NFC East

Jerry Jones believes he could get $10 billion on the open market to sell the Dallas Cowboys.

One problem: We're never going to find out whether he's right. 

“But let me make this very clear,” Jones said told Peter King of NBC Sports. “I’ll say it definitively. I will never do it. I will never sell the Cowboys. Ever.”

The Cowboys are currently valued at $6.5 billion by Forbes, putting them $1.5 billion ahead of any other NFL franchise. They have been the most valuable franchise in all of sports since 2016.

Forbes valuations have tended to be imperfect in the modern sports landscape, with teams regularly selling for values much higher than their listing. King noted the Denver Broncos are currently expected to fetch around $4.5 billion when they are sold, which would be $750 million more than their Forbes listing.

NFL business consultant Marc Ganis said he believed Jones could get $8 or $8.5 billion if he were to sell.

What's abundantly clear, however, is that the cachet of being the Cowboys owner has more value to Jones than any amount of money. It's not hard to see why. He's among the biggest power brokers in the United States' most popular sport; for a man who was already independently wealthy outside of his football endeavors, owning the Cowboys comes more out of a personal love for the sport than to make a quick buck.

Jones initially bought the Cowboys for $140 million in 1989. 

Suffice it to say there's been plenty of return on his investment. 

Could we one day be calling the New York Jets the New Jersey Jets? Or how about the New York Giants the New Jersey Giants? That's what one lawsuit filed by two fans aims to accomplish.

Two football fans are requesting in their $6 billion lawsuit against the Jets, Giants and the NFL that the two teams drop "New York" from their names because they play in East Rutherford, New Jersey, according to Rich Calder of the New York Post.

The federal court complaint filed last month says, per Calder:

New York City is the Big Apple, home of the Statue of Liberty, ... Wall Street and the stock market, Broadway musicals ticker-tape parades ... MetLife Stadium is located in the swamps of East Rutherford, NJ ... , which has a population under 10,000, the 116th largest city in New Jersey. It's not exactly an exciting and romantic destination[,] and the Giants, Jets and MetLife Stadium have absolutely no connection whatsoever with the city, county or state of New York.

The two plaintiffs in the case claim that false advertising "and other fraudulent, deceptive practices" resulted in them believing both teams still played in New York.

They apparently spent a lot of money to see the Jets and Giants play at MetLife Stadium, which is located in New Jersey. One of the plaintiffs told Calder he spent more time traveling to the game than actually watching it at the stadium.

The plaintiffs amended their lawsuit last month after initially requesting that both teams move out of New Jersey and back to New York. According to Calder, both teams and the NFL "laughed off the request."

The Giants left New York in 1976 after agreeing to a deal with the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority to play their home games at a brand-new stadium, later named Giants Stadium, in New Jersey.

At the time, Big Blue had been sharing a home with the New York Yankees and wanted their own stadium.

Meanwhile, the Jets moved to New Jersey and shared Giants Stadium with the G-Men starting in 1984. Gang Green had been sharing Shea Stadium with the New York Mets and their lease expired at the end of the 1983 season.

The Jets tried negotiating terms of a new lease, and after they couldn't reach an agreement to continue playing at Shea Stadium, they moved to New Jersey, joining the Giants.

MetLife Stadium opened in 2010, and the Jets and Giants have played there since.

The New York Giants have reportedly signed Kayvon Thibodeaux to his rookie contract. 

Per NFL Network's Tom Pelissero, the 21-year-old agreed to a four-year rookie deal with the G-Men on Saturday.

Per Spotrac, Thibodeaux's rookie deal is projected to be worth $31.339 million with a $19.97 million signing bonus. That would count $5.7 million against the cap in 2022. 

He was arguably the most-discussed player among the first-round talents in the 2022 draft. 

Coming into the 2021 college season, Thibodeaux was regarded as the best defensive player eligible for the 2022 draft. His on-field performance at Oregon didn't seem like it would have done anything to turn teams away. 

The Los Angeles native had 12 tackles for loss and seven sacks in 10 games as a junior. His physical traits showed up in predraft workouts. He ranked in the 87th percentile or better in his 10-yard split (1.59 seconds) and 40-yard dash (4.58 seconds). 

A lot of the focus on Thibodeaux leading up to the draft seemed to revolve around his personality. One defensive coach told The Athletic's Bruce Feldman that he has "a big personality."

"If you’re a team that isn’t comfortable with one player pushing himself into the spotlight, he’s probably not for you," the coach said. "The issues to me are gonna come up with the competing focus. Is he too worried about his brand? When we brought him in, I was like, whoa, s--t, this guy is a handful."

The Giants clearly believe in Thibodeaux as a person and player. They selected him with the No. 5 pick to upgrade their defensive line. 

During his introductory press conference, he dismissed any notion that his brand might get in the way of his football career. 

"It’s just so crazy," he told reporters. "So when they handed me the playbook, it was in iPad form. And me, I learn best writing. So for me, it was like the brand went out the window, right. The only thing I can think of now is the playbook and really get into it and dive into it and make sure that I know everything that I can going into training camp."

If the Oregon product plays well, no one will care that he might be interested in crypto or wants to market himself in ways that athletes in all sports have been doing for decades. 

Putting Thibodeaux on the same defensive line as Leonard Williams is a fantastic starting point to improve a defense that ranked 18th in Football Outsiders' DVOA and 23rd in points allowed last season. 

The Dallas Cowboys have not made a deep playoff run since winning Super Bowl XXX in the 1995 season. Executive vice president Stephen Jones said Friday the franchise is "not going to be at peace" until it finds continuous postseason success.

"We've gotta take the next step, and I think everybody feels it, is we gotta be successful in the playoffs," Jones told Adam Schein on SiriusXM's Mad Dog Sports Radio. He added: "Our fans deserve that. Certainly, we're not going to be at peace until we get over that hump."

The Cowboys finished the 2021 season with a 12-5 record, their best finish since 2016 when they went 13-3. After clinching the top seed in the NFC East, Dallas met the San Francisco 49ers in the Wild Card Round, falling 23-17.

The 49ers took a 23-7 lead into the fourth quarter and held off a late push from the Cowboys. Controversy erupted after Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott ran 17 yards down the middle of the field with 14 seconds left in the fourth quarter and no timeouts. 

Time expired before the Cowboys could run another play, and head coach Mike McCarthy was criticized for running a quarterback draw given the circumstances. McCarthy defended his decision, telling reporters it was "the best option."

Schein asked Jones on Friday if the team replays that final drive and uses it as motivation entering the 2022 season. He said he thinks "everybody in the Cowboys organization" rewatches that drive and the one before it.

Despite the questionable play call from McCarthy, Jones said he believes the longtime head coach can lead the team to a championship (h/t NFL.com's Bobby Kownack):

Well, we've got nothing but the utmost respect for Mike. And as you said, we had a lot of good things happen. ... In Jerry and I's mind, there's no better guy to do that who's had as much success in this league as anybody than Mike McCarthy. His track record speaks for itself in Green Bay. I think he took the Packers to either three or four championship games. Obviously won a Super Bowl, you know, really had success in the postseason in Green Bay, and, you know, set us up with an opportunity to do that. We had the ball there twice with less than three or four minutes on the clock to go win the game with one of the best offenses in the league and we didn't get the job done.

While they lost Amari Cooper and La'el Collins this offseason, the Cowboys still figure to have one of the best rosters in the NFL. Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott, Michael Gallup and CeeDee Lamb highlight an impressive offensive unit, while Micah Parsons, Trevon Diggs and DeMarcus Lawrence are standouts on defense.

That said, it won't be easy for the Cowboys to come out on top of the NFC in 2022, especially with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Tom Brady and the Green Bay Packers' Aaron Rodgers set to return to their respective teams.

Washington Commanders quarterback Carson Wentz is keeping a level head as he looks ahead to playing his first game against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field during the 2022 NFL regular season.

Appearing on NFL Network (h/t NFL.com's Grant Gordon), Wentz said he is "trying not to get too excited for that one" by approaching it as just another game.

"I know that'll be a big game. A lot of emotions," he added. "I'm sure fans will eat that one up and it'll be fun—make for a good storyline. But at the end of the day, it's going to be just another ballgame. It's going to be a huge divisional game for us when that one comes."

The Commanders will play the Eagles in Philadelphia on Nov. 14.

Wentz was supposed to be Philadelphia's quarterback of the future when he was drafted in 2016. The team traded five picks to the Cleveland Browns to move up six spots and select him No. 2 overall.

Things started out great for Wentz in an Eagles uniform. He followed up a promising rookie campaign with an MVP-caliber second season in 2017. The North Dakota State product threw for 3,296 yards and 33 touchdowns in 13 starts, but a torn ACL ended his season in Week 14. 

Nick Foles finished out the 2017 season by leading the Eagles to a Super Bowl victory. Wentz played three more seasons in Philadelphia, but he was unable to recapture the promise of 2017. 

In the aftermath of Philadelphia's playoff loss to the New Orleans Saints in January 2019, Joseph Santoliquito of Philly Voice published a report in which he spoke to "more than a half dozen players" on the Eagles and sources close to the team.

Wentz was described in the report as being "selfish," "uncompromising," "egotistical" and as someone who fails "to take accountability."

A back injury sidelined Wentz for the final five games of the 2018 season. The Eagles went 4-1 with Foles at quarterback during that stretch to make the playoffs. They defeated the Chicago Bears in the Wild Card Round before losing to the Saints. 

Despite those reported issues, the Eagles signed Wentz to a four-year, $128 million contract extension before the start of the 2019 season.   

After a 3-8-1 start in 2020, Wentz was benched in favor of Jalen Hurts for the final four games. The Eagles traded the former Pro Bowler to the Indianapolis Colts in March 2021. 

The Colts lost their final two games of the regular season, including a 26-11 defeat against the lowly Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 18, to miss the postseason. They dealt Wentz to the Commanders on March 16.

Playing in the NFC East once again gives Wentz two opportunities this season to face his former team. Washington will host the first matchup with the Eagles in Week 3 on Sept. 25.    

The Dallas Cowboys may have boasted the top total and scoring offense in football last year, but it's unlikely the team will be able to repeat that feat in 2022.

Attrition is one of the main reasons why the Cowboys are poised to take a step back. The club failed to keep the band together after last year's 12-5 finish that represented the team's best showing since 2016.

Given Dallas dealt with another disappointing early playoff exit—the seventh time the Cowboys lost their postseason opener in their last 10 trips—it's hard to blame team brass for wanting to shake things up.

It's hard to believe, but it's now been over 25 years since the 1995 Cowboys won it all and became the last Dallas squad to even reach the NFC Championship Game.

The wide receiver position was hit particularly hard by this shakeup. Dallas went from having one of the league's deepest receiving corps last year to one that could be concerningly thin to start the 2022 campaign.

The team elected not to retain Cedrick Wilson Jr. after the emerging wideout had his best season as a pro in 2021. He proved to be an invaluable depth option for the Cowboys, starting four of the 16 games he appeared in last year while securing 45 of his 61 targets for 602 yards and six touchdowns.

The Miami Dolphins scooped the 26-year-old on a three-year deal worth a shade over $22 million.

Amari Cooper, who tied tight end Dalton Schultz for both the second-most targets and most receiving touchdowns on the roster last year, was traded away for a meager fifth-round pick and a slight move up the board in the sixth round.

While the move helped the Cowboys free up some cap space—Cooper had the highest salary of any wideout at $20 million last season, a contract that owner Jerry Jones thought was incongruent with his on-field production—the team still wasn't able to make any splashes on the open market this offseason.

Dallas' free-agency pickups were mostly quiet signings that bolstered depth. James Washington, a disappointing second-round pick for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2018, was the only notable wideout inked to help fill the void left by Cooper and Wilson's departures.

The Cowboys did use a significant chunk of their available finances to retain Michael Gallup. The four-year veteran, who only posted a single 1,000-yard campaign and missed almost half of the 2021 campaign with injury, signed a five-year, $57.5 million extension shortly after suffering a late-season ACL tear.

Gallup's availability for Week 1 is still in doubt as he works his way back from that major knee injury.

Dallas will likely be asking a lot of from rookie Jalen Tolbert, the South Alabama product who was taken at No. 88 overall last month.

Tolbert was one of the top collegiate wideouts over the past two seasons and established himself as a solid receiver in a loaded class for the position, but he's going to face much tougher competition than the Sun Belt defensive backs he battled with for most of his tenure with the Jaguars.

CeeDee Lamb will still draw the opponent's top cornerback on a weekly basis, a challenge the second-year receiver proved he was up to last year when he amassed 1,102 yards and six touchdowns on 79 receptions. Unfortunately, he'll face even more defensive attention this year unless Tolbert ends up being a rookie sensation.

Considering Dallas only ran on 40.39 percent of its offensive snaps and passed out of the shotgun formation on nearly 80 percent of Dak Prescott's dropbacks, the lack of talented wideouts could come back to haunt this squad.

It's hard to fault the Cowboys' coaching staff for relying heavily on the passing game. Ezekiel Elliott, formerly one of the best running backs in the league, is now a shell of his former self.

Elliott was a true bell-cow back when he entered the league, averaging over five yards per carry on 322 totes as a rookie in 2016. He eclipsed 300 carries in 2018 and 2019 as well but saw his efficiency decline to 4.7 YPC and 4.5 YPC, respectively, in those seasons.

His usage and efficiency have gone down over the past two years, failing to even breach 300 total touches in either the 2020 or 2021 campaigns while averaging just 4.1 yards per rushing attempt in that span.

Elliott's rushing production dropped below 60 yards per game for the first time as a pro last year, nearly half of the 108.7 rushing yards per game he posted as a rookie. It's unlikely the 26-year-old will bounce back to those early-career numbers after taking so much wear and tear over the past half-decade.

Tony Pollard has been the much more efficient back for Dallas over the past three years and could take on a heavier workload in 2022. However, Pollard has yet to prove he can shoulder a larger role than the current change-of-pace one he assumes for the team.

He saw a career-high 130 totes in 2021—averaging a career-best 5.5 yards per carry on them—and could be in line for more this season. The Cowboys are undefeated in games where Pollard receives a double-digit carry count—going 11-0 while averaging 36 points—but game scripting has generally dictated that type of volume.

Regardless of who is pounding the rock for the Cowboys, it may be more difficult to find open lanes behind an offensive line that is undergoing change in 2022. Dallas came in at the top of PFF's 2021 offensive line rankings but will be without two starters from that unit.

The team parted ways with tackle La'el Collins after he emerged as a stalwart on the right side of the line over the past four seasons. He was released with three years remaining on his contract, quickly coming to terms with the Cincinnati Bengals to shore up their shoddy offensive line.

The Cowboys also said goodbye to Connor Williams, their incumbent starting left guard, after the free agent was lured by the Dolphins with a two-year, $14 million contract.

Williams should be replaced by rookie Tyler Smith, the Tulsa product who Dallas selected at No. 24 overall last month. The club has had plenty of success drafting offensive linemen over the past decade, with its three first-round choices since 2011—Tyron Smith, Travis Frederick and Zack Martin—all making Pro Bowl appearances.

Collins' successor appears to be Terence Steele, the undrafted free agent who has been playing a depth role for Dallas since 2020. Steele may be the weak point for this unit after he scored a concerning 50.3 PFF grade by allowing nine sacks on 970 snaps as a rookie. He improved his PFF grade to a 64.5 last year but still gave up another pair of sacks on 910 snaps.

Tyron Smith and Martin are still locked into their respective left tackle and right guard roles, but both have been injury-prone in recent seasons. Smith hasn't played a full season since 2015, notably missing six games last year and 14 in 2020.

Martin missed a significant amount of time for the first time in his career in 2020 but bounced back to his All-Pro form in 2021 while playing 16 games. He's on the wrong side of 30, however, and has plenty of tread worn off his tires after eight years in the league.

The Cowboys still have enough cap room—Spotrac projects them to be $13.4 million under the cap right now—to boost the offense by adding another free agent, but the team is running out of time to find suitable talent.

Veteran wideouts such as Julio Jones and Jarvis Landry are still looking for new homes this offseason, and they are players who could give Dallas some steady production at a relatively cheap price if they can stay healthy.

There are also some proven offensive linemen such as Duane Brown and Daryl Williams on the open market, and they could provide insurance to the offensive trenches and bolster a line in transition.

One of Dallas' main issues last year was consistency, especially late in the season. After scoring 29 or more points in five of their first six games, the team only reached that mark four more times after the Week 7 bye.

The team's two highest-scoring performances came down the stretch against a pair of NFC East rivals—Dallas dropped 56 on the Washington Commanders in Week 16 and 51 on the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 18—but those were sandwiched around a 25-22 loss to the Arizona Cardinals and punctuated by an embarrassing 23-17 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the Wild Card Round.

It's hard to envision the Cowboys having as high of an offensive ceiling as they did last year, but they can improve with better play-calling and shrewd adjustments by head coach Mike McCarthy and offensive coordinator Kellen Moore.

Dallas is far from hopeless this year. The team is still favored to win the division and is one of the top contenders in the NFC because of its combination of having a top-flight quarterback, elite weapons in Lamb and Schultz and an emerging defense that appears ready to take a step forward.

Even with the offense regressing slightly, the Cowboys will still be a strong team this year with a chance to make some playoff noise if they can improve their consistency and step up defensively.

The next standoff between an NFL team and a high-profile wide receiver might be brewing in the nation's capital.

The MMQB's Albert Breer reported that a new contract for Washington Commanders star Terry McLaurin is "nowhere" and that "negotiations haven’t really started."

McLaurin is entering the last year of his rookie deal and will become a free agent in 2023.

A big payday figures to be coming the 26-year-old's way. Through three seasons, he has caught 222 passes for 3,090 yards and 16 touchdowns.

Those numbers require the added context that eight different quarterbacks (Taylor Heinicke, Dwayne Haskins Jr., Case Keenum, Alex Smith, Kyle Allen, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Garrett Gilbert and Colt McCoy) have started at least one game for Washington since McLaurin entered the league.

McLaurin almost certainly isn't going to overtake Tyreek Hill ($30 million) as the NFL's highest-paid receiver, but $20-plus million annually figures to be a reasonable estimate. Breer posited that something along the lines of A.J. Brown's four-year, $100 million extension with the Philadelphia Eagles would reflect the current market.

The fact that the Commanders haven't entered into serious negotiations with McLaurin's representatives is surprising because of how valuable he is to the offense. This offseason is also the last opportunity for Washington to utilize him as a major trade asset if it becomes clear his price is too rich for the front office's tastes.

How the franchise handled contract discussions with Kirk Cousins could be a helpful guide about what to expect with McLaurin. The team never really presented Cousins with a long-term contract worth signing, so he played on the franchise tag for two years and left when the first opportunity to get a multiyear offer presented itself from another team.

The Commanders might be content to head into the 2022 season without any long-term agreement with McLaurin on the basis that they can tag him in 2023 and go from there.

New York Giants rookie Kayvon Thibodeaux is now the bearer of the No. 5 jersey previously worn by kicker Graham Gano, and he donated a lot of money to charity to get the veteran to give up that number. 

Thibodeaux, who wore No. 5 in college at Oregon, donated $50,000 to Puppies Behind Bars, which "trains incarcerated individuals to raise service dogs for wounded war veterans and first responders, as well as explosive-detection canines for law enforcement," to snag the number from Gano.

Gano, who comes from a military family, explained his decision to have Thibodeaux make a donation for the number (via the team's website):

I feel like it was where the money that Kayvon was donating would be able to make the largest impact and help the most people throughout him giving that money. The whole idea behind the number five being special to myself and being special to Kayvon was being able to help five people get the five dogs and be able to make an impact in five people's lives for the better. That was the whole goal behind that. I'm really excited about it.

Gano will now wear No. 9.

The Giants selected Thibodeaux with the fifth overall pick in this year's draft. He was a standout in his third season at Oregon, finishing the 2021 season with seven sacks, two fumble recoveries, 49 tackles and 12 tackles for a loss. 

The Las Vegas Raiders are interested in free-agent cornerback James Bradberry, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal's Vincent Bonsignore.

Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham coached Bradberry for two seasons with the Giants, which is a factor behind Las Vegas' interest.

"Bradberry’s familiarity with Graham’s system—and his established level of play—make him an attractive target for the Raiders," per Bonsignore.

The New York Giants announced Monday they had released Bradberry. The Athletic's Dan Duggan reported New York was unable to find a suitable trade, so it cut ties with the veteran defensive back altogether.

With the draft over and the biggest dominoes having fallen in free agency, former wide receiver Torrey Smith reflected how Bradberry might be in a difficult position:

The Raiders, for example, only have $5.6 million in available salary cap space. If he wanted to sign with Las Vegas right now, then Bradberry would have to take a steep pay cut from the $13.5 million he was due to earn from the Giants.

Bonsignore noted the Raiders will have more money to spend when the departures of Cory Littleton and Carl Nassib are official on June 2. They could offer Bradberry more money then, but that requires him to wait nearly a month before making a decision.

There's no question Vegas could use the 28-year-old, who finished with 47 tackles, four interceptions and 17 passes defended in 2021.

The Raiders had the NFL's fewest interceptions (six) and ranked 24th in opponent passer rating (96.4). Casey Hayward, who started all 17 games for the team, signed with the Atlanta Falcons, and Trayvon Mullen recently underwent surgery.

If general manager Dave Ziegler can make it happen, Bradberry would address a clear need for the organization ahead of the 2022 season.