5 steps the Dallas Cowboys must take to be a Super Bowl team
By Reid Hanson
It’s Super Bowl Sundays and for two teams, it marks the absolute pinnacle of their success this year. To the 30 other teams like the Dallas Cowboys, it’s a painful display of “what could have been.”
The Dallas Cowboys specifically have reason for misery and reason for optimism. Dallas is one of the younger teams in the NFL. They have great players at important positions and on paper look like one of the most talented, if not THE most talented teams in the NFL.
But after a disappointing ending to a very promising season, Stephen Jones may look to shake things up this year. Sadly, none of those changes involves the coaching staff and most likely will come at the cost of the highly talented roster.
Today we look what the Dallas Cowboys must do (and must not do) to reach the Super Bowl next season.
Keeping in mind, the coaching staff is locked in and outside free agent decisions are out of our control, here’s what the Dallas Cowboys must do in five simple steps…
Step 1: Don’t be afraid of the salary cap
The top objective to know and understand right now is regarding the salary cap. At a time of the year when Stephen Jones is going through his annual “we’re restricted by the salary cap” routine, keep in mind NFL owners created the cap in order to make money and win fan favor.
The salary cap is a mostly-artificial ceiling to spending that is highly manipulatable and only slightly restrictive. It’s something owners can point to when they don’t want to spend money and it’s something they can massage when they do want to spend money.
On paper, the Dallas Cowboys don’t have money to spend. But that’s only because they want it to look that way. Adjustments here and there are a snap-of-the-fingers away, and while some call that “kicking the can”, it’s actually savvy accounting that maximizing buying power and offers very little consequences on the backend.
The only people who are afraid of “Cap Hell” in the NFL are those who don’t understand the salary cap. There’s a reason none of the experts worry about it #Cowboys
— SportDFW (@TheRealSportDFW) February 12, 2022
Many fans have fallen hook line and sinker for the myth of the salary cap and that’s exactly how the owners want it. But they know better, the league knows better, and everyone who’s studied the cap knows better.
The Dallas Cowboys can’t spend with reckless abandon but they can certainly spend more than they have been.