Cowboys Roundtable discussion: Camp standouts, under-performers, and Parsons’ contract

Here is our most recent BTB Roundtable discussion.

Every week, we gather to discuss the latest news about the Dallas Cowboys and seek our writer’s perspective on each headline. Welcome back to the roundtable. This week we have David Howman, Jess Haynie, Sean Martin, and Brian Martin.

Who has been your camp standout so far?

Since joining the Cowboys, George Pickens has been the clear standout at Oxnard. His comfort in the offense, elite hands, physical run‑blocking, and explosive route running have fueled high praise. Pickens is camp’s most consistent star through the first two weeks and should give fans immense confidence going into the season.

CeeDee Lamb continues to dazzle in practice with his explosive athleticism, crisp routes, and chemistry with Dak Prescott. He remains integral to the offense’s momentum and so far hasn’t disappointed.

Donovan Ezeiruaku has made an immediate impact, often described as “virtually unblockable.” He’s earned first‑team reps, logged multiple sacks and drawn coaching attention as a key future pass rusher.

Recovering from injuries and stepping into a thin cornerback room, Kaiir Elam has grabbed attention with a number of interceptions, strong positional awareness, and smooth on-field playmaking, earning praise from coaches and fans.

Howman: Low hanging fruit here, but Kaiir Elam is my standout early on. He looked good in OTAs but I was still waiting to see if he could carry it over to training camp. Not only has he done that, but he’s elevated his performance beyond what he had previously shown.

Jess: David beat me to Elam, who has not only been looking good but is doing it at a position of vital need. Not quite as needed is Donovan Ezeiruaku, but the rookie pass rusher has been one of the hottest names of camp. He had displayed exceptional technical ability for a young player, and he may force guys like Dante Fowler and Sam Williams into lesser roles quickly. With Micah Parsons not participating in drills, having Ezeiruaku to challenge the offensive line is a valuable camp asset.

Brian: Kaiir Elam obviously has been one of the top standouts so far, but I’m going with KaVontae Turpin. We’ve seen what he can do as a return specialist and gadget player, but there’s an emphasis on getting him more involved in the passing game right now in practices. With CeeDee Lamb, George Pickens, and Jake Ferguson demanding most of the attention of opposing defenses, Turpin could be a dangerous weapon underneath if they can get him the ball in space with room to run.

Sean: I’ll go with Dante Fowler Jr., even though Jess sees rookie Donovan Ezeiruaku potentially pushing him into a “lesser role”. When a young player is doing this to a seasoned vet at any position, it’s a good sign of quality roster construction and depth. Early on in camp, this feels like a team building to win in a way familiar to Brian Schottenheimer during his time as OC. Rely on Dak Prescott to score points, get ahead on teams, take the ball away to gain extra possessions and score again, unleash the pass rush playing with a lead.

Whether or not the Cowboys can make this work again comes down to way more than just the play of Dante Fowler of course, but he is that pass rush specialist that can serve as a good litmus test for how well Dallas is executing overall. The more opportunities he gets off the edge the better, especially given that he’s seemingly made the most of them in Oxnard showing some juice and even mixing it up against the run.

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Who has been a player you wish had stood out more?

There have been some underwhelming performances at camp so far. Names like Mazi Smith, Javonte Williams, Jalen Tolbert, and DaRon Bland have all shown to be inconsistent this camp. But there’s still plenty of time to bring claim to their name before the regular season begins.

Howman: Sticking with the cornerbacks, I’ll say DaRon Bland. Going into the final year of his rookie deal, and with so much uncertainty elsewhere at the position, Bland really needs to have a big year. So far, though, Bland has been mostly quiet, even before he left to welcome his son into the world (an incredible moment that has nothing to do with being listed here). With the hypothetical numbers being thrown around regarding his potential extension, I would like to see Bland start making some noise and playing more like Elam.

Jess: From each side of the ball, Mazi Smith and Jalen Tolbert. It’s still early, but neither has been getting much positive attention. It’s especially distressing for Smith given how much the team needs help at DT, but this is why yo-yoing him with his weight and role has been bad business. At least with Tolbert, you have cushion with other WR prospects.

Brian: It’s actually a tie for me between Javonte Williams and Miles Sanders. Neither one of the veteran RBs has distanced themselves from the other as of yet to claim the starting job. Add that to the fact both haven’t been all that productive the past couple of seasons and it raises a concern about Dallas’ rushing attack this season. I think this could be a position the Cowboys monitor closely and maybe attempt to upgrade when roster cuts are made, either through trade or waiver wire claim.

Sean: I’m also going to go with Jalen Tolbert, although thankfully his slow start to camp has not meant a total lack of fireworks at wide receiver. Brian Schottenheimer’s offense seems to be favoring traits like route running, twitchiness, and the ability to make contested catches more than the things Tolbert does best. This is not at all a bad thing, as best case scenario for Tolbert was always WR3 behind both CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens, who have these traits in spades for the Dallas offense. Behind them, we’ve seen Ryan Flournoy, Traeshon Holden, Jonathan Mingo, and of course tight end Jake Ferguson make a ton of plays.

Tolbert’s proven production, especially from a season ago, still stands out more over the unproven receivers who have quickly started proving themselves in Oxnard. The Cowboys have gone into the season relying too much on potential instead of production at receiver before, and it hasn’t always gone well to say the least. Getting more out of Jalen Tolbert would be a very welcome sight.

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With another week of camp and no Parsons deal, on what scale out of ten are you in panic that the deal doesn’t get done after his recent comments?

Still no deal for Micah Parsons and things are getting tense when he left a message on Twitter (X) stating that he wants a trade from the team. After other comments and news from insiders like Jane Slater, it looks as though the Parsons debacle is taking a sharp turn. But there is some hope a deal gets done. Leave your thoughts in the comments on how nervous you’re getting that no deal will be made and we see Parsons eventually playing elsewhere.

Howman: I’ve long believed we’re headed for a franchise tag with Micah Parsons, and any resolution earlier than that would be icing on the cake. It’s simply the way this front office works, unfortunately. So I’m not panicking, although it still frustrates to no end the way this front office feels zero urgency to get their best players locked up.

Jess: Still zero for me. We’re playing the Eagles in Week 1, which gives Parsons a lot of leverage. We have over a month before there’s any real threat of him not playing in that game. Obviously, the front office has been working on some other things lately with the Jake Ferguson deal. I’m still fully confident that Parsons will get his within the next five weeks. It’s unfortunate that it’s reached the level of public vitriol we’ve seen, but that’s on the Joneses for their foolish way of handling things.

Brian: I’m personally not panicking at all. This is sadly the way the Cowboys choose to do business when signing their star players to big-money contract extensions. We’ve seen it with CeeDee Lamb and Dak Prescott recently, and I’m sure we will see it with Micah Parsons at some point. It’s not the best look for the Cowboys, but it’s their own doing.

Sean: Going zero here would, in theory, give the Cowboys front office too much credit, because anything is possible. So I’ll just say a one on a scale of ten. The Cowboys do things this way, we all know and get annoyed by the way they do it, and at the end of the day their best players and ones they don’t want to let get away still take the field and all is forgotten when football starts. Parsons is even still on the fields at Oxnard in some capacity. The whole situation is still not ideal, but Parsons not being a long term Cowboys great is not something I’m concerned with in the slightest.