The\u00a0Dallas Cowboys\u00a0are down, but it’s too early to declare them out of the NFC playoff race at 3-6.\u00a0To compete, however, Dallas is going to need an uptick in quarterback play over what they’ve gotten from\u00a0Cooper Rush\u00a0and\u00a0Trey Lance\u00a0over the past two weeks.<\/p>\n
Rush has fallen well shy of middling, completing just over 50% of his passes (26-of-48) for\u00a0150 yards and 1 TD\u00a0across two losses to the\u00a0Atlanta Falcons\u00a0and\u00a0Philadelphia Eagles. Lance, meanwhile, went\u00a04-of-6 for 1 INT and took 2 sacks\u00a0against Philly last weekend.<\/p>\n
Dak Prescott\u00a0underwent hamstring surgery on Wednesday, Nov. 13, which will sideline him for the remainder of the year. However, the Cowboys also traded a fourth-round pick to the\u00a0Carolina Panthers\u00a0for relatively unproven wide receiver\u00a0Jonathan Mingo\u00a0a couple of days after Prescott suffered that injury.<\/p>\n
The move indicates that Dallas owner\u00a0Jerry Jones\u00a0still intends to try and compete this season with the likes of Mingo and star wideout\u00a0CeeDee Lamb\u00a0healthy. However, with neither Rush or Lance having proven yet that they are up to the task, the window is open for Jones to make a free-agent play for a veteran QB with a vastly superior\u00a0NFL\u00a0resume to both of those players.<\/p>\n
Ryan Tannehill, 36, didn’t sign with a team during the offseason after playing out his four-year,\u00a0$118 million contract\u00a0with the\u00a0Tennessee Titans\u00a0in 2023. However, he made that decision not because he is interested in retirement, but because he isn’t interested in playing the role of backup at this point in his career.<\/p>\n
No franchise has yet offered Tannehill the opportunity he is seeking. However, Dallas potentially could — and perhaps should — before its season is too far gone for a salvage attempt to make sense.<\/p>\n
Spotrac listed Tannehill’s market value at $7.7 million annually heading into 2024. Using that figure as a starting point and pro-rating it over the remainder of the season, Tannehill would cost the Cowboys around $3.4 million for the final eight weeks.<\/p>\n
Jones cried poor — which sounded a little like the infamous boy crying wolf — when offering an excuse for why the franchise didn’t sign current\u00a0Baltimore Ravens\u00a0running back\u00a0Derrick Henry\u00a0during the offseason.<\/p>\n
But it’s hard to sell anyone on the notion that Dallas doesn’t have the funds to go out and add Tannehill — a 2019 Pro Bowler who led the Titans to an AFC Championship Game following that season and to the playoffs over the two subsequent campaigns.<\/p>\n
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