Thank-You Notes for the 2024 Dallas Cowboys

A lackluster Dallas Cowboys season filled with shortcomings has been laid to rest.

2024 hasn’t been kind to the Cowboys. Change was desperately needed after their third straight 12-win season finished with a dismantlement by the Packers. Dan Quinn and some key veteran pieces departed for the DMV.

A stagnant off-season set the stage for a disappointing 2024 campaign, and the rest is history.

While fans are in despair, it’s still possible to find silver linings in this troubling campaign. The Tonight Show is a reoccurring segment where Jimmy Fallon writes thank-you notes about hot topics of the week. Some notes are more sarcastic than genuine, with the purpose being to poke fun at the situations they discuss. This may be the most fitting reaction to the Cowboys’ season.

There’s some genuine gratitude to hand out. However, some harsh judgment is needed as well.

Let’s take a page from Fallon’s book and give the 2024 Cowboys the thanks they deserve.

Thank You, Rico Dowdle

Dowdle was resilient all year long.

He has quickly made the most out of his opportunities. What hurt him was the consistency of said opportunity. The forced and failed revival of Ezekiel Elliott did nothing but cloud over the talent Dallas was sitting on. The moment Dowdle got his chance to shine, he went supernova. His 519 yards over the last five weeks are only behind elite rushers Jonathan Taylor and Saquon Barkley. He’s playing like a well-crafted three-down back, showing prowess as a pass catcher amidst his breakout.

What unfortunately will cloud all this success is his lack of scoring. With one week remaining, Dowdle has just one rushing touchdown. One can only wonder if he had a full season as the RB1 what his numbers would improve to. Even though his future in Dallas is uncertain with a stacked group of backs entering the 2025 NFL Draft, fans should still extend their gratitude to the man who put this offense on his back.

Thank You, The Lion and The Lamb

Micah Parsons and CeeDee Lamb solidified themselves as cornerstones when they stepped onto the gridiron. This season, they proved just how essential they are to this team.

When Parsons isn’t on the field, this defense looked deflated. His exit against the Giants in Week 4 was poorly timed with DeMarcus Lawrence‘s season-ending injury.

The Cowboys were running on fumes in the trenches during the toughest stretch of their schedule. When he returned, it was night and day. Despite missing over a month, he still leads the league in pressures. He’s the definition of a game wrecker.

Lamb had his season cut short but remained impactful all year long. He may not have had a record-breaking year like 2023, but he remains at the top of his game. Despite his All-Pro quarterback Dak Prescott dealing with injury, he remains top five in yards, receptions and targets. This passing game was a shell of itself without him against Philadelphia, showing a need for both his presence and an effective complementary piece.

Both men got their fourth Pro Bowl nod amidst a troubled season. 2024 emphasized that Parsons and Lamb’s health is essential to the Cowboys’ future success.

Thank You, Derrick Henry?

How can a man not even signed to the team have an impact big enough to warrant a thank-you note?

Henry not being signed was the impact. It remained a constant storyline until Dowdle broke out. Even then, fans and analysts alike wonder what this team would be if  Derrick Henry joined the team when all signs pointed to it. Most expected the wheels to fall off just for Henry to silence critics with his best season since 2020. The only one he didn’t silence?

Jerry Jones.

Jones remains sure that Henry wouldn’t be a good fit for the team because of the situation the team is in. With only $9 million guaranteed on his current two-year deal, Henry isn’t even close to being the top paid back. Jones waited until the last minute to sign Lamb and Prescott to extensions, so he had money to play with. Using the situation he put the team in the year as an excuse for not bringing Henry in didn’t convince anybody.

This opened the eyes of every fan. It wasn’t just complacency— it was ignorance. Jones couldn’t take responsibility for missing out on Henry because that meant he was wrong. Henry should be thanked not for proving Jones wrong but for proving fans right.

With a story not even a fool would fall for, Henry is a physical embodiment of a discourse that’s been steadily brewing. Fans don’t believe Jones is fit to be this team’s general manager anymore. He was publicly laughed at by Eagles fans this previous week and couldn’t even tell. A vast amount of fans are out on the one that calls the shots.

Which leads us to the man of the hour.

https://twitter.com/NBCSPhilly/status/1873442721022525939

Thank You, Mr. Jones

Those are words Cowboys fans haven’t likely muttered all year.

Jones built the Cowboys into the mogul they are today. His family’s hands are all over this franchise and will be for decades. They’re the most valuable sports franchise in the world. Anything that has the Cowboys’ name attached to it makes money.

That is the problem with the team.

This isn’t just an NFL team anymore— it’s a brand. No other franchise has a show dedicated to its cheerleaders. The team is worth over a billion dollars more than the second-closest franchise, the Golden State Warriors. However, the core of the franchise feels like it’s taken a back seat with all the different brand deals and merchandising the Jones family has focused on.

Jones himself even admitted that this isn’t just a team.

In the trailer for the upcoming Netflix documentary America’s Team: The Gambler and His Cowboys, Jones said, “It’s a soap opera, 365 days a year.” This documentary might not do what they think it will. Jones reassures fans weekly that he’s still focused on getting another Super Bowl. While that may be true, fans fear it’s because of what it’ll do for the brand, not the team. That speculation and doubt is what has fans up in arms.

The Gambler’s Final Game?

So why should we say thanks?

Cowboys fans have never been more united even if it wasn’t his intention. Players are more motivated than ever to end a 28-year drought. The next guys up don’t want to be another name in the stat books. Change is inevitable, and there’s no better time to initiate it than 2025. The Cowboys have until Jan. 14th to make their verdict on Mike McCarthy’s future. That decision will shake this franchise for better or for worse.

This upcoming documentary paints Jones as “The Gambler.” After failing to go all in last offseason, this next gamble might be Jerry Jones’s last chance to rekindle with fans.