It is the JR Sport Brief Show on the Infiniti Sports Network. Back on a Monday. Plenty going on over the weekend, including the ongoing saga. Micah Parsons saga with the Dallas Cowboys. They don't just have to deal with Micah.
They got their quarterback returning from a leg injury. They have a new wide receiver. The offensive line guys are dropping like flies. Jerry Jones keeps putting his foot in his mouth. Talk about the latest and what we can expect, what we've seen, what's going forward.
Joining us right now is someone who covers the Dallas Cowboys for the Athletic. Right now, we're being joined by Saad Youssef. Saad, how are you, man? I'm doing good. How are you?
I'm very well. I know you're keeping real busy with all the words from Jerry Jones. Why do they still let this man outside to talk?
Well, I mean, everything he's trying to do, he's accomplishing. You know, we're talking about it. I mean, there's a lot of different things and storylines throughout the NFL about training camp and headlines and uh stuff on the field, but at the end of the day, Jerry Jones is of the belief that no publicity is bad publicity. And with that, the Cowboys are going to be at the forefront of all the headlines, all the talking conversations, and on TV, radio, everything. And Jerry Jones is not just the general manager, he's the owner.
And from a marketing standpoint, He's really accomplishing the goals that he always has. Oh, most definitely. We see that. They have a higher valuation than any franchise on planet Earth right now, probably sitting at fifteen plus billion. But that is true.
Does he still prioritize winning? It seems like he's his own worst An enemy in that regard.
Well, I mean, he prioritizes winning, but he prioritizes winning his way. And that's an important distinction to make. I mean, that's where the divide thirty years ago with Jimmy Johnson happened. That's why there's only a certain type of coach that has That has to fit the mold of leading the franchise because Jerry Jones does want to win. I don't believe he's somebody that doesn't care, but he does want to do it his way.
And, you know, this MICA negotiation is just the latest example of that. I mean, if you look at the way that he's approached it, he wants to be the one that talks to MICA. He wants to be the one that gets the deal done. He doesn't want the middlemen. He doesn't want all these other standard things that go on in a negotiation, such as an agent having a conversation.
He wants to do things his way. And if that leads to winning, that's great. But if not, as you mentioned, the valuation of the franchise is still tops in the world. And that's a win for him as well. Assad Youssef is here with us, covers the Dallas Cowboys for the Athletic.
You mentioned David Mulligetta, Micah Parsons' agent. Does Micah not via the the union and the Players Association have a right to have his agent in contact With the team? And what do you think is the most likeliest of scenarios for them to get this deal done?
Well, if they're going to get the deal done to me, I would think that it's going to happen in another at least two weeks. I think Micah's trade request that he put out on Friday on Twitter really extends the timeline, you know, based on what I know about the Cowboys, because the way that Jerry's going to look at it now, if he does anything with Micah, gets a deal done in the next week or two, it's going to set a precedent for players later on that, okay, if you want to get a deal done with the Cowboys, all you have to do is threaten with a trade request and boom, you'll have a contract within the next week. I think last year when the Cowboys had the holdout going on with CeeDee Lamb, We got back from Oxnard and CeeDee Lamb was signed right when the Cowboys started their training camp section in Frisco. I would think that if Micah Parsons is signed, if he does get this extension, I think it'll be after the team leaves Oxnard next week and comes back to Dallas.
Okay, we'll see if it happens. Is there, of course, there's a possibility. I mean, it was about 30 years ago. where we saw that that Emmett Smith He sat out a couple of games to start the season, and then he got a new contract. Do you think that's something that's likely to happen?
I don't think so. I don't think Micah. There's two reasons why. First of all, I don't think Micah. Will do that financially.
I don't think it makes financial sense for him to do that. He is playing on his fifth-year rookie option and making around $24 million. The other thing, though, is Micah just loves football too much, to be honest. I don't think it's in him. to watch the Cowboys take the field and not be out there himself.
I think his agent would probably love for him to have that option in his back pocket. Right. We see Micah out there. Look, last year, the Cowboys went through this with CeeDee Lamb. The year before that, they went through this with Zach Martin.
Both of those players didn't even show up to Oxnard for training camp. Micah showed up. Micah's there. And while he's there, he's hanging around the guys. He's on the jug machine.
He's just standing. He's not participating in practice, but he is involved. I just don't think it's in his DNA to be sitting on the sidelines when the Cowboys take the field against the Eagles on opening night. Or side outside of any news involving Micah Parsons, we see that the Dallas Cowboys are still trying to get that offensive line together given some of the injuries that have taken place. What's the latest on what that line might look like?
Well, I think Tyler Guyton obviously getting hurt is tough, but they did dodge a bullet there. He didn't tear his ACL, and he will be back possibly when the season begins. But I think your left guard position is absolutely ironclad with Tyler Smith. The center position is Cooper Beebe. They drafted Tyler Booker at number 12 overall.
So he's going to be the right guard, and Terrence Deele has the big contract.
So he's going to be the right tackle. I think left tackle is an interesting spot right now without Tyler Guyton in the mix because Nate Thomas has been getting the reps at the number one spot.
However, they did just bring back Lyle Collins. But one thing I always say when teams bring players and sign players in training camp, there's a reason they were on the street at this point. And so, you know, I would be, I would just, you know, have a little caution of just throwing Lyle Collins into that starting lineup. But I do think it'll come down to Collins versus Nate Thomas for that left tackle spot. The defense hasn't been all that better when it comes down to the corners.
We got guys like Carson going down as well. What is this defense going to look like? We know, all things considered, if Mike is there. At least they'll be fine up front, but if he's not, they're going to be complete crap. What are your thoughts on what this defense could look like?
Well, I mean, if you start in the back end, I think Malik Hooker, Donovan, you know, the two safeties, you got them, Donovan Wilson and Malik Hooker, and then you'll have Deron Bland on one side. The other corner spot is going to be really interesting to watch because Trayvon Diggs I think late September, early October is probably the earliest timeline you're looking at him to come back. And Sivone Ravel. I think the Cowboys expected him. Months ago, that he would be kind of working his way back into the action right now in training camp.
And that hasn't been the case. Of course, he's coming off a torn ACL, and you don't want to rush a rookie into that position either.
So there's questions on the back end. And then on the front end, I think their defensive end spots are fine, but defensive tackle remains a big question mark. Osa Digizua will have one spot, but then we saw today in practice. Mozzie Smith walked off with an injury. And to be quite honest with you, even if he wasn't hurt, I'm not sure Mozzie Smith is really the second guy.
I think Solomon Thomas, who they signed in free agency, probably is the second defensive tackle there.
So there's questions at really every layer. I think linebacker is probably where they're best set at right now, which makes sense because that's where they traded for a guy in Kenneth Murray, signed a guy in free agency in Jack Sanborn, drafted a guy, and they have some good incumbents coming back as well.
So that's probably the only spot you have that's really without question mark there. Is Sad Youssef is here with us? Covers the Cowboys for the Athletic. You talk about a trade. How is George Pickens?
Ben? How how's he looking when it comes to being acclimated to the team? I mean, he's a dream fit in this offense. What we know about Brian Schottenheimer, one thing is that he will utilize the use the play action and take shots deep down the field. They didn't really have a guy that could really take the top off the defense the way George Pickens can.
And I think that's going to open things up for CeeDee Lamb underneath. I think Jake Ferguson is going to have the seam to work with. There's going to be a lot of stuff that comes with just George Pickens' presence, let alone the talent that we all know that he has and the way that he's able to attack the ball in the air, down the field. He's been showing all of that. He has sure hands.
He's on a good rapport with Dak Prescott. I think that's probably one of the most exciting parts of training camp right now: the way that George Pickens has fit in.
Well, we know he's going to be looking for a new contract, what, at the end of the season, right? That's right. Yeah, he's up after this season, as is quite a few other players for the Cowboys as well. Yeah, we know Dak Prescott, the guy delivering the football, all of these guys. He's had a history of leg issues over the years.
We know that horrific ankle break that he had last year. The hamstring of basically it's like it fell off the bone. Are there any concerns about his mobility and his injury history moving forward? Or has he kind of been smooth so far this offseason? Yeah, you know, that's an interesting question.
When we chatted with Dak at OTAs, he kind of framed it as the way that, like, he's had an early start to the offseason, obviously, with his season ending in November. He used that as kind of like a positive. The way that I'm kind of seeing him, at least in OTA practices and even what he's doing in training camp now, they do have some quarterback design runs and stuff like that. But I think he's not really going to be that player anymore. And to be quite honest with you, he hasn't been for the last few years.
And that includes the 2023 season. Where he was the runner-up for MVP.
So I don't think Dak's mobility is absolutely necessary for the Cowboys to be good on offense. But if he's not going to be mobile, they do need more from their running backs. They need more from the wide receivers. They need a little bit more everywhere else. But no, I think Dak Prescott, at this point in his career, with his injury history, as you mentioned, I think he's a pocket passer at this point.
Well, you talk about what the offense will look like under Brian Schottenheimer. At this point, I guess you work for Jerry Jones. You're almost an afterthought. There's not a lot of talks about moving on from Mike McCarthy and even Schottenheimer being here. He's like way, way in the back because we know Jerry Jones takes a precedent.
This is his first crack at being a head coach. What is the overall response to him so far?
Well, I'll tell you the funny thing is that when Schottenheimer was hired, it was a late. January Monday, and that Friday, Luka Doncic was traded. And so any in Dallas. During February, that would have been the talk. The new Cowboys head coach would have been the talk.
And then for two, three months, that was kind of wiped away, and there was really no talk about that.
So you're absolutely right, Brian Schottenheimer. In my opinion, it has flown under the radar more than I would have expected them to. But I think the Donchich trade, and in all reality, I know it sounds kind of funny, but I do think that helped a little bit in that regard. And then now I think all the focus is on Micah Parsons and his contract extension.
So, um, It's going to come down to what Sundays look like in the fall. My Brian Schottenheimer has done all the right things. He said all the right things at the podium. He says all the right things about Jerry, about the team, about everything. But if the wins don't stack up in the fall and By the way, they need to get off to a fast start because their schedule gets brutal as you go along.
If the wins don't stack up, I think that's when you're going to see the spotlight shining the brightest on you. What do you think this win total is going to look like? Forget the win total. What do you think this season? Is going to look like the NFC Easters.
I mean, they got the Super Bowl champs. You have a team that. It shocked the hell out of everybody with a rookie QB. Almost took them to the Super Bowl. You got the Giants over there.
Okay, fine, whatever. What do you think the Dallas Cowboys are? What's the ceiling for this year? I think you were looking at probably a 10, 11 win game, 11 win season as a Steelers. And again, we're talking ceiling there because the thing with Washington, and I'm one of the biggest Jaden Daniels fans you'll find, but we saw it with CJ Stroud last year, the second-year quarterback.
Has to kind of work through the defenses knowing what he's capable of and everything. And by the way, we're talking about Micah. Washington's dealing with their own holdout in Terry McLaurin. And how does that impact the way Jaden Daniels plays?
So I'm viewing Dallas and Washington kind of on equal grounds in terms of what their ceiling is. I just think Dallas has a much lower floor than what Washington has. I think I don't see Washington. going below eight to nine wins, even on the wor if everything goes bad. Whereas a Dallas, I could see it being a complete dumpster fire and being five, six wins if everything takes a really left turn.
Yeah, we'll we'll be hearing from uh Jerry Jones a whole hell of a lot more if that happens to be the case. Hey, Saad, thank you so much for joining us. Tell everybody where they can follow you, your coverage, all your work with the Athletic. Yeah, I'm on Twitter at Saad Yusuf126. And then, of course, like you said, just writing for the athletics, so you can follow me there as well.
Alright, Saud. Thank you so much. We'll catch you on down the line, okay?
Alright, sounds good. Thanks for having me.
