The Dallas Cowboys handed out massive extensions to QB Dak Prescott and WR CeeDee Lamb just before the start of the 2024 campaign. Unfortunately, that did nothing to improve their fortunes that season. They posted their worst record since 2020, finishing 7-10.
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Looking ahead to 2025, the Cowboys still need to lock up edge rusher Micah Parsons with a mega-extension. However, beyond that, there isn’t a ton of exciting talent on this roster, and Jerry Jones and the front office were characteristically quiet during this year’s free agency cycle. They’ll need to hit early and often in the 2025 NFL Draft to compete in an increasingly competitive NFC East, which featured both NFC Championship participants last year.
Dallas just signed Dak Prescott to a deal, paying him more than anyone in NFL history at $60 million a year. And yet, there has been a lot of talk in Cowboys circles about snapping up Shedeur Sanders if he drops to them at the No. 12 pick. We just saw the Atlanta Falcons do something similar last year. So while it’s not unprecedented, it’s still a peculiar move. And Cowboys great Michael Irvin agrees.
Irvin got in on the push for Shedeur during an appearance on Up & Adams. When Kay Adams asked him what he’d do if Shedeur fell to No. 12, he couldn’t help but gush about the young signal caller.
“You’re gonna need something for the future, and if you can get a chance (laughs), absolutely, absolutely I’m taking him. Right. Now. I’m gonna take Shedeur Sanders if he’s there,” an excited Irvin said.
“All that noise that people are talking about, oh he’s this, and he’s that, I’m like, ‘Shut up! He’s exactly what you need. That’s the kinda dude that plays in big games’—WELL… Some guys run from that life, very few guys run to that kind of life,” he continued.
Shedeur Sanders is definitely a guy with franchise-changing potential. But with Dak’s contract burning a hole in their cap, they are more likely to go somewhere else. If Heisman runner-up Ashton Jeanty is still available at No. 12, he is the most likely pick for Dallas according to most draft experts. Rico Dowdle impressed late last season, but Jeanty brings a different level of juice.
Irvin, while pushing for his old team to draft Sanders, acknowledged that the future rookie and Prescott could co-exist. He called Prescott the “right now” of the franchise, while Shedeur could be their long-term future — with, of course, his father, Deion Sanders, joining the fray as well.
“Quarterback trumps all things… And you still have quarterback leverage if you had a room with Dak and Shedeur Sanders in it. Because Shedeur’s going to be your future, and Dak is your ‘right now’, but you’ve got a room with some leverage in it. And then, maybe another year or two, I can get Deion in there too.”
Michael Irvin is open to the Cowboys drafting Shedeur Sanders now and getting Deion Sanders to coach in the future. 👀 @heykayadams | @michaelirvin88 pic.twitter.com/6aZLak0sN9
— Up & Adams (@UpAndAdamsShow) March 24, 2025
Michael Irvin has known Shedeur longer than the 23-year-old has known himself. He and Shedeur’s father, Deion Sanders, played together for the Cowboys during their most recent era of success during the mid-1990s.
They won a Super Bowl together after Sanders’ arrival in 1995. They both left in 1999, with Irvin retiring and Neon Deon’s departure to Baltimore. They later reunited in the 2000s as analysts for NFL Network.
The Deion Sanders to Cowboys idea has been a common one on sports talk shows. However, despite Jerry Jones speaking fondly of his former two-way star, the head coach of the Colorado Buffaloes has indicated his intention to remain in Boulder for the foreseeable future.
