The Cowboys will take a look at the UFL linebacker talent pool.
The #Cowboys will work out All-UFL LB Willie Harvey Jr. on Tuesday, per source.
Harvey — who appeared in four games with the #Browns from 2019-21 — led the UFL in tackles and all linebackers in tackles for loss, passes defended and forced fumbles.pic.twitter.com/curmLapnMx
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) June 10, 2024
Check out our writeup from last week suggesting the Cowboys take a look at Harvey Jr.
The Cowboys don’t have the deepest group of cornerbacks, but all of their expected starters are proven playmakers including veteran Jourdan Lewis.
It’s the resurgence in late 2023 that showed the Cowboys what Lewis was still capable of, but now he’ll have to adapt to yet another change at defensive coordinator. The hiring of Mike Zimmer following the departure of Dan Quinn marks the fourth coordinator change for Lewis in his eight-year career.
In other words, averaging a coordinator change every two seasons, he knows what it takes to embrace a new scheme and thrive as if he’s been in it for years.
“There is definitely going to be a learning curve whenever you play for a new coordinator,” he said. “But at the same time, we’re professionals. That’s our job to go out there and perform in any scheme that we’re in.”
That task effectively ramps up when the Cowboys depart for training camp in Oxnard on July 22, and there’s little time for the defense to find their land legs in Zimmer’s scheme.
One thing is for certain: Lewis is ready.
It will be very interesting to watch what Mike Zimmer makes of the Cowboys group of safeties.
Thomas’ ascension has been enough, and is apparently continuing in the Cowboys’ spring practices, that Patrik Walker of the team’s official website has him competing for a starting job in 2024. In the piece, Walker refers to Thomas as a “starter in the making” and even declares him “potentially being a full-time starter in 2024.” The article includes some glowing remarks from coaches Mike McCarthy and Al Harris as well.
That’s high praise, especially with a solid pair of veterans in Hooker and Wilson returning. Kearse wasn’t re-signed in free agency by the Cowboys and remains untouched by the rest of the NFL. But while Dallas did play all three safeties regularly in Dan Quinn’s scheme, the arrival of Mike Zimmer is expected to curtail the hybrid LB/S role that Kearse played in favor of more traditional linebackers. That would seem to leave Hooker and Wilson as the favorites to be the typical starting duo with Hooker at FS and Wilson in the SS role.
Though they’re far more familiar to us, neither veteran should be considered a lock to start. While their trio with Kearse was a fun story and all played well, none of them were stars for the Cowboys. Being adequate leaves plenty of room for improvement, and there seems to be a lot of momentum building behind Juanyeh Thomas as a potential upgrade to one of their positions.
Thomas has the size to play strong and the athleticism to play free, giving him two avenues to a starting role. And with both Hooker and Wilson getting older and more expensive, the Cowboys could jump at a chance to pivot to a younger, cheaper option even if he just maintains the level of play. If Thomas gives them a reason to think he could elevate one of those positions, either now or in the near future, that will only incentivize the team more.
Don’t balk at Thomas’ potential just because he was undrafted, either. Wilson was only a sixth-round pick himself in 2019, and just look at what DaRon Bland is doing for the Cowboys as a former fifth-rounder. The margin between Day 3 picks and undrafted guys can be really slim, and Thomas has as much right to NFL success as any of them.
The Mike McCarthy on the hot seat talk will never end.
Earlier this spring, after the Dallas Cowboys chose to retain head coach Mike McCarthy for the final year of his contract, a bombshell report by ESPN revealed that former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is already zeroing in on his next job.
That would be McCarthy’s job.
As ESPN wrote it, Belichick “told a friend that he liked the idea of sticking it to the Krafts (Patriots ownership) by working for Jones.”
Could the all-powerful Belichick really work for the all-powerful Jones? If it’s true that Belichick is eyeing a 2025 move to The Star, he’s already answered that question for a doubting public.
From our perspective? We covered the Cowboys when Jimmy Johnson worked here and we covered the Cowboys when Bill Parcells worked here. So the idea that Jerry must be a “puppeteer’’ of a weak coach is historically proven to be untrue.
How much traction is this idea gaining? Enough that NFL.com is writing about it as if it’s going to happen. From Judy Batista: “This doesn’t even really seem like that bold a prediction. … With another early playoff exit in the offing, Jerry Jones does what many expected him to do this offseason: let Mike McCarthy go. McCarthy is coaching in the final year of his contract, so that won’t even be a surprise. Neither will Jones hiring Bill Belichick. …’’
It still feels like it is hardly time to panic when it comes to the Cowboys keeping CeeDee Lamb around.
CeeDee Lamb, WR, Dallas Cowboys
Like Ja’Marr Chase, CeeDee Lamb’s eyes probably lit up when he saw reports about wideout Justin Jefferson’s market-setting extension.
According to NFL insider Josina Anderson, Jefferson’s contract will speed up negotiations between the Dallas Cowboys and Lamb’s camp.
The 25-year-old has the production and accolades to command a lucrative pay raise. He’s hauled in 395 passes for 5,145 yards and 32 touchdowns in 66 games. The fifth-year pro has earned three Pro Bowl nods and is coming off an All-Pro season in which he led the league in catches (135).
With Micah Parsons willing to wait on his extension and Dak Prescott stating that he’s comfortable betting on himself in a contract year, the Cowboys can focus on Lamb’s new deal.
Lamb skipped mandatory minicamp, which makes him subject to fines, but Dallas can waive those financial penalties because he’s still on a rookie contract.
Soon, Lamb will be one of the league’s highest-paid receivers.
Panic Meter: 1
Can the Cowboys still be trusted to keep their winning ways of the regular season alive in 2024?
They are talented at all the right spots and consistently win (in the regular season, at least)
For as much criticism as the Dallas Cowboys get, they have won 12 games in three straight regular seasons and are loaded with talent at premium positions. They posted top-five offensive and defensive grades last season, joining San Francisco and Baltimore as the only teams to do so.
Dak Prescott finished third in passing grade. CeeDee Lamb finished fourth in receiving grade. Micah Parsons and Demarcus Lawrence were dominant off the edge, per usual, and the team returns arguably the best pair of cornerbacks in the NFL in DaRon Bland and Trevon Diggs. The Cowboys may lack depth, but they certainly don’t lack the high-end talent needed to win games.
Cowboys TE Jake Ferguson: How he plans to take the next step after a Pro Bowl season – Jon Machota, The Athletic
Ferguson wants to improve in all aspects of his game, but being a better blocker in the running game tops his list, and he provides a quote that sure endear him to Cowboys fans everywhere.
“Half the run game is training and getting stronger,” [Ferguson] said, “and then the other half is just being pissed off and trying to kill somebody.”
“Consistency in his passion and energy,” Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said of what has impressed him the most about Ferguson. “But really, just his growth as a football player. We talked a little bit about his weight; I think he’s done an outstanding job in the strength and conditioning phase of it. He’s having a great offseason. Very, very comfortable with the little things we’ve asked him to do on top of what he did last year.”
The tight end has been a big part of the passing game throughout Dak Prescott’s career. From Witten to Dalton Schultz to Ferguson last year, the Cowboys’ quarterback has had a strong connection with one of his tight ends. The 2024 season should be no different.
“Obviously, you see the jump he made from Year 1 to Year 2,” Prescott said of Ferguson, “and he’s improved his intensity in his preparation just in this offseason, the way that he’s treated his body, the way that he’s been communicating with me throughout the offseason, whether it’s catching and throwing. He’s a big-time playmaker for this team, for this offense. As long as he continues to get better, the sky’s the limit for his potential and what he can do for this team.”
In the hands of Chris Wolston, even the most ordinary object — a chair, lamp or credenza — becomes something more whimsical, playful and quirky.
The artist has built a stellar reputation in the design world for his anthropomorphic rattan chairs (complete with bums and feet). Yet the array of pieces on display in his first solo museum show at Dallas Contemporary reveals there’s much more to his oeuvre.
Displayed across four catwalks, reminiscent of a fashion show or drag ball, are sculpted chairs in terra-cotta adorned with metal insects, a bronze coffee table cast from leaves found in the artist’s garden and chairs inspired by the gestural limbs of supermodels. Handwoven carpets from Morocco on the walls are interspersed with video works highlighting Wolston’s process filmed by his husband, the filmmaker David Sierra. Together, they recall a fantasy world of objects both functional and sculptural.
“I always find that through humor, there’s an interesting entry point for people — it breaks down a barrier,” says artist Chris Wolston. “And I was always drawn to furniture as a medium because it’s accessible, it’s egalitarian.” Dallas Contemporary
Wolston has been walking the tightrope between craft and art with a humorous twist since he made his first terra-cotta chairs in 2014. Drawn to the relationship between materiality and everyday life, he naturally embraced furniture as his medium.
“I started working with the (contemporary design gallery) The Future Perfect, and then we started doing these body chairs for a chair show,” he says. “I always find that through humor, there’s an interesting entry point for people — it breaks down a barrier. And I was always drawn to furniture as a medium because it’s accessible, it’s egalitarian.”
Having initially studied glassmaking at the Rhode Island School of Design, Wolston earned a Fulbright to study pre-Columbian ceramics in Colombia, prompting him to settle his studio in the city of Medellín. He found his entry point into raw ingredients by working with natural terra-cotta clay found in the mountains surrounding the city, and has since cycled through bronze, rattan, anodized aluminum and shearling.
Curated by Glenn Adamson, former director of the Museum of Arts and Design in New York, Profile in Ecstasy highlights a decade-plus of work that led Wolston to discover the throughlines behind his various collections, whether they be nods to fashion and nature, Spanish modernism or subtle surrealism.
“These themes that exist in an artist’s practice emerge when a new collection emerges,” Wolston says. “It’s interesting to see how collections made at different times with totally different materials and thought processes at play resonate with one another.”
Chris Wolston: Profile in Ecstasy is on view at Dallas Contemporary from Nov. 7 through Feb. 1, 2026.
The vehicle belonging to a Dallas woman who has been missing for over a year was found this week, according to police.
The Dallas Police Department said 88-year-old Myrtle Polk’s vehicle was found in the 5600 block of South Lancaster Road, near Five Mile Creek, on Tuesday. Her body was not in the vehicle.
DPD said search teams will deploy in the area to continue the search for Polk.
She was last seen in early June along Indian Creek Trail, driving her Lexus sedan. At the time, a Silver Alert was issued, given her age and medical history, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Polk is a devout member of her church, according to her family. When she didn’t show up for service on June 9, 2024, they said they knew something was wrong.
Also affectionately known as “Mama M” or “Aunt Myrt,” Polk is living with dementia. But her niece Tawana Watson said — as late as the day before — the family did not indicate that anything was wrong.
“She was a very good driver, she knew where she was,” Watson said last June. “I talked to her that Friday [and] she was in her right mind.”
Watson does not believe the matriarch left home on her own.
“She was such a trustworthy person, I believe that Aunt Myrtle met somebody that she trusted, she let them [into her home] and they hurt her,” she continued.
Myrtle Polk is approximately 5-foot-2 and 120 pounds, with white hair and brown eyes. Anyone with information is asked to call 911 or the Dallas Police Department at (214) 671-4268.
A four-alarm fire at First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas, destroyed its historic, red-brick sanctuary last year, and reconstruction of the edifice won’t be completed until Easter 2028. In the meantime, the destruction has taught the nonprofit institution a lot about its workplace as it has navigated the crisis.
Staff members were “scattered” after the fire, and as of August, permanent power still hadn’t been restored to the church offices, said Ben Lovvorn, First Baptist’s senior executive pastor. So, keeping everyone updated and encouraged during the rebuilding effort has been a priority.
“We’ve been very purposeful about communicating with our staff — and our congregation — so that they know and understand what’s going on, and that they are a part of the process,” he said. “At other organizations, this situation would lead to tremendous turnover, but our entire team has stayed intact. That [in turn] has provided consistency and encouragement to our 16,000 church members.
“Another lesson we’ve learned is making sure you have the right people in place so you’re able to handle a crisis like this,” he continued. “Finding those right people — and getting them in the right seats on the bus — is key to tackling whatever obstacles you’re presented with along the way.”
Fortunately, First Baptist has had those team members in place for a while. That’s because the staff has a biblically based, “shared faith and shared calling” that gives their work purpose, Lovvorn said. “Whether they’re a minister or work in our accounting department or in the facilities department, they’re part of something greater.”
That greater meaning is emphasized regularly, whether through monthly all-staff leadership luncheons — they brought in Babe’s Chicken for the one in August — or at “staff chapel,” where workers step away from the daily grind and pray together. Throughout its more than 155 years in downtown Dallas, “there have been good times and difficult times” for First Baptist, Lovvorn said. “But God has always been faithful in providing for us and seeing us through every season.”
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