After another disappointment in the playoffs and the brutally long offseason that followed, the Dallas Cowboys now have a chance to clean up the mess and start over in 2024. Can this team compete for a championship after all the losses they suffered in the offseason?

Despite an offseason filled with contractual question marks, we finally know that star wide receiver CeeDee Lamb will be staying with the Cowboys for the foreseeable future. Lamb recently signed a four-year, $136 million contract with the Cowboys that includes $100 million in guarantees and a whopping $38 million signing bonus.

While the Lamb contract is exciting, it’s also a reminder that the Cowboys still have more work to do. In particular, they still need to finalize deals with Dak Prescott and Micah Parsons, two of the league’s best players at two of the most important positions.

Given the ongoing contract situations, what can we expect from Dallas before Week 1 of the 2024 season? This team will look very different this season with a new defensive coordinator (Mike Zimmer) and a lot of new personnel. It’s time to make some bold predictions ahead of the new season.

How about this crazy (but also realistic) scenario:

Normally, when you see a bold prediction that includes players winning awards, it would be a stretch to name at least one of the individual players. But the Cowboys have an elite trio here, and I think it would be fair to say that each of those two players is the best at their respective positions. Of course, there are quarterbacks you’d prefer over Dak Prescott right now, but Prescott was the NFL’s most passing touchdown player last season and could very well win the NFL MVP award.

It’s not even debatable that CeeDee Lamb is currently the best non-quarterback in the NFL and Micah Parsons is definitely a candidate for the title of Defensive MVP. Maybe these three players will win the Triple Crown of NFL awards in 2024.

Last season, the Cowboys ranked 12th in the NFL with 26 forced turnovers (tied with several other teams). The league leaders were Baltimore and the New York Giants, who were tied with 31 forced turnovers each.

My second bold prediction for the Cowboys next season is that they lead the NFL in total forced turnovers, which would obviously be a huge milestone for new defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer.

While Zimmer was head coach of the Minnesota Vikings, his teams were the fifth-best in the NFL (from 2014-2021) in turnover differential and 11th-best in defensive turnovers forced. He’s certainly had a lot of success building defenses that take the ball away from the opponent, and he has a number of guys who can force turnovers in Dallas.

The Cowboys don’t always make the best trades during the season, but when they do…They prefer to trade for star wide receivers.

We’ve seen the Cowboys trade wide receivers Roy Williams and Amari Cooper in the past, and I wonder if Davante Adams could be the biggest name available at the trade deadline next season. The Raiders could be one of the worst teams in the league, and if that’s the case, Adams will want out of there.

Cap-space, schmap-schmace. The Cowboys can get the finances in order by giving Dak Prescott a huge contract during the off week. They need to make sure they take advantage of the current window the team is in. Getting Davante Adams to work with CeeDee Lamb would be out of this world.

I’ve had a hunch all offseason that we’ll see the Cowboys “do more with less” in 2024. The Cowboys have obviously had some great regular season success over the last few years, but that hasn’t translated into postseason success.

I would imagine that changes this year. Dallas might have a few more hiccups and struggles in the regular season, but then they turn things around and really hit their stride in the playoffs. They have all the key ingredients to win a championship… right now.

Now it’s time to get it done.

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