Cowboys fall further behind NFC East leaders after Commanders bring back defensive piece

The Washington Commanders are killing the offseason. They locked down another offensive weapon in Deebo Samuel in a trade with the San Francisco 49ers last week. Now they’ve taken care of another immediate need in re-signing Bobby Wagner to a one-year deal. 

With their latest move, they not only helped themselves get closer to contending with the Philadelphia Eagles for the top spot in the NFC East, but they also furthered their distance from the Dallas Cowboys. 

The Cowboys could learn a thing or two when it comes to addressing needs. They have quite a few they need to take care of and more importantly, put themselves in position to compete in the NFC East. 

Philadelphia and Washington showed they are the top teams in the conference by a large margin. Nothing the Cowboys have done this offseason has changed their course to get back to the NFL playoffs. 

The Dallas Cowboys drift further behind NFC East contention

If the Cowboys can learn anything from the current landscape of the NFC East frontrunners, they still have work to do to get back to the top. Right now, they’re still in the “all in” phase of whatever Jerry Jones is considering this awkward period between rebuild and contention. 

Though his son, Stephen Jones, said that the Cowboys would be selectively aggressive in their approach this season. If that becomes the theme for the 2025 Cowboys, they need to start leaning more into the aggressive part. 

So far, Dallas has restructured Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb’s contracts and re-signed Osa Odighizuwa. If the Cowboys being selectively aggressive is a euphemism for “all in” which is code for re-signing the current roster and not making any big splashes. 

The Cowboys restructured two major contracts to free up space to re-sign Micah Parsons most likely. With whatever cap space is leftover, they should utilize that to get Prescott some help on offense as well as depth on defense. 

This year might be more important than last for the Cowboys to make the necessary moves to win again. Last year, they (once again) fell short of lofty expectations. This year, they’re now the third best team in the NFC East division and could fall to the bottom if the New York Giants are more aggressive. 

Regardless of the theme of this year, the Cowboys need to make better moves. The Commanders are doing what they should to try to dethrone the Eagles. And they’re adding more distance between them and the Cowboys in the process.