Cowboys’ Dan Quinn would be crazy to take Broncos head coaching job

The Dallas Cowboys’ offseason was chock-full of questionable moves. Between trading Amari Cooper for pennies on the dollar and re-signing Michael Gallup (admittedly for half the cost) and banking on him to be a viable WR2 coming off a torn ACL, the best move of the offseason was retaining Dan Quinn.

After spearheading a complete turnaround of Dallas’ defense, Quinn was a hot commodity on last year’s head coaching carousel. While the defense is currently licking its wounds, it was Quinn’s unit that kept the Cowboys afloat while Cooper Rush orchestrated the offense in place of the injured Dak Prescott.

Sure, Quinn is currently facing criticism amid the D’s struggles, but every fan can recognize what he’s brought to the team since he was hired.

Unfortunately for the Cowboys, Quinn figures to be one of the most sought-after candidates for this year’s carousel.

Last offseason, Quinn was one of the finalists for the Broncos vacancy. That ultimately went to then-Packers OC Nathaniel Hackett, and to say it was one of the worst hires in recent NFL memory would be a gross understatement.

On Monday, Denver confirmed the inevitable and fired Hackett.

Cowboys’ DC Dan Quinn should not take the Broncos head coaching job after Nathaniel Hackett was fired.

With the same front office still in place in the Mile High City, you have to think Quinn will be considered for the vacancy. While Quinn unequivocally deserves a second head coaching gig, he’d be crazy to take over the Broncos operation.

It’s easy for us to say Quinn should spurn Denver, but it’s one of the least attractive openings in the NFL, if the not the least attractive. Though the Broncos are blessed with talent on both sides of the ball, they’re locked into Russell Wilson, who’s gone from a perennial Pro Bower to a bottom-five QB in one year.

Is there a chance Wilson improves after a complete reset and moving off Hackett? Possibly. The much likelier scenario, though, is that he’s cooked.

For the season, Wilson ranks 32nd of 33 qualified quarterbacks in completion percentage, 29th in passer rating and QBR, 25th in TDs, and tied for the sixth-most interceptions. Again, Wilson is being paid like an upper-echelon QB, and the returns have been a bottom-five QB who’s been benched multiple times.

We haven’t even gotten to Wilson’s contract, which could go down as the worst in league history when all is said and done. Just look at the dead cap hits.

Does this really sound like a desirable destination for Quinn? Unless he hires an offensive coordinator who’s confident they can fix Wilson, Quinn shouldn’t give a second thought to taking his talents to the midwest.

While the lauded defensive mind will go a long way towards removing the sideline dust-ups and overall locker room dysfunction, there’s only so much he can do to overcome Wilson’s on-field performance and albatross of a contract.

Hackett was in way over his head as a head coach, and he pales in comparison to Quinn in terms of being a leader of men (understatement of the century), but we’d hate to see Quinn take the job and suffer a similar fate.

Almost anyone is better than Hackett, but can anyone — including Quinn — overcome Wilson’s fall from grace? That’s hard to say.

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