Cowboys land 4 players in ESPN’s top-100 draft values – Mario Herrera Jr., Inside The Star
The Cowboys may have gotten good value with a lot of their draft picks, but will they get the starting-caliber talent they need?
A few days ago, ESPN NFL Journalist Matt Miller published an article with his top-100 draft values and the top two on the list feature the Chicago Bears picks of QB Caleb Williams and WR Rome Odunze.
There are several Philadelphia Eagles on the list, headlined by cornerbacks Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean making the top 12.
The Dallas Cowboys were honored four times. Their first selection at #36 on the list and their last locking in the 88th slot out of 100.
#36 OT Tyler Guyton
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The Cowboys’ 1st-round pick, Tyler Guyton also tops the list for Dallas’ selections to Miller’s top 100, coming in at #36.
“Entering the draft, the Cowboys had issues at left tackle, running back, center, and linebacker. The front office waited and played the board well, trading back and still getting one of the top tackles in the class.
“Guyton should be seen as a developmental player after just 15 starts in college, but Dallas does a great job identifying talent and coaching it up on the line (as we saw with Tyler Smith before him).”
The massive offensive tackle from Oklahoma was almost a telegraphed pick to the Cowboys based on how they’ve drafted before.
He is raw but he has the traits the Cowboys look for in offensive tackles, standing nearly 6’8″ tall and weighing in at 322lbs with 34 1/8″ arms.
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Free Agents Cowboys Should Pursue After 2024 NFL Draft – Kristopher Knox, Bleacher Report
The Cowboys seem comfortable with what they have, but some names that could help remain available in free agency.
Dallas did turn back to the free-agent market post-draft, signing former running back Ezekiel Elliott to a one-year, $2 million deal. The Cowboys may not be done bargain-hunting, though, with just $4.5 million in cap space remaining, they may also have to get creative with their contract construction.
Here, we’ll examine three available free agents Dallas should pursue in the post-draft window of free agency.
WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling
The Cowboys have one great receiver in CeeDee Lamb and a lot of questions after him. Brandin Cooks was mostly just fine in 2023, Jalen Tolbert is still developing and Michael Gallup is gone.
Dallas did take a sixth-round flier on Southern Missouri State’s Ryan Flournoy, but it could stand to have more depth at receiver.
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Marquez Valdes-Scantling is one of the more notable names left on the market, and his skill set would also fit with the Cowboys. The speedy, if sometimes inconsistent, receiver can play on the perimeter or in the slot. He would also give Dallas another potent deep threat to help back off opposing defenses.
Valdes-Scantling had his fair share of ups and downs with the Kansas City Chiefs over the past two years, but he came up big in the 2023 postseason. He caught eight passes for 128 yards and a touchdown in the playoffs and had two grabs on Kansas City’s overtime game-winning drive in Super Bowl LVII.
For a Cowboys team that hasn’t advanced past the divisional round since 1995, Valdes-Scantling’s Super Bowl experience could be quite valuable—if Dallas can land him on a team-friendly deal.
Stephen Jones blames failure to pursue Derrick Henry on salary cap – Mike Florio, Pro Football Talk
The Cowboys were not willing to spend anywhere close to the top market price for a free agent RB this offseason.
Appearing with Adam Schein of SiriusXM Mad Dog Radio, Cowboys executive V.P. Stephen Jones addressed the failure to make a phone call to Henry.
“Well, first of all, nothing but respect for Derrick Henry,” Jones said. “I mean, he’s one of the top backs in this league. He’s had one of the great careers in this league. I wish him nothing but the best with the Ravens. I’m sure a great place for him. Our situation is just, you know, and no one ever wants to say it, but it’s salary cap, and we just didn’t have the money to allocate to that position in terms of where we were from a cap standpoint, knowing what we’re looking at with Dak [Prescott] and certainly Micah [Parsons] and CeeDee Lamb. We just didn’t have those type of resources to allocate to that position or we probably would’ve already had it filled with Tony Pollard. We hated to lose Tony Pollard. We had to lose Zeke the year before from a cap standpoint. And, you know, we just didn’t have the dollars to allocate to the running back position. And, certainly, looking to do it in a more efficient way in terms of how it complements the rest of our offensive roster.”
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If they had reached a deal to extend the contracts of Prescott and/or Lamb, however, their cap numbers for 2024 — $55.45 million and $17.991 million, respectively — would have dropped, creating room for other positions. That’s how these things go. Cap space gets created, can gets kicked, team can go all in, or something like it.
How CeeDee Lamb, WR corps help Cowboys running game in 2024 – Reid Hanson, The Cowboys Wire
The Cowboys may not have a true lead running back, but they have plenty of players that can line up in the backfield.
Using WRs as an extension of the running game is nothing new in the NFL. It doesn’t take Deebo Samuel or a Shanahan offense to get the ball into the hands of these untraditional ball carriers, Mike McCarthy showed last season even he can find ways to give carries to his top pass catcher.
Averaging just under one carry per game, Lamb was quite the formidable weapon on the ground. Whether it was a handoff around the edge, or a run between the tackles, Lamb was consistently successful. His 85.7% success rate as a runner was far and away better than any of the Cowboys’ traditional ball carriers. His 8.1 yards/attempt were staggeringly efficient with over 57 percent of his carries going for either a first down or touchdown.
Given the wear and tear associated with the ground game and Lamb’s importance in the passing game, he’s obviously limited in terms of volume. But Lamb isn’t the only WR on the roster, and given the rawness of the WR room overall, rushing attempts may be exactly what this group in Dallas needs to manufacture opportunities.
Behind Lamb and Brandin Cooks are a number of viable candidates in the WR room. KaVontae Turpin leads the list of explosive playmakers starving for opportunities. The 5-foot-9, 175-pound human joystick averaged 10 yards per carry as a runner last season. The problem was he only logged 11 attempts. While Lamb is too valuable to the passing game to risk overusing as a runner, Turpin is primarily just a return man. The risk isn’t as severe with Turpin and the reward could be astronomical.
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Even if Turpin just averaged one rushing attempt per game, he’d establish himself as a threat and could be used in motion as a decoy to spread out defenses and create more opportunities for others.
Bland talks prep after historic season, Diggs return – Patrik Walker, DallasCowboys.com
It will be exciting to see what DaRon Bland and Trevon Diggs can do together in Mike Zimmer’s defense.
“It’s definitely harder to keep a low profile after last season, but I’m enjoying it,” said Bland, wearing a big smile after enjoying the 2024 Reliant Home Run Derby to benefit The Salvation Army.
But don’t plan on him changing his approach this offseason because, well, it ain’t broke so Bland isn’t trying to fix it.
“It’s all been the same,” said the First-Team All-Pro of his offseason approach heading into Year 3. “Gotta keep it the same. “I always have the same expectations. It [did] improve my confidence, going into more years in this league as well. I’m going into my third year so, yeah, I’m more confident now.”
It certainly works in the Cowboys’ favor that Bland isn’t the only record-setting cornerback that will take the field for them in 2023, seeing as Trevon Diggs is currently on track to be available at the start of training camp after suffering a torn ACL last September.
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The loss of Diggs was a massive blow to Dallas’ defense, and Bland’s excellence helped to stop the bleeding. In the months to come, however, Diggs will return to a defense that features an ascended Bland playing the opposite boundary, versus the version that was previously set (in 2023) to split reps with Jourdan Lewis in the nickel before injury rocked the depth chart.
For his part, Bland could not be more thrilled with Diggs’ return.
“A lot of people aren’t expecting what Tre is gonna come back with,” he said of his fellow First-Team All-Pro and former NFL interceptions leader. “I know what Tre is gonna come back with, and it’s gonna be something dangerous. I can’t wait.”
A huge reason for the instant success of both Diggs and Bland at the NFL level is attributable to a coaching staff that features Al Harris, who received a promotion this offseason to assistant head coach — while also retaining his original duties as defensive backs coach.
Cowboys already have significant disadvantage in quest for back-to-back NFC East titles – Mauricio Rodriguez, A to Z Sports
The 2024 NFL schedule will be released this month, possibly as early as next week.
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Cowboys have a much tougher schedule than the Eagles do in 2024
Although many insist on using last year’s win-loss record to determine strength of schedule, things change so quickly in the NFL that is always a better idea to use Las Vegas’ win total projections for the upcoming season. Although the betting world doesn’t get everything right, they’re usually pretty darn close in the grand scheme of things.
Using this method, popularized by Warren Sharp from Sharp Football, the Cowboys’ schedule ranks 22nd in the league (32nd being the toughest). Meanwhile, the Eagles will face the 9th easiest schedule.
The difference is massive for a division that has consistently come down to the wire in recent years. After finishing first in the NFC East last year, the Cowboys will be squaring off against the San Francisco 49ers and Detroit Lions, which appear to have a lot of continuity after finishing 2023 as the best NFC teams. Meanwhile the Eagles avoid both squads in a relatively thin NFC.
The Cowboys also get the Houston Texans as their “17th game” which means they’ll need to face the rising C.J. Stroud, who will now count with Stefon Diggs to target in the passing game.
Ultimately, the division will largely come down to how the Cowboys fare against the Eagles in their two games next season. But any advantage (or disadvantage) matters in a race that hasn’t been won in back-to-back years by any team since 2004, which is the case for the NFC East crown.
The TwoGether Land event over Memorial Day weekend in Dallas set the tone for a hip-hop festival that respects the city’s influence on mainstream pop culture. When the lineup was announced in February, it teased Hollyhood Bay Bay’s Dallas All-Stars, which included Big Tuck, Erica Banks, Yella Beezy, Chalie Boy, Dorrough, and more.
This was Dallas’ moment to inspire a new generation of listeners who came to see Lil Wayne, Latto, or Key Glock that Dallas hip-hop is ours and ours only. Preserving its history at Fair Park on the TwoGether Land stage, with the African American Museum as a backdrop, felt like a win for the unsung heroes keeping the sound alive.
When walking into Fair Park, TwoGether Land offered a little bit of everything: a day party, an outdoor concert featuring hip-hop and R&B, an Art Overdose experience showcasing artists and vendors, and hangout spot near a roller rink and a mechanical bull to test your skills. Or you could chill with rapper Curren$y at his JetLife Lounge, which gave out samples of his Jet Life THC Soda.
The sponsor activations were unique activities in-between sets, especially Martell’s Vibe Check Bar, which had participants get their brainwaves scanned using brain-sensing headsets to interpret their emotions through vibrant colors and patterns, mapped out to signature cocktails you got to choose from based upon your results.
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Rapper Dorrough performs at the first TwoGether Land hip-hop festival in Dallas.(Eric Diep)
Over at the TwoGether Land Live Stage, there were opportunities to sit in on a live recording of a podcast. Concertgoers could catch Texas’ Marcus Adams of Mazi’s World interviewing rap group Dirty South Rydaz about their early mixtapes.
“It was kind of new to us,” Dirty South member Big Tuck said of their popularity at the time. “For the most part, we were just trying to make good music for the city. Represent the city the right way.”
Chalie Boy, who had Victoria Monét sample his song “I Look Good” on “On My Mama,” was interviewed next and shared his thoughts on his 2009 song remaining a Dallas classic. “When you remix a song or you recreate a song, it gives new life to the new one and renewed life to the old one,” Chalie Boy said.
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During a weekend when the Dallas Mavericks were up in the NBA’s Western Conference Finals, D-Town pride and celebration spread throughout TwoGether Land. If it wasn’t Chalie Boy’s “I Look Good” getting spun by numerous DJs around the fairgrounds, Cali Swag District’s “Teach Me How to Dougie” got some play too, which spawned from the homegrown D-Town Boogie movement.
It was all build-up to Bay Bay’s afternoon slot on Sunday that captured the best representation of Dallas hip-hop from the early beginnings to the current era. Certainly, other festivals have been held in Dallas and featured Post Malone, but none have attempted to spotlight an entire Texas music movement like TwoGether Land has.
Due to North Texas storms, Sunday’s set times were pushed back and gate openings were delayed. The 5:15 p.m. time slot worked in Bay Bay’s favor, as the crowd stuck around after a set from That Mexican OT, another rising Texas rapper who went viral for his song named after the Vietnamese Houston jeweler Johnny Dang.
Bay Bay, who is always animated, started his show with dancers before bringing out Tum Tum for “Home of Killaz.” Bay Bay wanted to summon the old Dallas swag, bringing out Big Tuck for a DSR reunion as Tuck and Tum Tum performed “Southside Da Realist” and “Not a Stain on Me.”
Then it was time for North Dallas to get recognition, as Bay Bay called on Mr. Lucci to perform “Diabolical” solo before being joined by Mr. Pookie for “Crook for Life.” For the average rap fan, these names aren’t immediately recognizable and are considered underground unless you were jamming to them in high school or college. Think of it as an important history lesson, bringing attention to these rappers performing at a festival in their city.
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Bay Bay then treated fans to a D-Town Boogie blitz of artists, shouting for Fat Pimp, who did his dance to “Rack Daddy,” Lil Wil for “My Dougie” and “Bust It Open,” Trap Starz Clik, and Dorrough for “Walk That Walk,” “Get Big” and “Ice Cream Paint Job.” Bay Bay’s connections to the city’s talent run deep, continuing with Chalie Boy for “I Look Good” and “Thick Fine Woman.”
Fans were treated to The Party Boyz, Treal Lee and Prince Rick for “Throwed Off,” and even GS Boyz who hit the Stanky Legg like it never left. Fans saw Yung Nation, M.E., Lil Ronny MothaF, and Big Homie Sho serving up jiggin’ dance songs for a full-blown party.
But Bay Bay wasn’t done yet.
He turned his attention to the Dallas rap stars of today, bringing out Erica Banks for twerk anthems “Buss It” and “Toot That.” Though it wasn’t explained, Yella Beezy was absent from the set. Instead, Bay Bay capped it off with Gunna Meize and OG Bobby Billions, who performed “Outside (Better Days)” as a Mo3 tribute, and Montana 700 with Zillionaire Doe.
It wasn’t the big finale we expected since the audience was unfamiliar with some names. It could’ve used someone like BigXThaPlug or buzzing Dallas artist 4Batz, who was seen walking around TwoGether Land on Saturday. But the sentiment of promoting the new Dallas faces was appreciated.
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If you went on Saturday and Sunday, the organization and flow of TwoGether Land made it easy for fans to schedule what they wanted to see and arrive whenever they desired through an app that gave reminders of when the next act was on.
Rapper Lil Wayne performs at the first TwoGether Land hip-hop festival in Dallas.(Eric Diep)
Lil Wayne, Latto, Jeezy, and Gucci Mane were the most scheduled by fans, but the joy of TwoGether Land came from its balance of R&B acts with Amerie, Dru Hill, The-Dream, and Summer Walker if you felt moved by slower jams. The lineup was a well-curated, regional set of Southern pillars that mixed artists from Memphis, New Orleans, and Atlanta with Texas names.
Some highlights of both days were Shaboozey teasing his new album and single with BigXThaPlug, Three 6 Mafia’s DJ Paul joking that the sweat on his shirt made the shape of Texas, Gucci Mane sharing the stage with his wife Keyshia Ka’oir for “Freaky Gurl,” Jeezy saying he always got love for Dallas, The-Dream commenting that his real fans have kids because they listened to his music, and Latto channeling her heavily sexual “Big Mama” persona.
By the time Lil Wayne was getting ready to close out the weekend, it was a victory lap for artists of Wayne’s generation who reached mainstream sustainability. After a slight delay due to a few fans suffering from heat exhaustion, Wayne soldiered through a tight 45-minute set covering his Hot 100 singles, guest features, mixtape cuts, and Tha Carter III classics like “Lollipop” and “A Milli.”
As the night went on, Wayne was amazed by the crowd rocking with him after being in the sun for hours. He was thankful that fans skipped the Mavericks game to be with him, telling us who won in case we didn’t check the score. He was happy to still rap in front of an audience after all these years.
“This is love,” Wayne said.
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The crowd kept cheering for him. His parting words are his standard if you’ve seen him live before, but telling us he isn’t anything without us rang true more than ever at the first TwoGether Land. Texas loves you, Weezy. And Weezy loves us back.
The Dallas Stars took down the Edmonton Oilers in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals, and in doing so put a bow on what was perhaps the best three-day weekend in the history of Dallas professional sports.
The Stars have taken two straight games in the series vs. Edmonton and now lead 2-0. That’s after their American Airlines Center cohorts, the Dallas Mavericks, have roared out to a 3-0 lead in the NBA’s Western Conference finals.
Two more Stars wins, and one more Mavs victory, and Dallas sports fans will be in double-Finals pandemonium.
Here are some reactions from the Stars’ thrilling win, one that featured a wild comeback, a controversial call and a hat trick for Jason Robertson.
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Five thoughts from Stars-Oilers Game 3: Jason Robertson hat trick gives Dallas series lead
We are 3 total wins away from both tenants of the AAC reaching their respective Championship series and that is absolutely incredible. Such a special time in DFW. Unreal.
Wayne Gretzky, on the TNT set between periods, on the embellishment call: “Maybe one of the worst calls I’ve ever seen. A tough guy like Marchment, he doesn’t embellish. That should have been one penalty.”
Authorities are investigating after officers on Monday morning found a fatally wounded teen near Thurgood Marshall Park in Dallas, police said.
At about 9:30 a.m., officers were requested in connection with a health and welfare check call in the 4900 block of Mark Trail Way in the Red Bird neighborhood of Dallas.
Baby, fatally wounded woman found inside vehicle in Old East Dallas, police say
Someone reported seeing a person on the ground in a breezeway, police said. In a Monday news release, authorities identified the person as a 14-year-old boy, but did not release his name, citing his age.
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Investigators determined that the boy had been shot. He was pronounced dead at the location by Dallas Fire-Rescue, police said.
No suspect information was available as of Monday evening, according to police. The death is being investigated as a homicide.
2 girls among 4 dead following head-on collision in Parker County, Texas DPS says
Anyone with information is asked to contact Dallas Police detective Timothy Johnston at 214-671-3523 or timothy.johnston@dallaspolice.gov. They should reference case No. 082082-2024.
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Boy dies Sunday after shooting in Fort Worth; no arrests made, police say
