NFL Analysis
7/26/24
6 min read
5 Burning Questions Heading Into the 2024 NFL Season
NFL training camps open this week, and there are still a lot of burning questions to answer before the start of the 2024 season. These are the five on the mind of this former player.
5 Burning Questions Before 2024 NFL Season
WHAT ARE THE Dallas COWBOYS DOING? 
I wish I knew, and I am sure their fans also wish they knew.
Their quarterback, Dak Prescott, has as much leverage as any player we’ve seen in a long time due to the last contract the Dallas Cowboys gave him, and it appears he will use it.
Prescott is coming off a season in which he was the MVP runner-up. He has a cap hit of more than $55 million and can leave as a free agent in the offseason. However, he would leave a dead cap number of more than $40 million in his wake.
The Cowboys’ inability to complete a restructured deal has stunted the talks with star WR CeeDee Lamb, who is holding out of camp. Oh, and arguably the best defensive player in the league, edge rusher Micah Parsons, is also eligible for a new deal and would probably be foolish to take the injury risk of playing without one.
Got all that? As for the team actually on the field, the Cowboys have significant question marks at left tackle, center, and running back after allowing Tyron Smith, Tyler Biadasz, and Tony Pollard to all leave in free agency.
It's hard to argue that the Cowboys are better than they were a year ago. The questions appear to be how much worse they are this year and how they will navigate the contract conundrum they find themselves in.
>> READ MORE: Dallas' Tactics Are Insulting
ARE Caleb Williams' EXPECTATIONS TOO HIGH?
The Chicago Bears haven’t had a winning season since 2018. They have a rookie quarterback. Yet, Bears fans are confident.
If you talk with anyone in Chicago, you will hear their excitement regarding combining the strong defense that finished last season with key additions on offense into a team that makes the playoffs for the first time since 2020.
While the Bears have every right to be pumped about how last season ended on defense, it is essential to note that Caleb Williams is still a rookie. The odds that he performs like C.J. Stroud did last year are likely low.
Stroud is coming off arguably the best season for a rookie quarterback that we’ve ever seen. The Bears have surrounded Williams with strong weapons by adding WR Keenan Allen, RB DeAndre Swift, and first-round WR Rome Odunze to a roster with star WR DJ Moore.
“That’s why I’m scared that Caleb Williams is going to fail,” former NFL quarterback Shaun King told me recently on the Ross Tucker Football Podcast. He also noted how critical it is that the expectations align with the reality that the NFC North is a loaded division led by the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers.
WHEN WILL THE ‘OTHER’ FIRST-ROUND QUARTERBACKS TAKE THE FIELD?
While Williams will start Week 1 for the Bears, the same cannot be said for some of the other rookie quarterbacks. No. 2 pick Jayden Daniels looks like a good bet to take the field in the opener for Washington, but Drake Maye and J.J. McCarthy could wait a while in New England and Minnesota, respectively.
How long? That depends not only on their development but also the performance of the solid veterans — Jacoby Brissett and Sam Darnold — who are likely to start the season under center.
Bo Nix has a better chance to play in Denver than Maye and McCarthy do, while Falcons first-round QB Michael Penix Jr. is in a category by himself. Barring injury, he might not play until 2026 or even 2027.
>> READ MORE: Predicting When Every Rookie QB Will Start
Do THE JETS GET IN THESE PREDICAMENTS ON PURPOSE?
The New York Jets could have moved the mandatory minicamp up a week to accommodate QB Aaron Rodgers June trip to Egypt. Rodgers, of course, could have just moved the trip dates.
The easiest solution — one most teams would have chosen — was to excuse the absence. The Jets, however, chose none of those routes and made a mountain out of what could have been an absolute non-story.
Now they have a hold-out in veteran edge rusher Haason Reddick on their hands. Literally, everybody knew he wanted a new contract, which is why his hometown Eagles traded him in the first place.
Everyone other than the Jets who were reportedly “under the impression” that Reddick would play out this season and then hit free agency. I don’t think the Jets do any of these things on purpose, but when a franchise consistently misses layups and generates daily attention.
As a result, a small part of me wonders if owner Woody Johnson attended Jerry Jones' “any publicity is good publicity” school of NFL ownership.
>> READ MORE: Don't Call Aaron Rodgers a Leader
WHICH EAGLES TEAM WILL WE SEE IN 2024?
Speaking of Reddick, his Philadelphia Eagles squad went from having a full two-game lead at 10-1 over the rest of the NFL to a first-round wild-card playoff loss in six weeks.
It was one of the biggest collapses in NFL history, and folks in Philadelphia are still trying to figure out what happened. After that stellar start, the Eagles only won one game, so they brought in new coordinators on both sides of the ball to cure the ills of December and January.
Will it work? Will this talented team play like the squad that appeared to be the NFL’s best team in the first three months of the season or revert to the group that seemed listless on both sides of the ball down the stretch?
That is one of the biggest questions of this NFL season.
>> READ MORE: Why Eagles' Offense Will Look So Different
