Cowboys mailbag: Dak Prescott optimism? Trevon Diggs' future? Summer standouts?
The waiting game for training camp is officially on. The Dallas Cowboys have wrapped up OTAs and mandatory minicamp. The next time the team gathers will be for its flight to Oxnard, Calif. We opened the floor to you to ask whatever is on your mind, and got some great questions. Let's discuss practice standouts, Trevon Diggs' future, the wide receiver depth chart, optimism for Dak Prescott and more.
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I see no real reason to believe Dak Prescott will be a better QB than previously after another devastating injury and a year older. Tell me why I'm wrong. — Mark C.
Personally, I do believe that Prescott is a quality top-half-of-the-league starting quarterback who can play at a top-10 level on any given Sunday. I do believe you can win it all with Prescott as your quarterback. But Prescott is going into his 10th season, and there's too much of a sample size of coming up short in the big moments and, in recent years, of injuries hampering his abilities to perform at his best. I understand the skepticism.
If I were to sell somebody on why Prescott could be better than most of his previous years, I would start with the fact that CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens may be the best receiver duo Prescott has had in his career. That's not to dismiss the 2021 duo of Lamb and Amari Cooper, but this year's tandem has the potential to be even better. Prescott also has good chemistry with Jake Ferguson, who should be extra motivated in a contract year. The offensive line and running back situation are wild cards, but the floor for both would seem to be performing at a decent level.
Does that mean Prescott will be better than what he's been previously? It's hard to see him topping his 2023 campaign when he was the MVP runner-up. But at this point in his career, it's not about how good he can be overall, but can he be at his best in the biggest moments.
fired up for this 😤 pic.twitter.com/WlFA011XEW
— Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) June 13, 2025
Who is currently standing out for the Cowboys during practice? — Dallas S.
All of the necessary caveats apply before answering this question, specifically about how much physicality is limited during OTAs and minicamp. That essentially eliminates players on the offensive and defensive lines, as well as running backs, from really standing out.
Pickens had a fantastic first day of mandatory minicamp. He's a big body, a deep-ball threat and a good route runner. I'm curious to see how Prescott incorporates him because Prescott hasn't really worked too much with a receiver of Pickens' style, outside of a couple of short stints with Dez Bryant and Michael Gallup. If Pickens can keep his head on straight throughout the season — a legitimate if — then this trade has potential to be a steal for the Cowboys.
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Ferguson was the star of the second day of minicamp. He looked a lot more like his 2023 version, which is a welcome sight after he struggled in 2024 while dealing with injuries and quarterback instability. I also thought DaRon Bland looked pretty good. He's a physical cornerback, so I don't think these practices allowed him to play to his full extent, but he's always in position and has remarkable closing speed. Jonathan Mingo, Kaiir Elam and Brevyn Spann-Ford also had their moments.
One player who really caught my attention was quarterback Joe Milton. He's very strong and makes throws down the field rolling to his off side look effortless. You can tell he still needs to process the game a little faster, but he's a young player in a new system. I'll be fascinated to see how he performs during training camp and preseason games. He has the tools to develop into something more for the Cowboys down the road.
When is the earliest that they can get rid of Diggs without too bad of cap ramifications? — Daniel B.
The earliest would be the 2026 offseason. According to Spotrac, the Cowboys could cut Diggs early next offseason and carry a dead cap hit of just under $6 million in 2026, saving more than $12.5 million, or designate him a post-June 1 release and save $15.5 million and spread the dead cap over 2026 and 2027 at just under $3 million each year.
Unless there's a huge bounce back from Diggs in 2025, it's easy to see why the injuries and regression over the past two years would lead the Cowboys to want to get out of that contract. Diggs is a boom-or-bust type of player to begin with, but since his monster year in 2021, there's been a lot more bust than boom. Couple that with Bland being in the final year of his rookie deal and will be due a sizable extension, it's hard to imagine a realistic scenario in which this isn't Diggs' final year in Dallas.
A bit skeptical of the backfield led by Javonte Williams, but wanted to know if you've seen any reason for optimism. — Kmason0903
As I mentioned earlier, it's been hard to get a real read on the running backs because of the nature of these practices, and I don't want to just provide feel-good fluff. However, there are reasons I would feel more optimistic, and they start with the offensive line. You know what you are going to get in Tyler Smith, but I feel like Cooper Beebe's confidence with all that comes with the center position will help him take a big step in his sophomore season. I think Tyler Booker is ready to hit the ground running. Even though I've seen some people saying that his great performance would be a wash, at best, as he takes over for a future Hall of Famer, I would say that Zack Martin was not performing at his usual Hall-of-Fame level last year before he was shut down with the injury. Tyler Guyton and Terence Steele are wild cards for me up front but the Cowboys feel optimistic.
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In terms of the backfield itself, I think it's smart that the Cowboys haven't declared a formula already, as they did last year when they said it would be a committee approach. In the limited scope so far, I've seen some positive things from Williams, Miles Sanders and Jaydon Blue, but training camp will be the time where players get to separate themselves. If nobody makes a strong impression, this could be a year the Cowboys fall into a committee approach. The difference from last year is that, top to bottom, you'd have to feel better about the committee members.
Who do you expect to have the biggest total impact on the field this year between Mingo, Jalen Tolbert and KaVontae Turpin? — Reed C.
From that group, I would cast my vote for Turpin. I think the bulk of the receiving production will come from Lamb, Pickens and Ferguson, with Mingo, Tolbert and Spann-Ford as my lead candidates to factor into the downfield passing game. However, I feel like Turpin will be used more as a playmaker than a receiver this year, which is better suited for who he is.
This offseason, we've seen Turpin carry the ball out of the backfield and run quick routes close to the line of scrimmage that enable him to get the ball in space. There was some of that last year, but last year also featured some deep balls in third-and-10 situations that aren't what Turpin is built for. With Lamb and Pickens handling their business, the underneath should open up more for Turpin.
(Top photo of Diggs: Sam Hodde / Getty Images)
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