The 2026 Cowboys have largely avoided the drama that has felt more like a feature than a bug in years past. Getting ahead of the Quinnen Williams extension and handling the George Pickens deal without a public spectacle put them ahead of the curve on the contract front.
Reputed interest in Brandon Sorsby for the supplemental draft and the Maxx Crosby pursuit that could have easily become another “Jerry wants a star / Jerry won’t pay for a star / what are the Cowboys doing?” cycle – all barely registered
on the drama meter in Dallas.
And even attempts to manufacture drama around Prescott’s choice of T-shirt, Prescott’s personal life, tinted windows at AT&T Stadium, or Tony Romo’s problems rolled off the Cowboys Star like water off a greased armadillo.
Dallas had plenty of headlines. It just didn’t have a season-long soap opera.
The rest of the NFC East apparently didn’t get the memo.
New York: Jaxson Dart can’t learn the new offense, and Cam Skattebo can’t stop flipping
The amount of hype and expectation surrounding Jaxson Dart should have the Giants topping the NFL drama charts all season. Consider that Dart won just four games last year and had over 300 total yards just twice. Couldn’t stay out of the blue tent, refused to slide, and is now struggling at training camp.
When Dart actually did slide after a third-down run during Monday’s practice, it made ESPN headlines (“Dart’s slide receives rave reviews at Giants camp” and drew effusive praise from his teammates and head coach.
“We’ve been begging him to do that for a while,” Giants outside linebacker and defensive captain Brian Burns said. “So, I’m glad that he’s starting to practice it.”
Coach John Harbaugh seemed to love it, as well.
“I did,” he said. “I clapped. I applauded. I applauded when he did that. It was great.”
Well at least the Giants have something to feel good about, because another practice this week didn’t go well at all.
This was another day when the offense and Dart were unimpressive. Dart was picked off once. […] He took too many sacks and was at times inaccurate, especially during a 7-on-7 red zone period when he was only 2-for-8 passing.
And this is part of a bigger picture in which Giants offensive coordinator Matt Nagy admitted that while Dart is “super talented,” the second-year quarterback is experiencing “struggles” in camp and has “areas he needs to get better at,” including “seeing the defense.”
None of this is going to go down well in New York, where fans and media have an age-old tradition of turning every little thing into a referendum on the franchise.
But RB Cam Skattebo may be the real star of the Giants’ offseason variety show.
Coming off a rookie season cut short by injury, Skattebo declared that he planned to carry the ball 300 times for more than 2,000 yards in 2026. For context, he had 101 carries for 410 yards as a rookie. The math alone made this irresistible offseason content.
And then, perhaps because the Giants’ offseason writers’ room was running out of material, Skattebo attempted a backflip at Fanatics Fest. He did not stick the landing. The video went viral. Skattebo subsequently assured everyone that he was fine and promised, somewhat reassuringly, “I will not hurt myself before the season.”
And then the Giants released their depth chart, which nominally shows Skattebo ahead of Tyrone Tracy Jr., but that may not be how the season shakes out for our 2,000-yard man, at least if Dan Duggan’s observations from practice for The Athletic are anything to go by.
Cam Skattebo has been the first running back up in team periods on most days, with Tyrone Tracy Jr. taking the majority of snaps in two-minute drives. That figures to be a time share, with Skattebo the 1-A and Tracy the 1-B. Devin Singletary has been the only other back to get significant reps with the first-team offense. Running back remains a position the Giants will seek to reinforce before the season, particularly if they can find a dynamic runner.
The quarterback still needs to learn how to slide and has trouble learning the new offense, the running back wants 2,000 yards but may not even be the No. 1 RB on the team. And we haven’t even heard anything about Odell Beckham yet …
Philadelphia: Eagles’ social-media team chose violence
The Eagles might have the strongest claim to the NFC East drama championship.
The roots go back to 2025, when Philadelphia’s offense became a weekly source of friction. A.J. Brown repeatedly expressed frustration with his role, posting cryptic messages on social media and at one point appearing on a Twitch stream and describing himself as “struggling” in a “s— show.” He even told fantasy players to get rid of him.
Brown later acknowledged that his frustrations had boiled over, but the underlying problem wasn’t imaginary. The Eagles’ offense had become stagnant, Brown wasn’t getting the ball, and questions about the relationship between Brown and Jalen Hurts became a recurring storyline.
Then came the playoff loss to San Francisco.
Brown dropped two passes, finished with three catches for 25 yards, and got into a heated sideline confrontation with Nick Sirianni. The Eagles’ head coach and star receiver had to be separated by a dude they call “Big Dom” while television cameras captured the whole thing. Brown subsequently declined to speak to reporters.
That provided plenty of offseason material until Philadelphia finally traded Brown to New England in June. Things seemed to quiet down in the City of Brotherly Love, until the Eagles’ own social-media department decided to help.
They posted video of Jalen Hurts throwing an interception in practice.
Not a clip of Hurts making a spectacular throw. Not a montage of the quarterback looking sharp. An interception. It promptly went viral, with fans and analysts wondering why the organization would voluntarily broadcast a bad play by its franchise quarterback.
Hurts is already entering his sixth season with a different offensive coordinator, while his passing — particularly his willingness to attack the middle of the field — remains a subject of criticism.
That is not dysfunction. That’s entertainment.
And if losing A.J. Brown and changing offensive coordinators wasn’t enough upheaval, the Eagles may also have a couple of early questions about their latest offensive investments if their top two draft picks don’t live up to their draft billing. Our friends at BGN summarize after looking at the Eagles latest depth chart:
Nothing shocking about how the wide receivers are listed but it is notable to see Lemon with the starters despite the fact he’s missed a lot of time in camp and didn’t stand out prior to getting hurt. Lemon might not actually be a Week 1 starter with the likes of Cooper and Moore having strong summers. Or at least there could be a heavier receiver rotation than there’s been in recent years.
Whereas Lemon is listed with the starters, the Eagles aren’t even pretending that Stowers is a top two tight end right now. With the way the Eagles laid out tight end on this chart, I don’t know that he’s even necessarily TE3. I tend to think Stowers might be a healthy scratch … early in the season, at least.
Washington: It’s Jayden Daniels’ own cinematic universe
Washington has less interpersonal nastiness than Philadelphia, but it has a remarkable ability to generate “Wait, what?” stories around its franchise quarterback.
Start with the obvious one: Jayden Daniels sent a cease-and-desist letter to LSU because they gave his No. 5 jersey to somebody else. Daniels’ representatives argue that LSU’s use of his name, image and likeness became an issue after another player was given No. 5. Daniels’ camp believes the number should have remained part of his legacy.
You couldn’t write this into a football sitcom without somebody saying it was too unrealistic.
Also, did you know that Daniels’ mom is also his agent? So far, so good. But news is emerging that she, not her son, may have been the prime instigator behind the C&D letter sent to LSU. Overzealous mother or concerned parent falling on the sword for her son? Tune in again next week for As the World Turns.
Meanwhile, Daniels is supposed to be the face of the Washington franchise. He went from spectacular rookie season and NFC Championship Game appearance in 2024 to a 5-12 disaster in 2025. He’s therefore entering 2026 under enormous pressure to prove that his sophomore season was the aberration, not his rookie season.
Washington has responded by essentially changing the operating system around him. Kliff Kingsbury is gone. David Blough is installing a new offense. Daniels is being asked to operate more from under center, with more huddling, motion, play-action and a more traditional pro-style structure.
And all of that’s before we get to the supporting cast.
Dan Quinn is the sportsbook favorite to be the first coach fired, five-time Pro Bowler Laremy Tunsil is out indefinitely, and – hide your sisters! – Stefon Diggs is in the house.
So you have:
The quarterback who needs to rebound from a disastrous second season. A completely revamped offense. A coach on the hot seat. A new veteran receiver with his own considerable personality and history. And, somewhere in the middle of all this, the quarterback is sending legal correspondence to his college because somebody else is wearing No. 5.
That’s a lot of plot for one franchise.
Meanwhile, in Dallas…
What has Dallas been doing?
Signing players. Extending players. Getting George Pickens under contract. Getting Quinnen Williams’ extension done. Arguing about football.
Dallas has football problems. The other three teams have football problems and plotlines.
And that’s the difference.
The Cowboys still have plenty to figure out between now and January. But if you’re looking for quarterbacks refusing to slide, running backs attempting backflips, social-media departments posting interceptions, quarterbacks sending cease-and-desist letters over jersey numbers, coaches on the hot seat and Stefon Diggs slithering into town, Dallas isn’t the place to look.
Take your drama to yo mama.
She’s got three other NFC East teams to choose from.
