#Troy Aikman disgusted by sad state of Dallas Cowboys

It rings loudest when the criticism is from close to home.

Troy Aikman sounded disgusted with the Dallas Cowboys as it became clear Tuesday night that they were headed to a loss against the Baltimore Ravens, who ran through a soft defense for 294 yards on the way to a 34-17 victory.

“I wouldn’t say this is necessarily over, but it’s hard to keep saying that when you’re not winning football games,” Aikman said from his chair as the FOX’s lead NFL color commentator. “I just don’t know where this organization … where they go. There’s just so many things that have to be addressed this offseason.”

Aikman won three Super Bowls with the Cowboys, who haven’t been back since his retirement in 2000. His criticisms appeared to be directed at owner/general manager Jerry Jones.

The biggest item on the to-do list is sorting out the quarterback situation.

The Cowboys couldn’t reach a contract extension with Dak Prescott last offseason and had to franchise tag him. He suffered a season-ending compound ankle fracture in Week 5. So what happens now?

Does Prescott lower his demands? Are the Cowboys really going to offer a better contract off an injury than when he was healthy? Or do the Cowboys use their inevitable high first-round draft pick on a quarterback and let Prescott go to free agency?

Then there is the Mike McCarthy dilemma. He was a highly sought after second-chance head coach whose first season in Dallas has been a disaster full of questionable in-game decisions.

Aikman said that McCarthy is more interested in checking off a certain number of rushing attempts than in how many yards those runs produce.

McCarthy signed a five-year, $30 million contract, according to multiple reports, so that’s a lot of sunk cost, even for the free-spending Jones. Plus, it’s a lot of egg on his face for hiring the wrong coach when an excuse could be made that he played most of the season with backup quarterbacks, including starting third- and fourth-stringers.

The Cowboys defense also needs a makeover.

McCarthy pal Mike Nolan’s schemes were a big change and the unit got off to a historically bad start – a franchise-record 146 points allowed through the first four games. It hasn’t gotten much better since, as Ravens tackle Orlando Brown shouted “Easy money!” into the television cameras after the Cowboys offered little resistance against a fourth-quarter touchdown run.

The Cowboys have a lot of high-guarantee contracts that don’t leave much wiggle room for salary cap flexibility if they decided to tear it down and start over. The current roster – albeit a healthier version, especially on the decimated offensive line and at quarterback – is pretty much the 2021 roster.