Cowboys Brian Schottenheimer Speaks Out On George Pickens OTA Decision
As trade rumors swirl and voluntary workouts begin, offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer remains confident in his star receiver's commitment before Dallas enters a high-stakes mandatory minicamp.
Video Transcript
I can only hope that Jerry Jones and Stephen Jones care about this tag.
If I was them, I would hate to be labeled unserious, to hear that people think the Dallas Cowboys are an unserious franchise.
That test is here.
Mike Fisher reporting from Frisco, Texas, home of the Dallas Cowboys.
This is the Fish Bowl.
That is the Star.
We will be inside the building this week, for part of OTAs, and we invite you to come with us via the Cowboys Fish Report here.
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It's an arms race.
other teams that think they're good are trying to get even better.
And of course, the latest example of that is the Rams and their blockbuster trade for Miles Garrett.
That is a, that is a go for it, break the bank, all in move.
The sort of thing that the Joneses talk about in Dallas, but so rarely do.
They have an opportunity to make a countermove here, to try to keep pace with what the other good teams, and we're gonna work on the assumption now that the Cowboys have a chance to be a good team, what the other good teams are doing.
There might be some point where you just back out and say, "We, we can't compete with them, so this isn't gonna be a go for it year for us this year."
For instance, the Cleveland Browns, that's them.
The Cleveland Browns are looking around going, "We know we're not gonna be good.
There's no use to us keeping Miles Garrett here.
We, we don't even have a quarterback."
w- and, and for those of you, by the way, who disagree, watch and see what the Browns do next year in the draft, and then you'll know the truth.
They're, Ar- Arizona is in that same boat.
Miami's in that same boat.
At least I think so.
Are the Raiders gonna end up being in that same boat?
There are, there are countermoves that can be made by the Dallas Cowboys that can keep them in the hunt.
And no, Rashawn Gary does not count as the countermove.
I, I, I do think it's worth noting that the Cowboys made improvements in their pass rush, or at least they think they did, and they did so smartly and affordably.
The Rashawn Gary thing can be billed as a steal.
If he goes and gets you 10 sacks, and all you gave up for him was, what, a fourth-round pick?
Good for you.
But there's still moves to be made.
Rashawn Gary's not a generational talent.
He's not Miles Garrett, obviously.
Low cost, good upside, that's fine.
Same thing with the drafting of Malachi Lawrence.
Hey, that might work.
Same thing with the hoped-for maturation of Donovan Eze.
That might work.
Throw a little Sam Williams in there, and throw a little Justin Houston in there, and then you got Quinn and Williams inside, and maybe you've got a pass rush, and it didn't cost you, a young pro bowler and a first-round pick and change.
But it's not enough.
Rashawn Gary and company is not enough.
So sitting out there, waiting as an opportunity for the Cowboys to look serious.
Josh Sweat in Arizona, pass rusher.
Jordan Brooks, linebacker in Miami.
And Max Crosby of the Raiders.
A- a- and we could throw out other names.
By the way, this doesn't mean, let's get Jordan Brooks because Dee Winters sucks.
This means let's get Jordan Brooks because he's substantially better than Dee Winters.
This doesn't mean let's take another stab at Max Crosby or at Jo- Josh Sweat because our present pass rushers suck.
It means that our present pass rushers aren't guys that you game plan for.
I am circling back on Max Crosby.
They, they made a strong bid for him not long ago.
They also made inquiries, we know for a fact, into Jordan Brooks.
I'm circling back on that.
I don't know how hard they've ever gone on Josh Sweat, but it's time.
Those of you who are skeptical about all this, I get it.
I would remind you, though, that this off-season, they have made moves that suggest they wanna be taken seriously.
Rashawn Gary's one of those.
Dee Winters counts as one of those.
The re-signing of George Pickens and of Brandon Arbery, those two count.
Jalen Thompson counts.
Kobe Durant counts.
Those things matter.
Now, how are you gonna keep pace?
Y- you have a chance to be on par with the Eagles, and that's saying something.
Heck, you have a chance to be better than the Eagles.
The window's open.
The best team in the NFC now looks like it might be the Rams.
A minute ago, it looked like it was Seattle.
The margin, the difference between the Seattle roster and the Dallas roster is not so substantial that the Cowboys shouldn't continue to try to be all in, to bust the budget, and to pursue seriousness.
I know that Jerry Jones, part of his legacy is gonna be he's, that he, he's in the Hall of Fame.
He won three Super Bowls.
He invested $158 million and turned it into a $15 billion enterprise.
That's all grand.But I would like to think that when Jerry's about done, in addition to all those things, that his reputation, forget Jerry football, I would want for him to be his reputation to be all fun and games aside, all the honky-tonking and the geeing and hawing and the just between us girls and that he was serious.
And if the Cowboys don't take the opportunity to try to match what the other NFC contenders are doing, Jerry's legacy here, unfortunately for him and for you, might be that he's unserious.
Item two, Pete Prisco, CBS Sports, says that Dak Prescott's going to win the MVP.
It is his opinion that Dak Prescott is the most underappreciated, underrated player in the NFL.
And that if the Cowboys had any sort of defense, he'd be recognized as that.
Dak Prescott will never be recognized.
He finished second in MVP voting, so it's not a ridiculous prediction.
He will be never, he will never be recognized as being great until he wins multiple playoff games in a single season.
Never.
He could win multiple MVPs.
And if this team can't win in the playoffs, he won't be good enough and shouldn't be deemed good enough.
He's already accomplished fine things in the regular season.
Over the course of a decade, they win, win, win.
They get to the playoffs.
He gets MVP votes, puts up gigantic numbers.
But now there's a next level.
And by the way, once you get to that next level where you win a couple playoff games, then comes another level that Dak Prescott's Cowboys aren't even close to.
So if you're a Cowboy fan, you want this to be true.
Dak Prescott, grossly underappreciated, not grossly underpaid, grossly underrated, and is going to go win the MVP.
But the idea that it's the defense only that has held him back from doing that is false.
There's myriad reasons why the Cowboys haven't gotten MVP trophies for Dak Prescott or gotten obvious acclaim and universal acclaim for Dak Prescott.
And over the course of a decade, it hasn't just been because the defense wasn't good enough.
Sometimes it's been because Dak Prescott wasn't good enough.
And finally, item three, as we dine on fish for breakfast and remind you to hang out with us today at cowboysroundtable.com, where we are loaded for bear.
The Eagles are still going to be good.
The Cowboys have reason to be good.
Jury very much out on Washington.
Oddsmakers have them favored in just five games this year.
And then there's the Giants, who you catch early.
And I think that's a break for you.
On the road early, you don't have to worry about weather there.
And hopefully they won't have their program together yet.
Jackson Dart, his head might still be spinning by deciding to dip his toe into politics.
Their potential superstar wide receiver, Malik Nabors, probably won't be 100% healthy there.
And again, under John Harbaugh, maybe they won't have integrated their system completely.
They are still scrambling for talent on offense.
Cam Skedaboo, fun running back.
Not a Pro Bowl running back.
Nabors, Pro Bowl receiver, not healthy.
They still, and the jury out on the quarterback.
They still don't have the weaponry in New York to consistently threaten a good team, which is what you think you are.
Stephen A. checks in with a $2 pitch and a super chat.
Together, everybody achieves more.
And the Cowboys need 53 pieces here, not just Dak Prescott.
And the 53 pieces need to go, not just get to the playoffs, which would be nice after a two-year hiatus.
Got to win two playoff games in one season, in one offseason.
Or else Dak Prescott will be remembered as, relatively speaking, as unserious as Jerry Jones might be remembered as.
Right now, the Giants don't look very serious either because headline gathering transaction yesterday, not quite on the Miles Garrett level, not quite on the A.J.
Brown level.
They signed Odell Beckham Jr. Diddly, diddly, dink.
They did what?
And this is a massive, huge headlines.
Odell Beckham Jr. hasn't been good for five years.
And his greatest accomplishment is a really good catch against the Cowboys in a game that I believe the Giants lost.
They also signed Braxton Berrios to the wide receiver room.
And they also signed Juju Smith-Schuster.
Now, I want the Cowboys to make a major counter move based on the Miles Garrett thing.
But I think what the Giants are doing, they're gathering headlines.
They are not gathering talent.
So as a counter move to the Giants signing Braxton Berrios, Juju Smith-Schuster, and Odell Beckham Jr., I would suggest that the Cowboys get busy and sign Drew Pearson, Doug Donnelly, and Butch Johnson.
Fish out.
