we all desire.”
That is, of course, a move likely to be unpopular with an unhappy, vociferous section of the fan base.
Big Blue View
What is Brian Daboll’s plan for fixing the New York Giants? He’s not sharing
Daboll says “everything has got to be better when you win three games”
He said the “number one issue” is finding the right quarterback.
So, what does that look like? Short, of course, of importing Josh Allen from the Buffalo Bills?
“I’d say there’s a lot of things. I’m not going to get into all the particulars,” Daboll said. “They got to be a good football player, got to be accurate, good decision maker, good in critical situations, good in two-minute (situations), good in the red zone, leadership, a lot of different things.”
Daboll simply said “yeah” when it was mentioned that players who do all of those things are not easy to find.
Calling the plays
Mara, of course, questioned whether Daboll should be calling the offensive plays.
Daboll offered a confusing answer when asked about Mara seemingly wanting the head coach to delegate play calling.
“I brought that up. I brought that up to him in the meeting. Again, there’s no decision that’s been made. We’ll sit back and take a look at everything and do what we need to do,” Daboll said, then later seemed to reconsider that timeline. “Maybe he asked the question. It was a good conversation, it was a long conversation.”
Less than 24 hours after the season ended, Daboll was nowhere near ready to commit to anything regarding 2025.
“We got to do stuff different when you only win three games. So, a lot of things to look at. I’m not prepared to say what I’m going to do or what I’m not going to do 24 hours after the last game.
“I’m not saying I’m giving it up or not giving it up.”
Bleeding Green Nation
Saquon Barkley wins 2024 NFL rushing title
Eagles running back Saquon Barkley has previously talked about the friendly rivalry he has with Derrick Henry, with the pair often the leading rushers in the NFL. Barkley had only ever topped Henry once, back in 2018, but they both fell short of the rushing title to Ezekiel Elliott that season. But, everything changed this season in Philly behind the Eagles’ offensive line.
Barkley finished the 2024 season with 2,005 total rushing yards, putting his name in the history books among the only other eight running backs to hit the 2k mark. The incredible feat also earned him his first rushing title, besting Henry’s 1,921 total rushing yards this season.
Bleeding Green Nation
Christian Watson injury: Packers will be without top deep threat against Eagles
Green Bay is dealing with some bad injury news.
The Eagles went right into preparing for the Green Bay Packers in the first round of the playoffs, but it looks like they won’t have to account for Christian Watson. The speedy wide receiver had to be carted off the field on Sunday against the Bears after suffering a non-contact knee injury, which is now believed to be a torn ACL with some additional damage.
Watson has been the Packers’ biggest deep threat, averaging 21.4 yards per catch — his season totals include 29 catches on 53 targets for 620 yards and two touchdowns. The WR had two games with over 100 receiving yards, and against the Eagles in Brazil Week 1, he went 3-for-5 for 13 yards and one TD
Bleeding Green Nation
Eagles-Giants snap counts: Jahan Dotson makes the most of his increased opportunity
Jahan Dotson took advantage of increased opportunity to lead the Eagles with 11 targets for seven receptions and 94 yards. He looked good. Dotson also fielded punts but did not actually return any.
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NFL.com
Ranking NFL head-coach openings in 2025 hiring cycle
Here is our very subjective ranking of the openings. It will be updated as jobs are filled.
1. Chicago Bears
When Bears president Kevin Warren said the team’s opening would be the most coveted, he wasn’t just speaking the company line. There is a lot to like about this job — starting, of course, with quarterback Caleb Williams. The chance to mold a young quarterback should be appealing for any coach from the offensive side of the ball, and there are other talented players on the roster, like receivers Rome Odunze and DJ Moore and tight end Cole Kmet. The offensive line has to be improved, but the Bears are currently projected to be near the top of the league in salary-cap space in 2025. With the worst of the rebuild apparently over, the new coach should be able to score immediate improvement. One big hurdle for whomever is hired: The NFC North is a beast, with the other three teams making the playoffs this season.
5. New Orleans Saints
The Saints offer something most coaches crave: an embrace of stability. Few general managers stay with one team as long as Mickey Loomis has been with the Saints, and although Dennis Allen did not make it through his third season as the head coach, he had previously spent seven seasons in New Orleans as defensive coordinator. The Saints face a salary-cap quagmire born of years of kicking the can down the road, and that means the new coach might not be able to make significant roster changes right away. Derek Carr is there as the quarterback, so the new coach should probably make sure he can work with him, presuming Carr returns. The biggest plus for this job is that the NFC South is winnable. There is no dominant team or dominant quarterback, so a run to the postseason is entirely within reach, with the right hire and a few more wins.
Pro Football Talk
Derek Carr says he won’t take a pay cut for 2025
His $30 million salary for 2025 becomes fully guaranteed on the third day of the league year, in March. The money is currently guaranteed for injury; if the hand injury that caused him to miss the last four games of the season hasn’t sufficiently healed so that he can pass a physical by then, the $30 million obligation will become fully vested.
One thing is clear for now. Carr won’t take less.
“I wouldn’t take a pay cut,” Carr said. “Yeah, I wouldn’t do that. Especially with what I put on tape. Would I restructure? Absolutely. I’ll always help the team that way. But there’s some things that you put out there that you earned. Even in some cases it could be even worse, but I felt confident when I signed it that this would give the team the best flexibility at the time. . . . But there’s always a kind of respect as a quarterback you’re like, well still we’re in that respectful lane. ‘We’re good. Build the team.’ But yeah, I wouldn’t take anything less to do this. It’s hard enough putting our bodies through it. And you’re trying to get everything you can for your family for it.”
Carr currently has a $10 million fully-guaranteed roster bonus that is also due in March. If he’s released, it would be subject to offset. The Saints would avoid the obligation if he makes more than $10 million in 2025 with another team.
Then there’s the fact that the team will be hiring a new head coach. Presumably, the coach will have some say in the matter of whether Carr will return.