As we move closer to the beginning of the Dallas Cowboys training camp, the questions surrounding this team, coaching staff, and front office remain in certain areas.
What are they going to do at kicker? What are they going to add any players via trade or the waiver wire to help fill holes that still remain?
In time those questions will be answered. In the meantime, let's take a look at what we believe could happen with a few bold predictions before the team heads off to Oxnard, CA.
1. Cowboys sign power running back
If the Cowboys want to put more of a focus on using their running backs to protect Dak Prescott, Tony Pollard is more than capable of that. Outside of Pollard, though, the rest have either failed to do so on other rosters or lack the size and or strength to hold up in pass protection.
In order to fix this problem, the Cowboys will decide to go out and make a trade for a player, someone with a low salary cap number, someone that they've seen perform recently against them and played effectively.
That player is Kareem Hunt, who's a stocky 5-foot-11 and 216 pounds and would provide the Cowboys with a larger back capable of making plays in the running game, whether it be in short yardage situations, goal line snaps. He'd also help in pass protection and give Dallas another pass-catching back.
Hunt has been left in limbo in free agency thanks to his contract demands, but that time has come and gone.
Now, Hunt is going to be looking for a team that gives him the best chance to win games and improve his stock going into next season. He would come at a low price and with him sitting behind Nick Chubb during his stint in Cleveland he has a lot less wear and tear on his body compared to the player fans hope return in Ezekiel Elliott.
2. Cowboys add two new kickers
The Cowboys coaching staff and front office have been adamant that they are looking far and wide for another kicker to sign so they have legitimate competition behind Tristan Vizcaino.
Vizcaino has been solid thus far this offseason, but Dallas can't go into another season with a kicker they settled on because they didn't want to spend money. Last season, they were lucky that Brett Maher was effective in the regular season. Unfortunately for Maher, his issues in the playoffs swiftly ended his time in Dallas once again.
This time around, the Cowboys aren't going to take any chances and will elect to sign not one but two kickers to come in and compete with Vizcaino. Time will tell who those players will be, but they aren't going to let this drag on.
Vizcaino could turn out to be their kicker during the season, but they are going to make sure to take a good look at what else is out there in order to give themselves the best chance to put their field goal and extra point issues behind them.
3. Jalen Tolbert outperforms Michael Gallup
We know that it takes time to come back from an ACL injury and maybe we had too high of an expectation that when Michael Gallup returned last season he would return to form. That wasn't the case, as you could tell by the way he was running routes that he didn't really trust that knee yet. Now two years removed from the injury, Gallup has another roadblock in his way and that's second-year receiver Jalen Tolbert, who is getting a lot of praise out of minicamp.
The fact Gallup and Tolbert will be fighting for the No. 3 receiver is an excellent thing for the Cowboys as it gives them four receivers that can be productive on the field. The bad thing for Gallup is that Tolbert is on a mission to prove he belongs in the league after basically being redshirted last season based on his inability to grasp the playbook.
Now Tolbert has a better grasp of the offense and will come out and outperform Gallup, setting himself up nicely for more playing time and a starting role at some point during the season.
How's that for a bold prediction?
4. Cowboys trade Neville Gallimore
The fact that the Cowboys went out and drafted a defensive tackle with their first pick in the 2023 NFL Draft should provide you with enough information about how they thought their defensive tackles performed last season.
The veteran of the group is Gallimore, and last season wasn't his best on or off the field, with his production dropping and him being at odds with the coaching staff. Those issues should make it relatively easy for the Cowboys to move on from the 2020 third-round pick.
Teams love getting players in contract years because they will get the best out of those players and Gallimore fits that bill. The Cowboys are looking for players in a few positions -- mainly kicker and running back -- so using Gallimore to pry a player away from a team in order to get better is an easy solution for Dallas.
They will need to find a team willing to listen and if Jerry Jones is on the phone, he will smoothly talk them into making the trade work for both sides.
5. Cowboys Offense Catches Up to the Defense
If you look at the Cowboys' offense and defense and where they have the most questions heading into training camp, you'd say it's on the offensive side of the football.
Since Dan Quinn arrived as defensive coordinator and Micah Parsons burst onto the scene, Dallas' defense has been seen as the strength of this team while the offense has been hot and cold. But with the departure of offensive coordinator Kellen Moore and head coach, Mike McCarthy taking over as the play-caller, the offense will be a bit different.
Different isn't a bad thing, however. Under Moore, the Cowboys' offense became somewhat predictable at times and his selection of hook and curl routes really limited this offense in crunch time.
Under McCarthy, Dallas seems to be doing away with Moore's curl routes and adding more slants and out routes in order to create space and take more shots downfield; something that Dak Prescott is very good at doing.
That slight change in route concepts is going to boost a Cowboys offense that we've seen dominate defenses at times and make them a more effective unit and put them on the same level as their defense.