Dallas Cowboys changes are needed, but not a complete shakeup

Dallas Cowboys changes are in the midst and on the horizon, but what will they entail? While some are needed, a complete overhaul shouldn’t be the move.

First and foremost, the Dallas Cowboys have been an utter disappointment this season. And there are many parties to blame.

Second, although still alive, the Cowboys are in that awkward place of needing help from another team to reach the postseason. A New York Giants victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday and a win over the Washington Redskins gets Dallas into the playoffs,

But does that even matter considering what the Cowboys have shown over the past few weeks and throughout season?

Third, there will be changes made to the coaching staff and inevitably the roster. That is where we are today, the changes or the lack thereof that should and need to occur. As with anything else, let’s start at the top.

A former and reborn Jason Garrett neutralist, neither loved him nor necessarily thought he should have been fired at any point across his tenure as of Week 7 earlier in this season, I now wholeheartedly feel he should be shown the door.

Garrett has had too many opportunities this season where a direct decision that is up to him or that he has made has costed the Dallas Cowboys a victory or their best chance to achieve one. There is nothing else that can be said for him, except that the Red Clapper must go.

When looking immediately below him on both sides of the ball, you then have the coordinators, Kellen Moore on the offensive side and some combination of Kris Richard and Rod Marinelli on the defensive side of the ball. They should all be safe.

Moore has shown some really good things this season, although there have been times where you’ve wondered where those things went. He has shown enough though that you shouldn’t be so willing to discard him after one season. If he can find a way to consistently deliver on some of the good things he was able to get done, he would be a knockout play-caller for as long as he wants to be.

As far as Marinelli and Richard, you would also probably keep them both, providing that they both wanted to return. While you wouldn’t do anything extra to keep him, you wouldn’t push them out of the door either.

The defense was really good last year and regression tends to happen, but you’ve seen what they can be. This season could act as motivation to get back there next season, or it could prove that last season was the aberration and that this is what they really are. Either way, I think you owe it to the defense, the team, and yourself as a decision-maker in that scenario to give it one more shot and especially if you let go of the guy who was above it all in Jason Garrett.

When looking below them at the players, it’s a pretty simple scenario there as well. Dak Prescott and Amari Cooper have both been really really good at times this season and not so good at other times. They are both seemingly legit though and will get their money, from the Cowboys or some other team, so the Cowboys should and will more than likely find a way to get it done.

When looking at the main guys on the other side that need to be thought about, we have to be certain about Byron Jones by now. I’ve loudly pounded the issue a few times at least over the last few months, but at this point, we can’t still be serious about even thinking about offering him top money, can we?

He doesn’t force turnovers and has in fact been picked on a bit this year. I was on the “at the right price” boat with Jones, definitely nowhere near the top of the position money, but I am not even so sure at this point if a fresh start isn’t the best thing for both parties.

Robert Quinn becomes a free agent at the end of the season and the Cowboys have to find a way to keep him. He has been one of the best pass rushers on the team all year, if not the best.

Michael Bennett will effectively be a free agent after the season as well, but at the right number, the Cowboys should try to bring him back as well. He has been very effective with his snaps as well since coming over from the Patriots, providing that force from the inside that he has long been known to be able to do.

The Dallas Cowboys are surely in for changes. My inner fan hopes that they start to come after a playoff game, victory, or most optimistically a run, but they are definitely coming. These have been my thoughts on said impending and inevitable changes.