FRISCO, Texas – The Cowboys are in the home stretch of their 2025 season, with two games remaining against the Commanders and Giants and a 6-8-1 record going into them.
When the season is over, there’ll be a lot for the team to reflect on. What’s the solution to improve their defense? Can the offense find ways to get even better in areas like the red zone? Who will be re-signed to new deals and remain in Dallas?
Cowboys owner/GM Jerry Jones knows that there’s a lot ahead of him before the 2026 season, and some important decisions will need to be made as he and the team try to end their now 30-year drought without a Super Bowl.
Here’s some of the key takeaways from Jones’ weekly interview with 105.3 The Fan.
How will the Cowboys approach free agency?
Ahead of the 2025 season, the Cowboys signed 11 external free agents, including RB Javonte Williams, DE Dante Fowler and DT Solomon Thomas among others. It was a large uptick from 2024, where they signed just two external free agents. How will Jones and the Cowboys approach this upcoming offseason in free agency?
“I don’t know,” Jones said. “We’ll see where we are with our own players. We’ll be active, but the question is the degree of activity. I can’t imagine not doing things in free agency.”
Several Cowboys players are set to become unrestricted free agents this offseason, namely George Pickens, who will likely be the biggest name to monitor in terms of how Dallas approaches the rest of the offseason.
The Cowboys’ continued defensive struggles
Dallas’ defense has been an area of struggle all season long, even despite the Cowboys’ trying different things like blitzing more or moving defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus up to the coach’s booth. In Jones’ mind, they’re simply just not playing well enough.
“We are not executing, we are not getting done what we even run as a scheme,” Jones said. “And so that’s very critical, to be trite. Again, there’s no evasive, the point is it’s a combination of many things when you can’t get pressure or stop the run.”
Against Justin Herbert, who was tied for the most sacked quarterback in the league going into the game, was not sacked once for the first time in a game this season.
On the 30-year Super Bowl drought
With the Cowboys officially eliminated from playoff contention last week, the drought for a Super Bowl in Dallas has now stretched to three decades.
Jones has heard the noise and has been asked about the drought several times over the course of the year, but takes the viewpoint of it only takes one run to change everything.
“One year you can change the drought,” Jones said. “And then you’re the latest to have gone to the playoffs or gone to the Super Bowl. So, I don’t pay any attention to 30 years this, 20 years that, when I know one good year will change it all and you’d be at the top of the list.
Dominoes from a Tyler Smith move to left tackle?
On Sunday, Brian Schottenheimer announced that the Cowboys were going to start Tyler Smith at left tackle for the remainder of the season, and not left guard. Is that something that could change the entire offensive line, and Tyler Guyton’s future as well?
“Tyler Guyton has really got a chance to be outstanding for a lot of years to come, and he’s got the right makeup…” Jones said. “The real question is can we afford to have Tyler Smith at left tackle? Can we afford that? Larry Allen, we put him out there and he made All-Pro, but we couldn’t afford to keep him out there, he was too valuable to us inside.”
What about moving Guyton to right tackle, where he played during his college days at Oklahoma?
“You could do that, for sure,” Jones said. “We haven’t thought to that extent long term, but certainly you could do that.”
Evaluation of Brian Schottenheimer as a head coach and playcaller
After moving on from Mike McCarthy, the Cowboys turned to Brian Schottenheimer to be their head coach in 2025, his first ever NFL head coaching opportunity after nearly three decades of experience in coaching.
How would Jones evaluate how he’s done both as a head coach, and offensive playcaller in his first season?
“I’m very pleased with him,” Jones said. “He’s certainly the definition of a busy coach, or a busy individual period… This has been a year that called on him to cover a lot of ground. He’s really used his pedigree, he’s been around this stuff so much and he’s got natural instincts when it comes to allocation of where he’s best needed at the moment… I’m real pleased with him.”
