This offseason feels different. Nobody is saying that in the this offseason feels different way that so many have us have in the past. We are all capable of acknowledging that optimism runs through the Dallas Cowboys these days and that it all translating into them breaking The Drought™ this season are not exactly correlated. We’d like them to be, but you get the picture.
What is the biggest catalyst for that optimism? One answer would be the lack of any offseason drama. There are no contract negotiation
clouds hovering in the air. Shoot, Brandon Aubrey has a long-term deal in place that was taken care of a while back. Somehow, some way, George Pickens already signed the franchise tag that the team placed on him and pledged to play on it this season without holding out.
That has been a big change in the overall vibe of Cowboys Nation, but I wanted to know what others believed. On Wednesday we asked users in The Feed what they believe was the best decision the team made this offseason (Caleb Downs falling so far that he was gettable wasn’t a decision to be clear) and the majority of answers had a common theme: Christian Parker.
Filtering down to decisions the Cowboys made narrowed the choices obviously, but that framework mattered. Everyone can get lucky. This franchise has been lost in the wilderness over the last two years (since the latest playoff loss to the Green Bay Packers) due to a series of disastrous decisions. Nobody is interested in re-living them, but we could go on and on about the contract handlings of Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, or Micah Parsons. We could discuss how chaotically they parted ways with Mike McCarthy and then landed on Brian Schottenheimer (the latter of which seems to be them getting a bit lucky, too). Sitting out free agency over and over while claiming to go all-in and creating a warped narrative among the fans was also a choice.
Again, not here to re-litigate. But this is why decisions made are so important. The Cowboys made an important one in hiring Christian Parker, and we have seen the impact of that ripple through from a vibes perspective.
To be clear, none of the goodwill or good air encircling the team means anything if they don’t win games. We all recognize that we are in the month of June where none are even played.
Still though, it is hard to not enjoy the rain after wandering so long in the proverbial desert. Here’s to more of it.
