Cowboys’ Jerry Jones makes massive Dak Prescott claim

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott was already part of Most Valuable Player conversation before he guided the club to a thrilling 41-35 win over the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday night that improved Dallas to 9-3. 

Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones understandably gushed over Prescott during a Friday appearance on Dallas sports radio station 105.3 The Fan. 

“We have never had a better leader,” Jones said about Prescott, per Logan Mullen of Audacy. “…Roger Staubach, I’ll never forget, when I was asking him when we were moving on from (Tony Romo), I said I’m really looking at drafting a quarterback here over the next period of time to try to hit on one – would I get a move-around guy or would I get a traditional dropback pocket passer? He said, ‘I don’t know about that, Jerry, but the most important thing is get you somebody the team will follow.'” 

Prescott was more than just an emotional leader against Seattle. The 30-year-old completed 29-of-41 passes for 299 yards and three touchdowns, including a go-ahead score with less than five minutes remaining in regulation:

According to ESPN stats, Prescott enters the weekend leading the NFL with a 75.5 adjusted QBR and 26 touchdown passes on the season. He began Friday ranked second in the league with a 70.1% completion percentage and a 108.3 passer rating. 

Perhaps most importantly, the Cowboys now trail the first-place Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC East standings by one game in the win column. 10-1 Philadelphia hosts the 8-3 San Francisco 49ers Sunday before the Cowboys welcome the Eagles to AT&T Stadium on Dec. 10. 

“Dak Prescott is the best ‘Pied Piper’ for everybody,” Jones continued. “I’m not just talking about the team. I’m talking about the coaches (too). He is the ‘Pied Piper’ of the team, and he does a great job in this area.”

As of Friday afternoon, oddschecker listed Prescott fourth among the betting favorites at +700 odds to earn MVP honors. Prescott could rise up that list depending on how he plays against the Eagles, but he’s already made it known he has a much bigger goal in mind.

Not seeing any game action from 2019-21, Justin Evans relaunched his career in New Orleans last season. His Saints showing generated Eagles interest, and the defending NFC champions signed the former second-round pick this offseason. Despite playing as a part-timer for a 7-10 Saints squad last season, Evans worked as a full-time starter for the Eagles this year. Philadelphia used Evans as a four-game starter, doing so as it retooled at safety in the offseason. But Evans’ season came to a halt due to a knee injury. His IR stay will now shift to a long-term designation. The Eagles designated Evans for return on Nov. 14 but let the 21-day activation window expire Tuesday, KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson reports. This will send the veteran safety to season-ending IR. The Eagles will preserve their five remaining IR activations, while Evans will be ineligible to play again this season. Shaquille Leonard will take Evans’ place on Philly’s 53-man roster; the former All-Pro linebacker chose the Eagles over the Cowboys on Monday. Philly’s move doubles as the first instance of a player’s IR return window closing this season. Evans signed a one-year, $1.5M contract in March, doing so as the Eagles let their two starters from 2022 — C.J. Gardner-Johnson and Marcus Epps — sign midlevel deals elsewhere. Epps signed a two-year, $12M Raiders contract, while Gardner-Johnson could only fetch a one-year, $6M Lions pact. But the Eagles have made a major change at the position during Evans’ IR stint. Former All-Pro Kevin Byard now lines up alongside Reed Blankenship at safety, with the Eagles making a trade with the Titans that sent backup Terrell Edmunds and two Day 3 draft picks to Tennessee. Edmunds had started three Eagles games this season, with Evans also missing an early-season game with a neck injury. Behind Byard and Blankenship, the Eagles have third-round rookie Sydney Brown. Josiah Scott and Tristin McCollum are the safeties on Philly’s practice squad.

It seems like Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy has been on the doorstep of landing an NFL head-coaching job for years now, and 2024 might just be his year. Per CBS Sports’ Josina Anderson, Bieniemy is already drawing interest from at least one team regarding its head-coaching position — a team that could be searching for an offensive-minded mentor should it pick a quarterback in the top three of the 2024 NFL Draft. “I’m told the Chicago Bears are expected to have interest in Commanders assistant head coach/offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, among others, with general knowledge that current HC Matt Eberflus is under evaluation with the team at 4-8, per source,” Anderson tweeted. Stepping out of the shadow of Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, Bieniemy has done impressive work in his first season in Washington all things considered. The Commanders have arguably the worst offensive line in the NFL — one that’s allowed a league-high 58 sacks plus 204 pressures, 140 hurries and 32 QB hits — and yet, quarterback Sam Howell ranks second in the league in passing yards (3,466) and he’s tied for 12th in touchdown passes (18). Under Bieniemy’s guidance, Washington improved from 20th in total offense last season to 16th this year, and its passing offense improved from 21st (204.2 yards per game) to 12th this season (236.2 yards per game). He spent five seasons as the offensive coordinator in Kansas City, and while he did have Patrick Mahomes running his offense, what Bieniemy is doing in Washington shows he had a lot more to do with the Chiefs’ success than he was probably given credit for. If the Bears do move on from Justin Fields and draft either USC’s Caleb Williams or North Carolina’s Drake Maye, bringing in Bieniemy to coach the team might be a wise decision.

An unnamed NFL offensive coach “with a long history in the league” opened up about Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper firing head coach Frank Reich after Reich spent less than a season working with rookie quarterback Bryce Young. “One thing these owners who fire people quickly don’t understand is what it takes to build a team, particularly a team with a rookie quarterback,” the coach told NBC Sports’ Peter King. “The quarterback comes in his first year after the draft, and it’s a short offseason, and if he’s going to start right away, it’s an accelerated process. So you go through that first year, and you’re looking forward to correcting all his mistakes and continuing to build him up in a full offseason in year two. So you fire his head coach who I’m sure was pretty hands-on and his quarterback coach in the middle of his first year, and he works with other people for the rest of that year, and then everybody gets fired, and then there’s a third group that comes in to coach the young quarterback.” It was unsurprisingly reported before Carolina fell to 1-11 on the season via Sunday’s 21-18 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that the success Houston Texans rookie C.J. Stroud has enjoyed “100 percent” played a role in Reich’s dismissal. According to ESPN stats, Young began Monday ranked 28th among qualified players with a 31.3 adjusted QBR on the season. Stroud, the runaway betting favorite to earn Offensive Rookie of the Year honors, was 11th with a 59.5 adjusted QBR. “I mean, maybe they’ll keep the coaches who stayed after Reich, but I doubt it,” the unnamed coach told King. “So the young quarterback getting coached by three different sets of people in his first 12 months as your franchise quarterback. How is that healthy?” It’s believed that Tepper could choose Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson as a long-term replacement for Reich this winter. For now, interim head coach Chris Tabor will guide the Panthers into Sunday’s game at the 5-7 New Orleans Saints. As of Monday afternoon, oddschecker listed the Panthers as 5.5-point underdogs against the Saints.

After droves of secrecy and anonymous reporting about secret meetings between Shohei Ohtani and various suitors, Dodgers skipper Dave Roberts refreshingly came right out and told reporters that his club recently hosted Ohtani for a visit at Dodgers Stadium (link via Jack Harris of the L.A. Times). Roberts added that Ohtani is “clearly our top priority.” Asked why he was so direct when other clubs have gone to great measures to conceal their efforts to negotiate with Ohtani, Roberts replied (via MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince): “I don’t feel like lying is something I do. I was asked a question. … It’s going to come out at some point.” The Dodgers have long been viewed as the likeliest team to sign Ohtani. That’s due to myriad factors, ranging from Ohtani’s prior preference for a West Coast club (during his original foray into MLB free agency) and the Dodgers’ virtually limitless payroll capabilities, among others. The L.A. front office declined to make designated hitter J.D. Martinez a qualifying offer on the heels of a resurgent 33-homer season, reportedly in large part to keep the DH spot in the lineup clear for a potential run at Ohtani. Ohtani has drawn interest from a wide array of teams, as one would expect from the most prominent two-way star the sport has ever seen. Over the past few days, however, several clubs have appeared to believe their chances to land Ohtani have shrunk. The Red Sox, Mets and Rangers are said to have shifted their focus to other players, while just a couple of hours ago it was reported that the Cubs’ optimism in their own pursuit has “significantly waned.” The Dodgers currently project for a $157M payroll, per Roster Resource, with just shy of $175M of luxury tax obligations on the books. That leaves ample room to sign Ohtani without even reaching the $237M tax threshold, although subsequent additions following a theoretical Ohtani deal could still put the Dodgers firmly into tax territory. That hasn’t been a concern for them in the past, however; the Dodgers have incurred luxury penalties each year since 2019. Ohtani is believed to have had meetings with the Blue Jays and the Giants in recent days as well. Los Angeles, Toronto, San Francisco and the incumbent Angels are the four prominent names reported to remain in the bidding, although given the cloak-and-dagger nature of Ohtani’s free agency, it’s certainly possible there are other clubs still lurking in the mix to sign him.

The Brewers and right-hander Joe Ross are in agreement on a major league deal, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. The details of the deal, which is pending a physical for the Wasserman client, aren’t publicly known at this time. Ross, 31 in May, has dealt with significant injury issues in his career and is coming off another notable absence. He underwent Tommy John surgery in May of 2022, the second time he required that procedure, the first one coming in 2017. He signed a minor league deal with the Giants for 2023 and was able to get back on the mound by late August, starting a rehab assignment at that time. He eventually tossed 14 innings over eight appearances on the farm with a 5.14 earned run average in that small sample. It would appear that the Brewers were intrigued by that showing, or perhaps his larger body of work and previous prospect pedigree. A 5.14 ERA is obviously not going to blow anyone away, but the fact that he was healthy and on the mound is the more important thing. As relayed by Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the righty’s velocity was in good shape at Triple-A late last year, actually above his previous seasons. Ross was once a highly-touted prospect, having been drafted 25th overall by the Padres in 2011. He later debuted with the Nationals and posted a combined 3.52 ERA over 181 2/3 innings between 2015 and 2016. But he was limited to 13 starts in 2017 before, as mentioned, he required Tommy John. He missed most of 2018 and then posted middling results in 2019. He elected to sit out the shortened 2020 season and then had a 4.17 ERA in 2021 before suffering another partial tear of his ulnar collateral ligament. He tried to rehab that injury via non-surgical means at first but eventually underwent his second TJS in May of 2022. The Brewers probably can’t rely on Ross to suddenly take on a full stater’s workload. With his injuries and opting out of 2020, he’s only twice reached the 80-inning plateau in a major league season, in 2016 and 2021. Even in those two seasons, he was barely over the century mark. Perhaps the Brewers will end up deploying him in something of a swing role or as a multi-inning pitcher out of the bullpen, but that could depend on how he looks in Spring Training or what other moves the club makes before then. The club also agreed to a deal with left-hander Wade Miley today, which means their current rotation projects as Corbin Burnes, Freddy Peralta, Miley, Adrian Houser and Colin Rea. Ross could perhaps try to force his way into the back end, particularly if an injury creates a new need. There’s also been plenty of rumors about the club considering a trade of Burnes, which would bump Ross and everyone else up one spot on the depth chart. All teams deal with pitching injuries and it takes more than five starters to get through a full 162-game season. The Brewers also have Janson Junk and Aaron Ashby on the 40-man roster with prospects like Robert Gasser and Jacob Misiorowski pushing towards their major league debuts. Ross figures to be in the mix somewhere, with his eventual contributions dependant on his health and the circumstances around him.

The Padres and representatives for free-agent catcher Gary Sánchez are engaged in discussions about a potential new contract, reports Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune. There’s no indication a deal is imminent, although Acee suggests a potential contract could land in the $6-8M range on an annual basis. Dennis Lin of the Athletic wrote in October that the Padres were interested in retaining Sánchez, so it’s unsurprising they’re still in contact. The veteran catcher had a rebound year at Petco Park, blasting 19 homers in just 72 games. While he only hit .218 with a .292 on-base percentage, that kind of power production from behind the plate is an excellent result for a player whom San Diego had claimed on waivers at the end of May. The season ended on a down note, as an errant pitch fractured Sánchez’s wrist at the start of September. That isn’t expected to have any impact on his availability for upcoming spring training. In a market very light on catching options, Sánchez will fare quite a bit better than he had a year ago. The two-time All-Star settled for a minor league deal with the Giants last winter on the heels of a .205/.282/.377 showing with the Twins. San Diego needs to add a second catcher in some capacity. The Padres have made clear they’re going to turn the primary job to 24-year-old Luis Campusano, who’s coming off a .319/.356/.491 showing through 49 games. Campusano and Brett Sullivan are the only catchers on the 40-man roster. In addition to Sánchez’s free agency, the club non-tendered Opening Day starter Austin Nola after a rough 2023 campaign.