What the Cowboys Have to Do in Order to Make a Super Bowl Run in 2015

The fact that the Dallas Cowboys' season is over after an NFC Divisional Round loss to the Green Bay Packers is still likely hard for Cowboys fans to swallow. They'll undoubtedly continue to dwell on the six-point swing at the end of the first half, DeMarco Murray's third-quarter fumble and, of course, the terrible rule which cost Dez Bryant a huge catch late in the fourth quarter. 

But while Dallas probably should still be alive, the reality is the 2015 offseason began on Monday and it's time to look forward. The outlook for this franchise remains extremely positive, and now, for the first time in more than half a decade, it has a chance to be a player in free agency. 

As things stand right now, the Cowboys have approximately $13 million in salary-cap space, according to Over the Cap. But they have have decisions to make on five starters—Bryant, Murray, right tackle Doug Free and linebackers Bruce Carter and Rolando McClain—who are slated to become unrestricted free agents, as well as several coaches with expiring contracts. 

How does Dallas navigate those waters in order to become the first team in over a decade to win back-to-back NFC East titles? And how do Jerry Jones and Co. try to build on that with a deeper run at the franchise's sixth Super Bowl title? Here are five key suggestions:

1. Find a way to keep Rod Marinelli and Scott Linehan

It's pretty much a given that head coach Jason Garrett will be re-signed after crushing expectations during the final year of his contract, especially with Jones stating this week that Garrett was his "coach of the year," per Todd Archer of ESPN.com 

After losing defensive stars DeMarcus Ware, Jason Hatcher and Sean Lee in the offseason, a lot of folks—yours truly included—figured this team was going nowhere in 2014. Yet Garrett led them to 12 victories. And when you look at the injuries and the talent issues this team has dealt with the last four years, it is quite impressive that Garrett has yet to have a losing season as head coach and has had his team in contention entering Week 17 four years in a row. 

But it's not all about Garrett. Jones and his son, Stephen, have continually stated that this is one of the best coaching staffs the team has employed since the Jones era began more than 25 years ago. And it's also hard to argue against that. 

As defensive line coach in 2013, Marinelli did an exceptional job with a unit made up of mainly off-the-street players when Ware and Anthony Spencer went down with injuries. After making a dude like George Selvie look like a star, Marinelli was promoted to defensive coordinator entering this season and worked his magic yet again. 

This time, he somehow got an NFC-high 31 takeaways out of a unit that lost three key players after being ranked dead last in football last season. He helped McClain and Carter—both generally viewed until this season as talented busts—turn their careers around. McClain was graded by Pro Football Focus (subscription required) as the second-best defensive player on the team, while Carter led the team with five interceptions. 

Marinelli also got career years out of Orlando Scandrick, Tyrone Crawford, Sterling Moore and Jeremy Mincey while getting the most out of veterans Henry Melton, Spencer and Justin Durant. Rookies DeMarcus Lawrence and Anthony Hitchens were key contributors down the stretch as well, and both look to be on track to start in 2015. 

Category	2013	2014
Points/game allowed	27.0	22.0
Yards/game allowed	415.3	355.1
Takeaways	28	31
20-yard plays against	79	57

Naturally, there's talk that Marinelli could be on the move. Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reported on Sunday that he is likely to reunite with Lovie Smith by joining the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, whom he spent 10 years with earlier in his career. But that would be a lateral move, and nothing's been confirmed. Jones can't afford to let that happen, so he has to open up his wallet and offer Marinelli a deal that can't be refused. 

On the offensive side of the ball, Linehan's contract is also up after one year as passing game coordinator. And while this offense was going to be good regardless, his play-calling definitely helped put them over the top. Statistically, Dallas had the most balanced offense in the NFL, with quarterback Tony Romo leading the league in passer rating, Murray leading the league in rushing and Bryant leading the league in receiving touchdowns. 

Category	2013	2014
Points/game	27.4	29.2
Yards/game	341.1	383.6
20-yard plays	57	73
Pass/run balance	65/35	50/50

ESPN's Adam Schefter reported last week that the Raiders have requested to interview Linehan for their head coaching opening. Obviously, it'll be hard to convince him to turn down a head coaching gig, but the Cowboys have to ensure he won't leave Dallas for anything less than that. 

2. Add a proven pass-rusher

Bad contracts and league sanctions teamed up to put Dallas in a terrible cap situation the last few years, but it's finally free of those shackles and able to make some moves this offseason. The good news is most of the key pieces are already in place, and with Lawrence, Crawford, Hitchens, Scandrick, Barry Church, McClain and Carter, the Cowboys already have a solid young base on defense (especially if we're assuming they bring back McClain and/or Carter).

But if this team is going to become better in 2015, it'll need to start generating more pressure and getting more sacks on the defensive side of the ball. The Cowboys ranked 28th in the league with only 28 sacks and a sack rate of just 4.8 during the regular season.

They did seem to wake up down the stretch, recording nine sacks in their last three regular-season games and three against Detroit on Wild Card Weekend, but only two players finished with more than three sacks and none had more than six. 

They need a guy who can step up and lead the rush. Not necessarily a Pro Bowler, especially considering the potential price tag there, but there are guys out there who could help immediately. Among those scheduled to become unrestricted free agents, Brandon Graham, Brian Orakpo, Trent Cole and George Johnson come to mind as potential high-end targets. 

3. Shore up the right tackle position

Everybody talks about left tackle being the key position these days, and they're right. But this has basically become a run-first team that relies very heavily on its offensive line. So while Dallas is in good shape at left tackle, center and both guard positions, it should consider potential short- and long-term upgrades on the right side of the line. 

Free has had some good days and some bad days, but he's 31 now and coming off a contract year in which he missed two separate substantial stretches due to injury. He was relatively reliable as both a pass- and run-blocker when healthy, and backup Jermey Parnell held it down in relief, but that still looks like a position that could be upgraded. 

Both Free and Parnell are scheduled to hit free agency in March. The Cowboys should bring back one or the other—probably Parnell, who is younger and likely cheaper and who gave up zero sacks on 388 snaps in 2014—while bringing in competition via free agency and/or the draft. 

If they're really feeling ambitious, Green Bay's Bryan Bulaga is scheduled to be a UFA. However, it would probably be tough to re-sign Bryant (more on that in a moment), Carter and McClain while signing a proven pass-rusher and a player like Bulaga, so the draft is probably the more realistic route here.  

The Cowboys have drafted an offensive lineman in the first round three times in the last four years, so I'm not suggesting they do that again. But they haven't drafted a tackle since 2011 and could probably find a decent NFL-ready right tackle in the middle rounds.

4. Keep Dez Bryant

It doesn't matter how. Maybe the Cowboys still don't totally trust Bryant off the field. Maybe they don't see eye-to-eye on his value. In either case, they must apply the franchise tag to Bryant. That would cost them about $12 or $13 million, but that's worth it when we're talking about one of the game's most dominant receivers. 

Coming off his third consecutive season with at least 85 catches, 1,200 yards and 12 touchdowns, Bryant's presence transforms this entire offense. He makes things considerably easier on the running game, the line and fellow pass-catchers Terrance Williams, Cole Beasley and Jason Witten. 

Player	TD catches
1. Dez Bryant	50
2. Jimmy Graham	46
3. Rob Gronkowski	44
4. Jordy Nelson	43
5. Calvin Johnson	41

It's hard to envision any way for this team to get better without Bryant. In fact, it would be difficult for them to avoid taking a step backward without him on the roster. And it appears Jones realizes that: 

Ideally, the Cowboys will reach a long-term deal with a player who has by most indications been on his best behavior the last couple years. That way, they'll be able to save cap space in the short term in order to sign a pass-rusher or a right tackle or even a cornerback while also taking care of the rest of their in-house free agents. 

5. Be prepared to forget about DeMarco Murray

I know this won't be popular, because Murray did a hell of a lot for this team in 2014. He led the league in rushing by 484 yards and was tied for the league lead with 13 touchdown runs. 

But including the playoffs, he doubled his previous career high for rushing attempts. Again, he deserves some love for delivering in a major way as the ultimate workhorse back. But you've gotta consider that this remains a cold, hard business. 

Football Outsiders has established "the curse of 370," which, based on countless examples, posits that "a running back with 370 or more carries during the regular season will usually suffer either a major injury or loss of effectiveness the following year, unless he is named Eric Dickerson."

Back	Year/age	Beyond that...
Larry Johnson (416)	'06/26	Missed half of '07, never had 1,000 yards again
Jamal Anderson (410)	'98/25	Missed 14 games in '99, 3.6 YPA rest of career
James Wilder (407)	'84/26	One 1,000-yard season the rest of his career
Eric Dickerson (404)	'86/26	Three more 1,000-yard seasons
Eddie George (403)	'00/26	Averaged 3.4 YPA rest of his career
Gerald Riggs (397)	'85/24	One 1,000-yard season the rest of his career
DeMarco Murray (392)	'14/26	?
Terrell Davis (392)	'98/26	Played only 16 more games
Ricky Williams (392)	'03/26	One 1,000-yard season the rest of his career
Barry Foster (390)	'92/23	Played only two more sub-1,000-yard years

In 2014, Murray carried the ball 392 times, which was tied for the seventh-highest total in NFL history. His 449 total touches were the sixth-most in NFL history. He's only 26, so someone is bound to overpay him in a major way coming off such a productive season. But the Cowboys would be smart to stay out of those sweepstakes. 

No matter how you break it down, Murray was extremely good in 2014. But that offensive line helped in a major way, as did the passing threat Romo, Bryant and Co. brought to the table. That might explain why young backup Joseph Randle averaged a ridiculous 6.7 yards per carry in limited action. 

Back	YPA
1. Joseph Randle	6.7
2. Darren Sproles	5.8
3. Justin Forsett	5.4
4. Latavius Murray	5.2
5. Lamar Miller	5.1
6. Jeremy Hill	5.1
7. Juwan Thompson	5.0
8. Jamaal Charles	5.0
9. Arian Foster	4.8
10. Jerick McKinnon	4.8

They say backs these days are worth a dime a dozen. Murray might be valuable enough to fetch more than 0.83 cents for his services, but with the 23-year-old Randle on the roster and that line only likely to get better, he probably isn't worth what he'll command on the open market. And that's especially true if you consider that he fumbled six times in 2014, including a back-breaker that might have cost Dallas a victory in the playoffs against Green Bay. 

Plenty of work to do 

It's not as though that's all Dallas has to worry about, but those are the key areas to keep an eye on. The Cowboys may also be well-served drafting a cornerback early, because Brandon Carr has struggled and they might need to start grooming a partner for Scandrick who isn't named Morris Claiborne. And they could also use a rookie back to lend support in the event that they lose Murray. 

There's a lot of work to be done, starting with ensuring that Garrett, his assistants and Bryant remain in Big D in 2015. From there, it'll be a lot easier to build. 

Brad Gagnon has covered the NFC East for Bleacher Report since 2012.

Follow @Brad_Gagnon