Conor Riley on reunion with Beebe, Vaughn; blueprint for Cowboys’ offensive line – Patrik Walker, DallasCowboys.com
Multiple reunions are being had among the Cowboys’ assistant coaches.
FRISCO, Texas — Reunited and it feels so good? Considering just how prevalent reunions are becoming within the Dallas Cowboys organization, to a level that would make the legendary musical duo of Peaches and Herb proud, it felt only right they figured out a way to deliver on a different angle of it — with the help of newly-signed offensive line coach Conor Riley.
This is of course because not only is it Riley’s first-ever go at the NFL level, but landing in Dallas by way of Kansas State puts him back in the same room as Cooper Beebe, a former third-round pick of the 2024 NFL Draft who was groomed for professional dominance by none other than Riley in Manhattan, Kansas.
And, interestingly enough, it was also Riley who moved Beebe to offense in the first place.
“It was a unique situation in that Cooper was in high school when I took the Kansas State job, and he was initially going to be a defensive lineman,” Riley said of the young Cowboys’ starting center. “His dad joked to the staff [about the offensive line] in one of my home visits while recruiting. His transition to the offensive line and just how he attacks everything, every single day — and you guys know this.
“It’s well-documented since his first year truly playing at center, and how well he was able to do. That’s just who he is. He continues to attack things.”
“I think one of the best things about Cooper Beebe is his versatility,” Riley explained. “Yes, he was a two-time all American at guard for Kansas State, but he started games at tackle and at right guard or rather, excuse me, at right guard, right tackle, left guard and left tackle. So that versatility that he has really gives us a great opportunity to find the best fit for everybody up front.”
Agent’s Take: Cowboys should call Micah Parsons’ bluff with new deal soon before star seeks full market value – Joel Corry, CBS Sports
The Cowboys should be on the ball with Parsons’ new deal.
How Cowboys should approach Parsons deal
The Cowboys’ plan should be to call Parsons’ bluff so he can put his money where his mouth is with a contract extension coming as soon as possible. Dallas should try to get Parsons to follow in the footsteps of DeMarcus Lawrence although he is better than the 11-year veteran was in his prime. Parsons has 52.5 sacks in four NFL seasons, making him one of just two players to ever record at least 12 sacks in each of his first four campaigns. The other person in this exclusive club is Hall of Fame defensive lineman Reggie White, who is widely regarded as the greatest defensive player in NFL history.
Cowboys need to act fast this time around
This would require a big departure from the Cowboys’ typical negotiation time frame. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones dragged his feet on signing wide receiver CeeDee Lamb and quarterback Dak Prescott to new deals in 2024.
The delayed Lamb and Prescott’s extensions freed up $9.251 million and $10,516,867 of 2024 salary cap room respectively. The Cowboys could gain $12.3 million in 2025 cap space with this type of Parsons extension where he receives a $52.5 million signing bonus that’s prorated at $10.5 million annually from 2025 through 2029 and his $24.007 million option year salary is lowered to a $1.207 million 2025 base salary to make his 2025 cap number $11.707 million. Parsons would be getting a non-quarterback record signing bonus eclipsing Bosa’s $50 million, which is the current benchmark.
The old saying, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks” is probably going to be applicable to Parsons’ situation although it would behoove the Cowboys to get a deal done quickly. Odds are the Cowboys will squander the opportunity to create goodwill with Parsons because there still won’t be a resolution as the start of training camp is approaching in the latter part of July.
Matt Eberflus turns back the clock with Cowboys after losing Bears job – Schuyler Dixon, NBCDFW
Eberflus is one of the other coaches having their own reunion on Schottenheimer’s staff.
New Dallas defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus never really stopped to consider a year away from coaching after getting fired by the Chicago Bears.
Not that his wife, Kelly, would have let him.
“She said she wanted me to go to work now,” Eberflus said Tuesday in his first meeting with reporters since getting hired by the Cowboys. “And I did, too.”
The 57-year-old Eberflus is back where his career took off. He had a seven-year stint on the Dallas defensive staff — from 2011-17 — that led to the defensive coordinator’s job with Indianapolis.
Four years later, Eberflus took over the Bears, getting fired 12 games into his third season, the day after his poor clock management in the final seconds cost Chicago in a sixth consecutive loss. He was 14-32 with Chicago.
“I was excited after a couple of days, a couple of weeks, taking that break,” Eberflus said. “I was excited about looking at different opportunities, and this was the best opportunity, that I felt was really cool for me to come back to Dallas. I have a lot of familiar faces here, starting from the top all the way to everybody in the building.”
A first-time NFL head coach with the Bears, Eberflus is now under someone in the same situation, with longtime assistant Brian Schottenheimer taking over for Mike McCarthy.
Latest NFL news leaves Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys with even less of an excuse ahead of free agency – Mauricio Rodriguez, AtoZSports.com
Turns out the pie will be bigger than expected for Dallas’ front office this year.
NFL teams have been impatiently waiting for a salary cap figure for the 2025 season and though no official number has been set, the league sent a memo to teams on Wednesday providing an expected range between $277.5 million and $281.5 million, per various reports.
The range represents a massive leap from last year’s $255.4 million and the reason why is the 2024 salary cap was reduced by $10 million “due to a $9 million smoothing adjustment and an incremental $1 million being added to Performance Based Pay.”
Before the news, many analysts projected the cap to sit at $275 million. The popular website Over the Cap was using $272.5M as its projection for 2025. The fact the NFL used $277.5 as the low end of its projected is a surprise. The league clarified in the memo numbers are subject to change pending negotiations with the NFLPA.
For the Dallas Cowboys, the news means Jerry Jones and the front office have even less of an excuse ahead of this year’s free agency period. The team went from being a projected $2 million under the cap to $2 million over.
The team’s public stance has long been they can’t be big spenders in free agency due to long-term deals signed with Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb in 2024 and another superstar deal coming for Micah Parsons, potentially in 2025.
However, the Cowboys could open up significant cap space by simply restructuring Prescott’s and Lamb’s deals (an automatic transaction that costs players nothing). An extension for Parsons would also lower his 2024 cap hit through signing bonus proration. With those three moves, Dallas is projected to have over $75 million in available cap space.
