NFC Notes: Commanders, Cowboys, Giants, Saquon Barkley

Commanders

• Commanders tried out offensive tackles Tyree St. Louis, Alex Akingbulu and Rashod Hill. (Aaron Wilson)
• Commanders signed OT Rashod Hill and OT Alex Akingbulu. (NFLTR)
• Commanders waived OL Beau Benzschawel.
• Commanders placed DE Ryan Kerrigan on the retired list.

Cowboys

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is turning 80 this year and is still questing after a Super Bowl, yet wants to win it the right way.

“I can live with the fact that we’ve been closer than the zeros we have in line here over the last years that you’re talking about,” Jones said, via Todd Archer of ESPN. “That sustains me. That’s food for me. That keeps me going. That’s not a loser you’re talking to, though it sounds like it. What you have is somebody that wants to go again and feels like we’ve got the tools to win it. . . . We won 12 games last year. I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t get a little bit of feel-good out of those 12 games. I understand where our fans are. They should understand where I am. That’s not enough, but it’s enough to go again. I don’t have time to have a bad time.”

There was plenty of speculation about Cowboys HC Mike McCarthy‘s job after last season’s playoff loss and that won’t go away in 2022. Jones stopped short of saying it was Super Bowl or bust for McCarthy, though. 

“Well, I need to win it. I need to win it, but I’ll be candid with you, there are degrees. I want to be fair to everybody concerned,” Jones said. “We need to be in the playoffs. We need to be viable in the playoffs for it to be a successful season.”

Giants

Giants RB Saquon Barkley told reporters that he still wants to prove to the organization that he was the kind of player worthy of the No. 2 overall pick. 

“I just want to show the Giants that the guy that they drafted is still here,” Barkley said, via ESPN.com.

“I can still go out there and make the plays and help my team be successful,” he added. “And that is the only thing I’m focusing on — taking care of myself, taking care of my body, taking care of my mind, and trying to be the best teammate I can be.”

Barkley was asked about the team possibly approaching him about an extension midseason. 

“That’s a great question. Like I said, you can’t really focus on that stuff,” Barkley said. “Honestly, that stuff is in the air and I know coming into Year 5 and coming into the option year — or whatever it’s called, something like that — my thing is just, and I keep saying, if I keep taking care of the little things and God blessed me and nothing crazy happens, I think the rest will take care of itself.

“I know where I’m at mentally. I know where I’m at physically. I know what I’m capable of doing. I’ve just got to focus on taking care of my mind, and my mental, and trying to be the best teammate I can be. And that is every single day and when the time comes it’s going to pay off.”