Micah Parsons heard Jerry Jones' promises on Tuesday to go all-in for 2024, and on Wednesday he admitted the Dallas Cowboys were a few players short in this season's championship pursuit.
"Sitting here and they talking about, 'We're going all-in this year.' Man, that's what I would hope for," Parsons said on his podcast, The Edge. "I'm 24 years old. I've been in this league three years and I've kind of seen it all. I hope that we go all-in. I hope that we go out and get the players that we're missing because we didn't do that this year. I hope that we challenge ourselves, become better and become greater."
The past several years have certainly seemed to be of the all-in variety for Dallas, but the team has nonetheless plateaued at 12 wins and earlier-than-anticipated playoff exits.
Such was the case again for the 2023 Cowboys, who won a dozen contests for the third straight year, captured the NFC East and finished as the conference's No. 2 seed, only to fall at home for the first time since Week 1 of 2022, in the process allowing the Packers to become the first seventh-seeded squad to advance past Super Wild Card Weekend under the current postseason format.
Dallas had no answers against Green Bay in any phase, at one point trailing in the fourth quarter by 32 points before staging a comeback to mask some of the ugliness with a 48-32 final score.
"It's sad, man, that you lose the way you do," Parsons said. "Especially at home. Talking about how much we played at home, how much it stood for us to be at home, and to go out like that at home was completely embarrassing and unacceptable. I couldn't even look at that loss or feel any type of way because of how embarrassed I felt. It took me a while to even be able to show my face in public. I disappeared like completely."
It was the latest example of Dallas falling short, but when it comes to an already star-studded roster and the team's money situation, there aren't a plethora of avenues for an influx of talent that's supposedly been lacking.
The Cowboys already had nine players named as 2023 first- or second-team All-Pros.
They're also currently slated to have the sixth-least cap space in 2024, per Over the Cap, with Dak Prescott carrying a $59.5 million cap hit and players liked wide receiver CeeDee Lamb entering a contract year.
Parsons himself is an obvious candidate to have his fifth-year rookie option exercised, assuming the front office doesn't lock him up to a long-term extension instead.
Eight-time Pro Bowl offensive tackle Tyron Smith is a pending free agent, as is running back Tony Pollard, who fell flat in his first chance at being a lead NFL back.
Tough decisions and some skillful cap finagling, such as with aforementioned extensions, could aid the all-in approach.
What caliber of free agent that nets the Cowboys, as well as whether or not splurging leads to improvement beyond the regular season, will remain to be seen.
