Which NFC East team has the brightest future?
On the latest Yahoo Sports NFL Podcast, Terez Taylor and Charles Robinson answer a mailbag question about the NFC East and the prospects of the lowly Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles, New York Giants and the Washington Football team.
Video Transcript
TEREZ PAYLOR: It's no secret the NFC East is bad this year. Looking forward though, are any of these teams set up particularly well for the future? Every team has some combo of quarterback questions, cap issues, and a bad roster, complicated by a bad enough division deterring them from entering quote "sell mode" unquote. Who is set up best for the long term?
CHARLES ROBINSON: Look, I still think it all comes down to the cap, obviously, is going to hurt significantly next year. So I think you kind of have to remove Philly.
TEREZ PAYLOR: Philly's out.
CHARLES ROBINSON: Just because of the cap stuff, let alone the Carson Wentz situation, which is still beyond unresolved right now. OK, so I don't feel great about Philly, because I feel like--
TEREZ PAYLOR: There's another team you can rule out too.
CHARLES ROBINSON: Yeah.
TEREZ PAYLOR: Because a history.
CHARLES ROBINSON: I'm going to guess that's Washington.
TEREZ PAYLOR: Cause of one man's track record, yes.
CHARLES ROBINSON: The ownership of Washington has not been great, and I think it has hindered that franchise significantly long-term. I do like Ron Rivera.
TEREZ PAYLOR: I do too. I like some of his hires. But I'm just like, man, it's hard sledding, trying to bet on Dan Snyder to have the best. You can like where they're at, but not predict them to be the team best set going forward in this division. You can't do that.
CHARLES ROBINSON: And he is an owner who has, historically in that franchise, pressed himself into the role of quarterback decision-making. He factors into that, and that is horrible, if you're not an owner who actually knows what he's talking about when it comes to quarterbacks. And he is not. Well, long-term, I would say that Washington, also, is on the lower rungs.
Now, the last two, I feel better about them long-term for varying reasons. The Giants, I feel like, one way or another, we're going to figure out what Daniel Jones is. But I think if the Giants-- if, this is if-- they get a Justin Fields. Like let's say Lawrence and Justin Fields both come out, and then they end up being the number two pick, and they get a Justin Fields. And I feel like they are the team that has the shot to get the quarterback that changes everything.
Dallas is just completely let-- he just keeps letting people down over and over. And I don't know if Mike McCarthy is the right coach. I don't know all these different things. But I do know this, Dak Prescott, I thought had proven himself before he got injured. But I think, since the injury, everybody in that franchise is like, Oh, my God. really? We really, really want in the tank, when Dak's injury happened. We completely lost any ability to compete or the leadership loss. Like, I mean, it was just been a massive cratering.
TEREZ PAYLOR: It was a lot.
CHARLES ROBINSON: Yeah, it's crazy. Zeke is still great running back. And the trio wide receivers there, although I think one of those guys will factor out, I'm guessing eventually they let Amari Cooper walk. But Michael Gallup and CeeDee Lamb are fantastic players. They're going to end up getting a good pick this year, which I think is going to help them offload maybe a little bit of money.
And so I still think historically, Dallas is the team probably with a better long-term prospects. And Jerry Jones will never let them fall below-- you know they'll always be spending to the cap. They'll always be trending toward that. So that team healthy, I think you and I agree, that team healthy coming into this season, healthy, 100% healthy, we felt pretty good about.
TEREZ PAYLOR: Dallas as a coaching problem right now.
CHARLES ROBINSON: Right, yes.
TEREZ PAYLOR: But talent-wise-- as much as I want to pick the Giants, because they got 23 million in cap space, and I'm getting some-- I'm just going to say, I feel like the Giants have been competitive this year, like the Dolphins were competitive at times last year.
CHARLES ROBINSON: I like that.
TEREZ PAYLOR: Like I'm just saying like I kind of--
CHARLES ROBINSON: Interesting.
TEREZ PAYLOR: There's some Flores-y kind of competency from Joe George. Just on the field, these teams are always competing, OK? So I'll say that.
CHARLES ROBINSON: I like that little nugget. I'm a fan of that, cause I think that's something that I could unpack later.
TEREZ PAYLOR: And I'll say this, man. There's some young talent on this team. They're like a Fields away from being a problem. Like Saquon, Engram. Darius Slayton can play, OK? I really like where the Giants are potentially headed, but Dallas has the quarterback already. And I picked them to win the division, before their year from hell. I think they're OK. They just might need to get the coaches sorted out. I don't know, maybe they hit up Chris Rashard again. I don't know.