Throughout the offseason, Cowboys fans have remained occupied with tales of Micah Parsons’ ambition, updates about PCP from Mike McCarthy, and speculation about the potential effectiveness of the “Texas Coast” offense.
But what has the rest of the division been up to over the past few months?
Cowboys fans may not be “concerned” per se, but a good update can put things into context and provide quality talking points as activity ramps back up.
The other members of the NFC East will make up 40% of the “20-game season” that Mike McCarthy keeps talking about.
So here’s a review of how their off-seasons have been going.
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Giants | Commanders | Eagles
NEW YORK GIANTS
The New York Giants’ receiver room is competitive, but there’s no clear hierarchy.
Three veterans are expected to return from injury. One of them is Collin Johnson who some expect to be the Giants’ No. 1 receiver after he recovers from an ACL tear.
Another is Wan’Dale Robinson. Robinson is also coming back from an ACL Tear, and he’s expected to have a “breakout” season in 2023.
Sterling Shepard is coming off of ACL surgery. He has value as a veteran, but doesn’t seem to have set himself apart from the other eight receivers on the Giants’ depth chart.
It’ll be interesting to see how Daniel Jones and the Giants offense sorts out the receiver situation.
CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS WITH SAQUON BARKLEY
But the Giants might have even bigger issues at the running back position. Specifically with 2x Pro-Bowler Saquon Barkley. So far, contract negotiations with the running back appear somewhat tense.
Barkley did not attend the New York Giants minicamp this week, and he hasn’t ruled out sitting out the season.
This could have a major impact on the Giants offense. Not only is Barkley considered one of the team’s leaders, but the offense seemed to run through him as well.
The Giants were 0-3 when Barkley rushed for less than 50 yards, 8-2 when he had over 70 yards, and 7-2 when he tallied over 100.
The Giants have until July 17 to reach a deal with Barkley. Otherwise, he’ll be playing under a $10.1 million franchise tag or sitting out the season.
The Dallas Cowboys defeated the New York Giants in both of their 2022 match ups.
In 2023, The Cowboys will begin their regular season with a visit to the Giants. With the offensive issues the Giants are facing, it’s difficult to imagine any scenario where the Cowboys don’t walk away 1-0 after that game.
WASHINGTON COMMANDERS
Lately, most news about the Washington Commanders revolves around their quarterback situation.
For most of 2022, the Commanders went back and forth between Carson Wentz and Taylor Heinicke at the quarterback position.
Going into 2023, however, Head Coach Ron Rivera needs to decide between second-year QB Sam Howell, who has one start under his belt, and Jacoby Brissett who has started 48 times during seven seasons in the NFL.
Rivera has expressed that the QB1 role belongs to Howell as long as he continues to earn it. In other words, they like what they’ve seen so far from the young quarterback, but they know there is room for growth and development.
By the time the Dallas Cowboys face the Washington Commanders, there will be a much better understanding of the identity of the Commanders offense as well as who’s leading it.
The Cowboys will host the Commanders on Thanksgiving Day. Then, they’ll visit Washington on January 7th for the final game of the regular season.
Although Sam Howell’s lone start resulted in a win over the Cowboys, by all accounts, Dallas had an atypically poor performance during that game.
If the offense is performing as expected, and the defense isn’t strained or worn out as a result, there’s no reason not to believe the Cowboys will get two Ws against the Commanders in 2023, whether it’s Howell or Brissett behind center.
PHILADELHPIA EAGLES
On the surface, everything seems to be going well for the Philadelphia Eagles.
They opted not to have a minicamp this week. However, Pro-Bowl quarterback Jalen Hurts and Head Coach Nick Sirianni both held press conferences last week. They sounded optimistic about the status of their team.
Sirianni said that Jalen Hurts’ development in 2023 is similar in magnitude to the jumps he made in 2022.
He wasn’t specific about what he saw, but considering how much Hurts improved at his position in 2022, making that much improvement for a second year in a row would be an impressive feat.
Like Sirianni, Jalen Hurts had words of praise for receiver Quez Watkins who had a down year in 2022. But from Hurts, vague expressions of approval should probably be taken with a grain of salt.
It seems to be somewhat of a personal philosophy for the Pro Bowl QB to not discuss anything that could be spun as negative or controversial.
Regarding his own weaknesses as a player, Hurts told reporters, “That’s for me to know, but it’s all about getting better.”
And when asked about the Eagles’ offseason moves, Hurts simply replied, “Kelce’s back. That stood out.” He was referring to five-time All Pro Jason Kelce who will be returning as the Eagles’ center for a 13th season.
BIG SHOES TO FILL
Of course, most people have other moves in mind when thinking of the Eagles’ offseason changes.
The Eagles lost both their offensive and defensive coordinators from last year.
To fill the offensive coordinator role, they promoted Brian Johnson from being the quarterbacks coach. This will be Johnson’s first time in that role for an NFL team.
At the college level, Johnson found himself in that role a few separate times.
Johnson was an OC for for two seasons at the University of Utah, one at the University of Houston, and one at the University of Florida. Since those seasons were non-consecutive, though, it’s understandable for there to be concern over how he might handle the role for a professional team.
As their new defensive coordinator, the Eagles hired Sean Desai who has been in the NFL since 2013.
His first stint as a defensive coordinator was with the Chicago Bears in 2021. In 2022, Desai was the associate head coach and defensive assistant for the Seattle Seahawks.
The Eagles also lost several defensive players. Of particular note are Marcus Epps and C.J. Gardner – Johnson. Their absences certainly create questions about the Eagles secondary.
In all, the Eagles will have seven new starters in 2023. That fact along with the new coordinator hires makes their decision to bypass minicamp a bit puzzling.
The Eagles are definitely the biggest challenge for the Cowboys among all of the NFC East opponents. In 2022, each team won when hosting the other.
However, fans still have yet to see a Cowboys-Eagles matchup where quarterbacks Dak Prescott and Jalen Hurts are both healthy and active.