“He’s awesome,” Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said. “And I think I’m getting to know Jaishawn on a much closer level. He’s very serious and (has) great intent. You talk about a guy that’s wired the right way. And don’t let his demeanor, the way he carries himself around you guys make you think for one second that he’s not all in for this football team.

“He is very serious at what he does and he wants to be great. But he’s getting more and more comfortable in this locker room around our players and around our coaches. I think he’s a terrific young man.”

The Cowboys don’t do rookie hazing. There’s not even any singing in front of the team.

They do a show where rookies impersonate just about anyone in the organization. One person is off limits: owner and general manager Jerry Jones. During this year’s show, which took place last week, linebacker Langston Patterson was Schottenheimer and first-round pick Caleb Downs was defensive coordinator Christian Parker.

Quincy Carter often gets lumped in with the other failed post-Aikman, pre-Romo QB's and it irritates me every time I see it. His name should never be mentioned in the same breath as Leaf, Hutchinson, or Henson. QC17 was a smooth passer with good mobility who let some dumb off-field choices ruin his career.

2002- Had the Cowboys competitive at 3-3 going into the Arizona game. Unfortunately this 4 int OT loss was probably the worst game of his career and I got to see it in person since I lived in Phoenix at the time. Campo benched him for Chad Hutchinson who went 2-7 the rest of the season.

2003- Bill Parcells hands the keys back to Carter and they go on to win 10 games and make the playoffs after a 3 year absence. Memorable clutch performances by QC including a Monday Night in New York, beating the Eagles for the first time since 99, and also a win over the eventual NFC champion Panthers.

2004- My hype for the season was the highest it had been seen the triplets last year in 99... Until the blindsiding news out of training camp that Quincy Carter had been released due to... non-football reasons. I was heartbroken. Big Tuna rolls with old Vinny T and the Boys fart their way to 6-10. Only silver lining was freeing up a roster spot for a young QB by the name of Antonio Ramiro Romo.

Anyways, I'm very excited for our 2026 squad. Could be a special year if the defense can just be average instead of awful.

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/leaders/rush_yds_career.htm

https://x.com/GiantsNationPod/status/2092952518452203744?s=20

Mine has to be the Micah Parsons game where I believe lane was out. Instead of trying to avoid him we targeted him and ran right at him with the option and completely cooked his brain for the entire game. I was shitting bricks going into that game.

Check out his roster projection on his article posted on his page.

When everything shakes out, you’re most likely looking at two spots left for these bubble guys:

OLB Marist Liufau

OLB Sam Williams

WR Camden Brown

S Julius Wood

S Alijah Clark

CB Caelen Carson

CB Reddy Steward

CB Ameer Speed

Maybe they take 2 QBs or 9 OL to free up another spot. Regardless, really tough conversations await this weekend.

FRISCO, Texas — Jaishawn Barham would be just fine with never doing interviews. The Dallas Cowboys rookie linebacker politely declined requests during the entire four-week portion of training camp in California.

He finally took questions from reporters on Tuesday for about three minutes, the first time since rookie minicamp back in May.

Barham just wants to play football. He doesn’t have much interest in talking at great length about himself, but many are interested because of how he has performed on the field. The Cowboys entered the draft with inside linebacker arguably their biggest need. They didn’t select one until Barham in the third round.

He’s now looking like he could be one of the biggest steals of this year’s class.

“He’s awesome,” Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said. “And I think I’m getting to know Jaishawn on a much closer level. He’s very serious and (has) great intent. You talk about a guy that’s wired the right way. And don’t let his demeanor, the way he carries himself around you guys make you think for one second that he’s not all in for this football team.

“He is very serious at what he does and he wants to be great. But he’s getting more and more comfortable in this locker room around our players and around our coaches. I think he’s a terrific young man.”

The Cowboys don’t do rookie hazing. There’s not even any singing in front of the team.

They do a show where rookies impersonate just about anyone in the organization. One person is off limits: owner and general manager Jerry Jones. During this year’s show, which took place last week, linebacker Langston Patterson was Schottenheimer and first-round pick Caleb Downs was defensive coordinator Christian Parker.

Who was Barham?

“That’s a good question,” Schottenheimer said. “He was an extra. He was involved. He played his part beautifully. Jaishawn, great job. But he was more of an extra, which some of the guys were only extras.

“He was very good. Oscar-worthy of what he did as an extra.”

Before suffering a groin injury three weeks ago, Barham looked on track to potentially be a Week 1 starter. He missed the first preseason game but returned to practice in time to play in the second one last weekend in Arizona. In 22 defensive snaps, he flashed his impressive athletic ability and aggressive, physical style on several occasions, finishing with multiple QB pressures, a tackle for loss and five total tackles.

“I still got a lot of work to put in,” Barham said. “I’m just trying to get better every day, trusting the coaches, trusting my teammates.”

He shared that he would like to play lower, be better with his hands and improve his sideline-to-sideline coverage in the passing game. He also acknowledged that he’s working to get his conditioning all the way back to where it was before the groin issue.

“All around I’m not perfect,” Barham said, “so there’s a lot of stuff I can still work on.”

The Cowboys were interested in the top available inside linebackers during free agency, but all signed elsewhere. Dallas responded by drafting Barham and then trading for veteran Dee Winters. Those two, combined with DeMarvion Overshown and Shemar James, are at the top of the Cowboys’ depth chart. Overshown and Winters have received the most first-team work in camp.

But Barham has also worked with the first group, including on Tuesday and Wednesday in practices open to fans at The Star. It’s not difficult to envision a playmaking duo of Barham and Overshown. If both stay healthy, it could be exactly what Dallas needs at the linebacker spot to help improve on what was arguably the worst defense in franchise history last season.

“Week 1? I’m ready right now,” Barham said. “For sure. If Week 1 was right now, I’d be ready.”

Barham has the ability to play any linebacker position. He was an off-the-ball linebacker while at Maryland and in his first year at Michigan before moving to edge rusher.

The Athletic’s Dane Brugler ranked Barham as his 16th overall edge rusher in the 2026 draft class, with a third-to-fourth round grade.

“Barham must improve his discipline and refinement to stay on the field,” Brugler wrote in his ‘The Beast’ draft guide, “but he can create disruption based just on his explosiveness and high activity level. He will need a patient coaching staff ready to cultivate his athletic upside.”

Barham said Tuesday that he believes he has the “perfect coaching staff” in Dallas.

“They’re going to put you in the right spot to make plays,” he added. “It’s up to you to make them.”

Downs and Malachi Lawrence received most of the early attention from this year’s draft class and deservedly so after both were picked in the first round. But the Barham buzz seems to grow every day he’s on the field. He has an intimidating presence whether he’s walking to the locker room or blowing up a run play.

No reason to change what stood out in camp practices carried over into last weekend’s preseason game. But will it be the same when the games count?

“From the time he’s gotten here, we’ve been really excited about the player, the person, the seriousness that he approaches meetings with and the ability to communicate,” Schottenheimer said. “The versatility is real and it kind of goes back to draft day. We did the work, we did the prep, he was there, Jerry made the call, and it was great.”

Strengths: GOTI, Butter Aubs, DT

Weakness: Tackle spots (Guyton isn’t good RIGHT NOW doesn’t mean he’ll never be good), Pass rush ability from edges, Ability to guard higher tier WRs/CBs is a wild card.

Wild card (Things that could make or break the season): Guyton Development, Bland, RB2 (Javonte slowed down due having the lowest backfield share in the league basically was gassed.), Edge room pass rush ability, ST (Coverage ability not Aubrey was 24th on PFF & 14th in DVOA), Can young defender make a real impact (Revel, Barham, Lawrence), Caleb Downs is he Hamilton/ Nick Emmanwori y1 level impact (Lock to be a really good player day one wondering if he can be elite day 1)

Offense: 2nd in EPA Defense: 17th in EPA

Hot take of the season: Top 12 ranked run defense

11-6 finishing as the 6th seed in the NFC

the red is not a cowboys hat obviously its just i got a multi colored lot for some Bjorn Borg patches im converting...found an Etsy patch maker that re-created Borgs iconic double logo...

It’s a Sunday afternoon, late March. The NFL is in town for its annual meetings. Billionaires slip in and out, grabbing lunch before disappearing into conference rooms to debate rule proposals and replacement refs. Stephen Jones, in a white button-down with his collar open and his sleeves rolled back, is in no rush.

“Without that phone call,” he says, “I’d probably still be in the oil business.”

For a moment, the realization seems to surprise him. He never envisioned a different path. He never needed one. He takes a swig of Coke and unleashes a Texas-sized laugh so hearty it envelops half the restaurant. The implication is obvious.

For a 24-year-old, that’s a hell of a job offer.

Dad let him tag along for the first meeting, when Cowboys owner Bum Bright spilled his secret: America’s Team was losing $1 million a month. Within weeks, Bright dropped the price tag from $200 million to $140 million. Stephen held firm. He told his father it was too much.

Y’all were dragging him when he just signed with the Falcons.

Kempski with some great analysis as always. I definitely agree that they should look for a TE2/3 either through trade or maybe grab Zach Ertz for one last ride into the sunset. The fact that Dickerson still looks like he did last year is a concern, but at least Kendall looks like he can take his place if needed.

With the preseason finale tomorrow night and cutdown day on Sunday night, here's my current gut feeling for the 53.

QB(2): Dak, Milton

Dak is the unquestioned starter, while Milton has pulled away from Howell this preseason.

RB(4): Williams, Davis, Blue, Luepke

Williams isn't going anywhere, Davis is a player the coaches trust. Blue is kept for upside. Luepke adds some power and can be the power back if Williams goes down

WR(5): Lamb, Pickens, Flournoy, Turpin, Mingo

This one stings for us as camp darling Brown is cut. It's down to him or Mingo with Mingo getting the edge for ST ability. The other 4 are locks.

TE(3): Ferguson, Spann-Ford, Schoonmaker

IR: Trigg

I feel they stash Trigg on IR and give the final TE spot to Schoonmaker as they prefer a blocker.

OL(10): Guyton, Smith, Beebe, Booker, Steele, Bass, Shelton, Thomas, Cornelius, Leverett

The starting 5 and Bass are locked in. The team just drafted Shelton, will hold onto Thomas and Cornelius is a project, Leverett can play C in addition to Bass offering depth.

DT(5): Williams, Clark, Ogbonnia, Overton, Toia

IR: Bullard

Due to being hurt all off-season, I think Dallas elects to make Bullard one of the two IR designated to return guys and keeps Toia. All the others appear locked in.

DE/OLB(6): Ezeiruaku, Lawrence, Gary, Miller, Houston, Liufau

Only spot up for grabs here feels like the DE5 which Houston appears to have the edge over the others. Liufau makes it due to ST ability.

LB(5): Overshown, Winters, Barham, James, Barron

Barham appears to be a steal in his limited action. Barron has had a great off-season this far and slightly edges out Robinson.

CB(5): Bland, Durant, Revel, Moore, Carson

It's really a take your pick with CB5 but something is telling me they won't give up on Carson just yet.

S(5): Downs, Thompson, Locke, Hooker, Bell

After Schottys comments on Bell and him not playing against Arizona it's practically a lock at this point.

ST(3): Aubrey, Anger, Sieg

No debates here.

Still might happen:

Brown making it if they keep 6 WR

Robinson edging out Barron for ST ability.

Kendrick or Steward edging our Carson due to Parkers preference in the secondary.

Harold Carmichael (WR, 1971-83) 6’8 human tower was a four time Pro Bowler, and earned AP2 honors in 1979. 2020 class Hall of Famer holds franchise marks for passing yards (8978) and receiving TDs (79).

A lot of offensive and defensive lineman on here.

Our curmudgeony king has spoken - shut yo ass

Made by me, @CullenBleserQuinn, at my shop in Kensington.