3 Cowboys playing for their jobs over the final three weeks of the season

This NFL season has entered the home stretch as we prepare for Week 16. Dallas is coming off a 30-14 win, keeping their slim playoff hopes alive. This week things ramp up as the Cowboys host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a team looking to hang on to a one-game lead over the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC North.

Both teams need a win but at this point, Dallas is almost playing the role of potential spoiler. Even if the Cowboys can win their final three games, they’ll need help getting into the postseason. For many Cowboys players, these last three games will be for much more than even a playoff berth. Some of these guys are walking a fine line and potentially fighting to keep their jobs in Dallas moving forward.

Ezekiel Elliott

The writing has been on the locker room wall since Week 2 of the season for Ezekiel Elliott's demise. In the season opener in Cleveland, Elliott rushed for 40 yards on 10 carries and a touchdown. In Week 2 Elliott’s carries dropped to six and 16 yards on the ground. Week 3 he rushed three times for 25 yards. After Week 1, Elliott didn’t see the end zone again until Week 8 against San Francisco.

Elliott is on pace to rush for even fewer yards than last year in New England (642), which would be a career low. Since he only signed a one-year deal it won’t hurt the Cowboys cap-wise moving on but the end has arrived for Elliott in Big D. It’s been on the horizon for a few years now but Elliott is finally at the point where he’s no longer productive enough to justify a roster spot.

Brandin Cooks

It feels like forever ago that Brandin Cooks was a legitimate threat to go the distance in an NFL game. But since catching 90 passes for 1,037 yards and six touchdowns for the Houston Texans in 2021, Cooks career has taken a nose dive. He hasn’t finished a season with more than 57 catches since and this year has just 16 receptions in seven games for Dallas. It feels like Cooks could be on his last legs in the league the way this campaign has played out.

Having missed half the year doesn’t help but even when Cooks has been on the field, he’s not the same player he once was. At age 32, Cooks has one game this year with at least four catches and that came in Week 1. He’s averaging a career-low, 20.6 yards per game with 144 receiving yards for the season. Cooks was expected to step right into that No. 2 WR role this season but that clearly hasn’t happened. Then he got hurt and had an infection which caused him to miss seven games.

Cooper Rush

Besides a small stint away from the team, the Cowboys are the only team Cooper Rush has played for and take regular-season snaps under center. Being the primary backup to Dak Prescott during his tenure, Rush has seen more action than most second-string quarterbacks due to a couple of major Prescott injuries over the years. But Rush is currently in the last year of his deal and there’s no guarantee he’ll be back on the roster.

Rush has had a decent year in relief of Prescott but nothing that’s truly set him apart from the crowd. This decision could depend on whether Jerry Jones decides a regime change is in order. If Mike McCarthy is relieved of his duties as head coach, then Rush could also be on his way out. He’s in the final year of his contract and cutting ties would be easy. Long story short, Rush could be in tryout mode the rest of the way to the finish line.

The only downside to that is it would leave the Cowboys with just one QB under contract in Prescott as Trey Lance is also a free agent at season's end. Dallas opted not to pick up the fifth-year option on Lance’s rookie deal so he’s as good as done in Big D. Jerry seems to realize that deal was a bust and there is no future for Lance with the Cowboys.