What Eagles fans should know about the Dallas Cowboys before training camp begins
The Eagles have one of the youngest teams in the NFL after several key departures and the retirement of Brandon Graham during the offseason. Such attrition provides the opportunity for younger players on the roster to assume larger roles while creating another Super Bowl window for a team that'll have new starters at several key defensive positions.
Over the next two weeks, we will conduct mini-previews of four NFC East teams as they begin reporting for training camp, with the Giants' rookies set to report a week from Tuesday. Washington is next, with Philadelphia reporting on July 21 and Dallas reporting on July 22.
With mid-July fast approaching, we're looking at what Eagles fans should know about the Dallas Cowboys before training camp begins.
Cowboys' external free agency additions this offseason:
WR | George Pickens -- Acquired in trade with PIT (5/7)
OT | Hakeem Adeniji -- Signed with DAL (4/17)
G | Saahdiq Charles --Signed with DAL (4/9)
QB | Joe Milton III -- Signed in trade with NE (4/3)
WR | Parris Campbell --Signed with DAL (3/15)
T | Dakoda Shepley -- Signed with DAL (3/14)
DE | Dante Fowler Jr. --Signed with DAL (3/14)
RB | Miles Sanders --Signed with DAL (3/14)
CB | Israel Mukuamu-Signed with DAL (3/13)
LB | Kenneth Murray Jr. -- Acquiredin trade with TEN (3/12)
LB | Jack Sanborn --Signed with DAL (3/12)
CB | Kaiir Elam-- acquired in trade with BUF (3/12)
P | Bryan Anger -- Signed with DAL (3/11)
DE | Payton Turner -- Signed with DAL (3/11)
WR | KaVontae Turpin --Re-signed with DAL (3/11)
DT | Solomon Thomas --Signed with DAL (3/13)
OL | Robert Jones --Signed with DAL (3/10)
RB | Javonte Williams --Signed with DAL (3/10)
LS | Trent Sieg --Signed with DAL (3/10)
S | Markquese Bell --- Signed with DAL (3/9)
S | Juanyeh Thomas --Re-signed with DAL (3/5)
DE | Tyrus Wheat --Re-signed with DAL (3/5)
G | Brock Hoffman -- Re-signed with DAL (3/4)
CB | C.J. Goodwin --Re-signed with DAL (3/4)
DT | Osa Odighizuwa -- Signed extension with DAL (3/4)
Cowboys' external free agency departures this offseason:
RG | Zack Martin Retired/ReleasedDE | Demarcus Lawrence Signed with SEA (3/12)WR | Brandin Cooks Signed with NO (3/21)QB | Trey Lance Signed with LAC (4/2)LB | Eric Kendricks UFACB | Jourdan Lewis Signed with JAX (3/10)QB | Cooper Rush Signed with BAL (3/16)DT | Linval Joseph UFALT | Chuma Edoga Signed with JAX (3/13)RB | Rico Dowdle Signed with CAR (3/12)DE | Chauncey Golston Signed with NYG (3/13)LB | Nick Vigil UFACB | Amani Oruwariye Agreed to terms with TEN (5/13)DT | Carlos Watkins UFADE | Carl Lawson UFA
Cowboys key weapons
On offense, Dallas will attack opposing defenses with a healthy Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, and George Pickens as its primary weapons, along with Jake Ferguson at tight end, featuring a revamped run game and an improved offensive line. On defense, everything starts with Micah Parsons, the re-signed Osa Odighizuwa, DaRon Bland, and a returning Trevon Diggs.
Will the Cowboys' free agency additions pan out?
Dallas acquired star wide receiver George Pickens via trade following a quiet free agency period that saw the team add Solomon Thomas (Edge), running back Javonte Williams, running back Miles Sanders, wide receiver Parris Campbell, Robert Jones (OL), Payton Turner (Edge), and linebacker Kenneth Murray Jr. among others.
How did the Cowboys approach the 2025 NFL draft?
The Dallas Cowboys had a total of nine draft picks in the 2025 NFL Draft. Their selections included: Tyler Booker (1st round, 12th overall), Donovan Ezeiruaku (2nd round, 44th overall), Shavon Revel Jr. (3rd round, 76th overall), Jaydon Blue (5th round, 149th overall), Shemar James (5th round, 152nd overall), Ajani Cornelius (6th round, 204th overall), Jay Toia (7th round, 217th overall), Phil Mafah (7th round, 239th overall), and Tommy Akingbesote (7th round, 247th overall). Booker and Ezeiruaka expect to be immediate contributors, while Jaydon Blue could be a breakout candidate at running back.
When does the Dallas Cowboys start training camp?
The NFC East rival Dallas Cowboys are headed back to Oxnard, California, for training camp from July 22 through August 13. This year's camp will mark the 46th year the team has trained in Southern California and the 19th consecutive season they have spent at the Oxnard location. It's also the first training camp for Brian Schottenheimer as the team's head coach – before replacing Mike McCarthy, Schottenheimer was the offensive coordinator for two seasons. The practices include three preseason games, the first of which is against the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium on August 9.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Jerry Jones didn't respond to Micah Parsons' trade request — but here's what Dak Prescott told the Cowboys star rusher
OXNARD, Calif. — When Micah Parsons announced his request for the Dallas Cowboys to trade him, he didn't hear from team owner and general manager Jerry Jones. But Parsons did hear from his quarterback Friday. Dak Prescott's message: 'F***, man.' 'He knows what that means,' Prescott told Yahoo Sports on Tuesday. 'It wasn't f*** you, Micah, or f*** them. It's more of a f*** — this is frustrating for everybody involved.' Prescott and Parsons exchanged messages about the reality of the edge rusher's contract negotiations and the quarterback's support for Parsons as both person and player. Prescott twice went through lengthy contract negotiations with Jones and the Cowboys. 'Not many people, especially here, have been in that position,' Prescott figured, 'so I know what that means just to support him.' [Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for the 2025 NFL season] The Cowboys ramped up their competition Tuesday with a joint practice against the Los Angeles Rams, the closest to real football many members of Dallas' first-team roster will see between now and the Cowboys' Sept. 4 season opener at the Philadelphia Eagles. But as he had with the Cowboys' club-only practices, Parsons did not participate in the joint practice as he continued to hold 'in.' Four days after Parsons posted his grievances with the Cowboys' negotiations, and his desire for a trade, the two-time All-Pro remained on the sideline during practice. The Cowboys and Parsons' agent, David Mulugheta, have not discussed a new deal this summer, multiple sources with knowledge of the negotiations (or lack thereof) confirmed to Yahoo Sports. Parsons watched the joint practice while wearing his Cowboys jersey, his name and No. 11 in navy contrasting the white mesh background. Sweatpants and tennis shoes supplanted padded pants and cleats during his hold-in; Parsons wore a beanie rather than a helmet. Parsons spent part of practice with Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs, who is working back from a knee injury. He spent another portion with former longtime Rams left tackle Andrew Whitworth, with whom Parsons has worked to sharpen his game. Parsons and Jones did not talk as they shared a sideline Tuesday, their standoff dating back to a March meeting that Jones considered an agreement and Parsons considered a conversation. Jones not only has not talked to Parsons since his Friday trade request — he has not communicated with his star edge rusher through more than two weeks of training camp in Oxnard together. 'Have I talked to Micah? I haven't, no,' Jones told Yahoo Sports on his walk to practice Tuesday. The team owner does not view an agreement as near, he said. He does not think in terms, 'If I get X done, we'll have a deal'? 'X's,' Jones said when asked, emphasizing the multiple outstanding negotiating factors. 'There's not a single thing. There are X things that you do to make agreements. 'So I don't view it as an X. I view it as X's.' Why Prescott supports Parsons' approach — even after QB didn't take same approach in his negotiations On July 24, three days into the Cowboys' training camp practices, Prescott voiced support for Parsons' approach to his business negotiations. 'He wants to be out there practicing, and honestly, I'm glad he's not,' Prescott said then. 'He can't do that to himself. That's the business of it and that's the business of a holdout.' Prescott praised Parsons' attendance at camp, even if as a non-participant on the physically unable to perform list with an apparent back injury about which Jones has joked. Prescott said then that Parsons 'deserves to get paid' and likely would. As two weeks passed and practices continue without Parsons challenging his offensive teammates nor building chemistry in a new defense, Prescott's support has not wavered. Prescott never missed training camp practices through his own two extension negotiations, the first of which spanned multiple years as he played out a franchise-tag designation. But Prescott doesn't believe Parsons should compete on the field as his quarterback did. 'A big part of it is, I wear a red jersey,' Prescott said, referencing the extra caution afforded to quarterbacks. 'I'm going to be protected unless something freakish happens. And if something freakish happens, then that could have happened walking to the car as well. So as far as Micah, the guy plays a completely different position where guys are getting tripped up, tumbled all the time. As far as business, you just can't do that. 'You can't put yourself out there at risk when you've got this much ahead of you and getting hurt could lessen not only that number, but diminish, I guess you could say, your value to people.' Parsons enters the fifth-year option of his rookie deal with one of the best initial four career years the NFL has seen at edge rusher. His 52.5 sacks and 177 quarterback pressures are each the most of any active NFL player through the first four years of his career. Parsons similarly has outpaced the career starts of recently extended stars Myles Garrett and T.J. Watt with 256 tackles and 112 quarterback hits in four seasons. The Cowboys have said they want to pay Parsons, noting the holdup is a matter of how much and when rather than if. But the nonexistent negotiations, paired with Jones telling reporters Tuesday that he does not know whether Parsons will play the season opener, has not inspired confidence in an imminent resolution. Jones continues to repeat that he and Parsons had a deal in March that he wants to honor, even as Jones confirmed Tuesday to NFL Network that the deal was never in writing. "I bought the Dallas Cowboys with a handshake,' Jones told NFL Network. 'It took about 30 seconds. I gave the number, shook hands, the details we worked out later. As a matter of fact, one of the details involved a lot of money and I had to flip a coin over that. But the fundamental, 'I'm buying and you're gonna sell it to me for that range,' that's done. And those are done with eye contact and handshake. "Just so you understand the way that I communicate with people that a I negotiate with. Let's leave it at that. There's is no question that in the case of a player contract, you have to have it in writing. All parties do. 'We have a contract in writing, yet we're still talking about renegotiating, so so much for that." Cowboys emphasizing communication — just not between Jones and Parsons' camp Brian Schottenheimer, in his first year as Cowboys head coach, isn't ignoring Parsons' hold-in but also isn't dwelling on it. Schottenheimer said he focuses on relationships and communication, which he believes are two of his top strengths, to navigate distractions or situations that arise. 'I have real conversations with Jerry, I have real conversations with Stephen [Jones], I have real conversations with Micah,' Schottenheimer told Yahoo Sports. 'I don't shy away from the fact that there's something going on, but I just have my one-on-one conversations. I make sure that I'm informed and they know where I stand on this. 'And I think anytime you do that, you sleep well at night because you know that there's really no surprises coming around the corner.' Jones similarly says that Parsons' trade request, despite being unprecedented in recent Cowboys history, did not surprise him. He knows that trade requests pop up from players with other teams across the league, Garrett and Washington Commanders receiver Terry McLaurin two recent examples. 'The fact that he, in essence, communicated with media doesn't surprise me at all,' Jones said of Parsons' social media post. 'I don't even get surprises when you're involved.' Jones downplayed his comments to reporters a day after Parsons posted his request. 'I didn't call a meeting,' Jones said. 'Micah wrote a letter. Well, we didn't do that or call a meeting or want to talk to media. We just had the normal response that I have at the end of practice usually. 'The thing that I said, I would've said earlier [before the trade request and] I would've said later.' [Get more Cowboys news: Dallas team feed] If recent Cowboys history is any indication, more will be said later before a deal nears, much less reaches, the finish line. There's a real possibility that the Cowboys play out Parsons' fifth-year option and place a franchise tag on him come spring. Prescott knows that from experiencing the tag firsthand before his initial extension, also knowing the possibility of last-minute deals after the Cowboys extended him last fall mere hours before they kicked off in Cleveland. For now, Parsons is in the building, in meetings and at practice albeit not participating. Prescott appreciates that. 'Obviously, I believe he should get paid,' Prescott said. 'But I think he's making the right approach by being at training camp because a lot of times [players] forget how much joy and love being around your teammates [brings] and how much of that is truly football when you're focused on a contract and you're just waiting for that to be done. 'Being in the locker room allows you to still keep your joy for this game and to still understand the sacrifice you're making with people. But hey, there's a business side of it that, 'I just can't be out there with you guys because of potential injury risk'… 'He's a guy that's done a lot of this team and deserves to have his stance.'
Indianapolis Star
an hour ago
- Indianapolis Star
Kick off the NFL season with Philadelphia Eagles vs. Dallas Cowboys Week 1 NFL tickets 🏈
The Philadelphia Eagles are gearing up to defend their Super Bowl title while the Dallas Cowboys (and Jerry Jones) can't decide if they are going to re-sign one of their top stars. I'd say the offseason is shaping up exactly how Cowboy fans, like myself, wanted it go. At least we'll know by the time the Eagles host the Cowboys to open the season. The Eagles and the Cowboys will kick off the 2025-2026 NFL season on Thursday, Sep. 4 at 8:20 p.m. ET. The season opener will take place Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. Here's how to buy Eagles vs. Cowboys NFL Week 1 tickets: Buy Eagles vs. Cowboys tickets The Dallas Cowboys will travel to Lincoln Financial Field to face the Super Bowl-defending champion Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday, Sep. 4 at 8:20 p.m. ET. As of writing this, the cheapest available tickets are on sale for $564 to catch the 2025-26 NFL season opener. Get your tickets to watch the Eagles defend their Super Bowl title, starting against the Cowboys.
NBC Sports
2 hours ago
- NBC Sports
Jerry Jones on doing handshake deals: That's how I bought the Cowboys
The bizarre, clunky situation between the Cowboys and linebacker Micah Parsons continues to get more bizarre and more clunky. The Cowboys believe they had a deal in place with Parsons in March, based on conversations and a supposed handshake. On Tuesday, Jones was asked about the failure to reduce to writing the deal that he believes Micah agreed to in March. 'I bought the Dallas Cowboys with a handshake,' Jones said, via Jon Machota of 'It took about 30 seconds. I gave the number, shook hands, the details we worked out later. As a matter of fact, one of the details involved a lot of money and I had to flip a coin over that. But the fundamental, 'I'm buying and you're gonna sell it to me for that range,' that's done. And those are done with eye contact and handshake. 'Just so you understand the way that I communicate with people that I negotiate with. Let's leave it at that. There's no question that in the case of a player contract, you have to have it in writing. All parties do. We have a contract in writing, yet we're still talking about renegotiating, so so much for that.' Jones has mentioned on multiple occasions the fact that Parsons already has a contract. Technically, it's the fifth-year option that the Collective Bargaining Agreement gave the team the right to exercise. Why does Jones keep talking about that? It's his fallback, his safe harbor. Parsons is 'under contract' for 2025, at a salary of $24 million. And Jones presumably would prefer to ride it out, forcing Parsons to carry the injury risk this year while also kicking the contract can to 2026, when the Cowboys can hold Parsons in place via the franchise tag. Why wouldn't Jones want to wait? At this point, the market will go no higher in 2025 than it currently is, with Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt setting the number at $41 million per year. So if the Cowboys can retain Parsons at $24 million and then pay him $41.1 million or $42 million or even $45 million per year in 2026, they will have forced him to carry the risk of a long-term injury through the full five years of his first-round rookie deal. Teams negotiate hundreds of contracts. For the best of the best players, they negotiate two, maybe three, after accepting their take-it-or-leave-it slotted rookie deals. The best approach for the teams is to find a way to get the player to carry the risk of a career-ending (or career-limiting) injury for as long as possible. That protects the team against the rare situation in which the extra year spent under the existing deal results in the worst-case scenario that makes the player no longer as desirable as he was. For each individual player, the chances of that happening are slim. Over time, it inevitably will happen, to someone. Which is what makes the team prefer to hedge their bets. That's the game Jones is currently playing. If Parsons refuses to reduce to writing the deal that Jones believes the two sides agreed to in March, then the alternative is for Parsons to play out his existing contract. That's why Jones keeps mentioning that Micah is under contract. The question becomes whether, when Week 1 rolls around, Parsons will accept the best offer the Cowboys will make (i.e., the contract he supposedly agreed to in March) or play out the last year of his rookie deal. If Parsons refuses to accept the team's best offer, the question becomes whether he'll ignore his back tightness or any other injuries and suit up and play football under the fifth year of his rookie contract. It's a microcosm of the broader imbalance in bargaining between management and labor. The teams know that football players want to play football. Jones is counting on Parsons wanting to play, either by accepting the team's offer or playing for the well-below-market sum of $24 million. And if Parsons wants more than the Cowboys will pay, the Cowboys would love nothing more than to wait until 2026 to give it to him. Or maybe until 2027. Which forces Parsons to avoid a serious injury for up to two years.
