Cowboys Leaning Against Jason Garrett Calling Plays?
With Scott Linehan now out of the picture and a potential first-time offensive coordinator in Kellen Moore the frontrunner to succeed him, Jason Garrett has by far the most experience on the Cowboys’ current staff calling plays.
A recent report indicated the longtime HC was in line to reclaim those responsibilities. Not so fast. The Cowboys like the setup of Garrett serving as the game-day overseer, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. It is now expected Garrett will not call plays for the Cowboys in 2019.
The expected offensive-staff hierarchy is Garrett presiding over a team of Moore as OC, Jon Kitna as quarterbacks coach and tight ends coach Doug Nussmeier gaining influence, per Rapoport.
Nussmeier, 48, served as OC for Fresno State, Washington, Alabama, Michigan and Florida from 2009-17 before joining Garrett’s staff last year. Kitna has been a head high school coach since his 16-year playing career ended in 2012. Moore, 30, spent 2018 on Dallas’ staff after retiring following the ’17 season.
It would stand to reason Moore would act as the play-caller, as the assumed OC, but that may not be sorted out just yet. Regardless, it will be interesting to see where the NFC East champions go here given the less experienced staff they plan to assemble to run their 2019 offense.
Cole Beasley Discusses Role
The Jets are expected to hire former Bengals offensive line coach Frank Pollack for the same position, tweets Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. Pollack did a solid job with Cincinnati in 2018, but he was revered for his work with the Cowboys’ front five from 2013-17. He drew interest from the Packers after being fired by the Bengals, but will now head to New York, where the Jets ranked dead last in Football Outsiders‘ run-blocking metric and 18th in pass protection. Before hiring Pollack, the Jets also had interest in former 49ers assistant OL coach Adam Stenavich, per Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News (Twitter link). Stenavich has since joined the Packers’ staff as offensive line coach.
- Dez Bryant regularly criticized the Cowboys‘ front office and coaching staff before and — especially — after being released, and now another Dallas receiver has taken the same tact. “Honestly, the front office pushes who they want to get the ball to,” Cole Beasley tweeted on Tuesday. “I haven’t been a huge priority in that regard. Maybe that will change but I’m not sure. More balls come my way in 2 minute drill where nothing is planned.” In 2018, the 29-year-old Beasley ranked second on the Cowboys in targets, receptions, and yardage, and tied for second with three touchdowns. His four-year, $13.6MM extension expires in March, at which point he’ll hit the free agent market.
Latest On Cowboys, Demarcus Lawrence
Last year, the Cowboys and Demarcus Lawrence were unable to come to terms on a long-term deal, which resulted in Lawrence playing out the season on the one-year franchise tag. This time around, it sounds like the Cowboys are much more eager to get something done. 
“I wouldn’t say we were a long ways apart; we were apart,” Jones said of last year’s talks (via Kate Hairopoulos of the Dallas News). “Certainly DeMarcus has done his part to make us feel more comfortable. He put together now two back-to-back, double-digit sack seasons. Of course he’s a leader by example. … Nothing’s changed in terms of my opinion, except for the better.”
Lawrence was plagued by back issues earlier in his career, but he has now turned in two consecutive healthy seasons. In 2017, he had 14.5 sacks, 58 total tackles, and four forced fumbles. This year, he had 10.5 sacks, 64 stops, two forced fumbles, and an interception. The Cowboys asked for a repeat of ’17 and they more or less got it, which has made them comfortable with a longer arrangement.
Last year, Lawrence earned $17.143MM under the franchise tender, but he has already said he’s not open to playing on the tag in 2019. Both sides now seem on the same page, but a new deal for Lawrence won’t come cheap. The Cowboys defensive star may have his eye on deals signed by Aaron Donald and Khalil Mack, which each exceeded the $22MM/year mark.
Kellen Moore Leading Candidate For Cowboys’ OC Job?
Kellen Moore may well be set for a staggering rise within the coaching profession. The 30-year-old former quarterback-turned-quarterbacks coach spent one season on the Cowboys’ staff and has been linked to the recently available offensive coordinator job.
Moore appears to be the favorite to land the position, Drew Davison of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram notes.
Jerry Jones is eyeing an internal hire to take the job Scott Linehan held, and Moore — whom the organization regards as a “bright football mind” after making a strong impression this season as QBs coach — is receiving heavy consideration for the role, per Davison. Tight ends coach Doug Nussmeier is also a candidate, Jones said.
Regardless of the Cowboys’ hire here, Jason Garrett is expected to call plays next season.
Dak Prescott will play a “significant” part in determining his next OC, Jones said. Jon Kitna, who also backed up Tony Romo for a time prior to Moore’s arrival, is joining Dallas’ staff in a to-be-determined role — one that ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter said would be as the Cowboys’ QBs coach. Moore rising from reserve quarterback to OC within two years would be a Romo-esque leap within a profession. Moore, who made two starts for the 2015 Cowboys, retired as a player in January 2018.
The Cowboys are not expected to make any more outside hires, according to Stephen Jones (via the Dallas Morning News’ Kate Hairopoulos, on Twitter). The current staff’s roles and titles are being discussed.
Cowboys Hire Jon Kitna As QB Coach; Jason Garrett To Call Offensive Plays?
- We learned earlier today that the Cowboys could hire Jon Kitna as their QB coach and name Kellen Moore as their new OC. Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter (via Twitter), Kitna will indeed become Dallas’ QB coach, which means that Moore — who served as the team’s QB coach in 2018 — may very well take the OC reins. Schefter’s ESPN colleague, Chris Mortensen, reports that head coach Jason Garrett is “in line” to serve as the team’s offensive play-caller in 2019 regardless of who the OC is (Twitter link).
Kellen Moore Could Be Promoted To OC; Cowboys Interested In Hiring Jon Kitna
The Cowboys‘ offensive coordinator position is now vacant after the team parted ways with Scott Linehan several days ago, and we learned that tight ends coach Doug Nussmeier may be the favorite to replace Linehan. However, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com suggests that Dallas could look to promote quarterbacks coach Kellen Moore — whom Rapoport described as “fast-rising” and “impressive” — to the OC job (Twitter link). If that happens, RapSheet suggests that the team could add another one of its former QBs to the coaching staff by hiring Jon Kitna, most recently the offensive coordinator for the AAF’s San Diego Fleet, as the new quarterbacks coach.
Potential Cowboys OC Candidates
The Cowboys made a big splash today, firing longtime offensive coordinator Scott Linehan. Speculation immediately began swirling about who Jerry Jones and Jason Garrett would tap to be his replacement, and Jon Machota of Dallas News is out with a list of potential replacements. Machota writes that Cowboys tight ends coach Doug Nussmeier is “the favorite” for the job, and notes that Garrett has spoken highly of the former Alabama and Florida offensive coordinator. He also lists quarterbacks coach Kellen Moore and receivers coach Sanjay Lal as candidates.
If the Cowboys opt not to promote someone from within, they could be interested in Georgia offensive coordinator James Coley and Saints tight ends coach Dan Campbell, who played for the Cowboys from 2003 to 2005. Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com tweeted that “it’s hard to imagine that Jerry Jones fired Scott Linehan without knowing in advance precisely who the replacement would be,” so it’s possible we hear very soon who it’ll be.
Latest On Prescott Extension
- Speaking of quarterback extensions, Dak Prescott will need one soon as well. 2019 will be the last year of his rookie contract, and what kind of extension the Cowboys offer him will be one of the more interesting contract developments this offseason. Former NFL agent and current CBS Sports analyst Joel Corry took a look at all of Dallas’ options, and came to the conclusion that inking Prescott to a new deal “may be a lot easier said than done.” He writes that the Cowboys may be reluctant to offer Prescott top of the quarterback market money because it would preclude them from extending other young players, but that Prescott’s agent Todd France has “a reputation for driving a hard bargain in negotiations”, and will be unlikely to back down. It’ll be fascinating to see how this one plays out, and whether Prescott ends up getting top quarterback money or has to settle for something in the lower $20MM’s.
Cowboys Sign WR Devin Smith
Devin Smith is back in the league. The former Jets second round pick signed a reserve/futures deal with the Cowboys today, according to his agent Jason Bernstein (Twitter link).
The 37th overall pick of the 2015 draft, Smith spent the entire 2018 season out of football after the Jets waived him back in July. Smith was always high on talent coming out of Ohio State, but was plagued by injuries once he reached the pros. He played in ten games his rookie season but managed just four in 2016 before missing the entire 2017 season with his second ACL tear.
In his Jets career, he caught just ten passes for 135 yards and one touchdown. The Cowboys have been doing whatever they can to upgrade their receiving corp ever since releasing Dez Bryant, first by drafting Michael Gallup, then by signing Allen Hurns and trading for Amari Cooper, and now by taking a flyer on Smith. Smith was always known as a speed demon, and drew comparisons to DeSean Jackson coming out of college.
Still only 26, it’s still possible he could develop into a legit deep threat for a team one day if he can stay healthy and prove he still has the burst he used to have. With the reserve/futures deal, he’ll be added to Dallas’ offseason 90-man roster and be with the team for OTA’s and training camp with the chance to compete for a roster spot.
Cowboys Fire OC Scott Linehan
Days after receiving a vote of confidence from head coach Jason Garrett, Scott Linehan is out of a job. The offensive coordinator has been dismissed, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). Soon after Rapoport’s report, the Cowboys made it official with a formal announcement.
According to a statement from Garrett released by the team, this was a “mutual decision” between the Cowboys and the Linehan:
“This was not an easy decision because of how highly we regard Scott Linehan as a football coach and as a person. He and I had some really positive, substantive and open discussions which took place in the latter part of this week, and we ultimately agreed that it would be in the best interest of all of the parties involved if we were to make a change at this (offensive coordinator) position,” Garrett said. “This was very much a mutual decision, and there was a great deal of common ground and shared understanding between both of us during our meetings. Scott has had an incredibly positive impact on our football team. He has been instrumental in the development and success of a significant number of our veteran and younger players. He is an outstanding football coach, a great friend and we wish him and his family nothing but the absolute best moving forward.”
On Monday, Garrett told a local radio station that he did not foresee any changes to the coaching staff. Hours later, in a separate interview, he said that nothing was firm either way. Later, Jerry Jones did an interview of his own in which he made it clear that Garrett was not the one making the decision.
There were factors out of Linehan’s control – including the absence of offensive line anchor Travis Frederick – but there’s no way to sugarcoat it: the Cowboys offense underperformed in 2018. The midseason addition of wide receiver Amari Cooper opened things up, but the Cowboys ultimately did not have confidence in Linehan’s ability to steer the ship.
The Cowboys averaged 343.8 yards per game in 2018, good for just 22nd in the NFL. They also finished tenth in rushing yards, which fell below expectations given the presence of Ezekiel Elliott and the team’s reputation for having one of the NFL’s best offensive lines.