NFC Notes: Cowboys, Eagles, Giants

Cowboys

• David Moore of the Dallas Morning News writes that the Cowboys face a critical decision with Dak Prescott and must decide whether to re-sign him to a long-term extension ahead of the March 9 franchise deadline.
• If the Cowboys don’t feel that a deal is imminent by March 9, then Moore believes the two sides must part ways. 
• Moore points out that the Cowboys’ would also be in a volatile quarterback market given Philip Rivers and Drew Brees are expected to retire, while Matthew Stafford still has two-years, $43 million remaining on his deal with the Lions and Ben Roethlisberger is owed an “untenable” $41.25 million next season. 
• Should Prescott reach the open market, Moore could see teams like the Patriots, Eagles, Bears, 49ers, Panthers, Washington, and Jets being interested in the quarterback. 

Eagles

• ESPN’s Tim McManus said the Eagles’ quarterback position, primarily QB Carson Wentz, was the central topic during their head coaching interviews, with owner Jeffrey Lurie emphasizing to candidates they saw Wentz as “very fixable.”
• McManus notes Wentz has developed a reputation as being difficult to coach and someone who can be reluctant to play within the system, which will be a challenge for new HC Nick Sirianni.
• Wentz has a high football IQ and was given a lot of free reign over the offense in past years, but when former HC Doug Pederson took away some of that control to simplify the offense in 2020, McManus writes Wentz became irritated and lost faith in Pederson’s play-calling. 
• Others think the presence of second-round QB Jalen Hurts, who started playing better on the scout team later in the year, eroded Wentz’s confidence even further. 
• As to what Sirianni will need to do to fix Wentz, esteemed NFL evaluator Greg Cosell tells McManus it starts with fixing Wentz’s lower body mechanics and helping him have more confidence in the offense and himself to trust what he’s seeing and let the ball go. 
• Wentz will also need to re-establish trust with the organization and buy into Sirianni’s coaching, which McManus thinks isn’t a given since Sirianni is so young. However, he comes from Colts HC Frank Reich‘s system, who was the last person to have real success with Wentz. 
• Auburn DL coach Tracy Rocker is reportedly leaving for the same position on the Eagles’ staff. (Zach Berman)
• The Eagles are hiring Colts TE coach Jason Michael to the same position on their staff. (Tom Pelissero)
• The Eagles also interviewed Colts QC coach Jerrod Johnson for their QB coach vacancy before going elsewhere. (Mike Kaye)

Giants

• Per Gary Myers of the New York Times, former Giants QB Eli Manning stopped by the team facility recently and expressed interest in some kind of role with the team, likely on the mentoring side and not coaching.