The Dallas Cowboys took care of their number one offseason priority by reaching a 5-year deal agreement with Jason Garrett to remain the team's head coach.
Garrett took the Cowboys to the playoffs this year for the first time since the 2009 season and the first time during his coaching tenure. Garrett went 8-8 his first three seasons as the head coach before going 12-4 and advancing to the NFC divisional round before losing to the Green Bay Packers.
When Garrett took over the Cowboys he inherited a team that was somewhat in a rebuilding stage with aging players along the defense and offensive line. Garrett has taken a lot of criticism over the last three years for losing the division crown on the last week of the regular season to all three division rivals, Giants, Redskins, and Eagles.
Over the years, Garrett has spoken and preached the Cowboys being a work in process and he's delivered with the rebuilding of the offensive line by drafting one in the first round in three of the last four years. With the additions of Tyron Smith, Travis Frederick and Zach Martin the Cowboys are in a position to have a dominant offensive line for years to come like the Cowboys of the 90's who won 3 Super Bowls in 4 years.
Coming into the season there weren't many that had high expectations for this Cowboys team, and many wondered if Garrett would be able to survive another lackluster season as he entered on a one-year contract extension with no guarantee on the future. Instead the Cowboys went 12-4, won the NFC East and their first playoff game in 5 years and only second in the last 19.
Now Garrett wasn't alone in turning around the Cowboys as defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli did a miraculous job with a defensive that lost 3 of their best players from a year ago. Marinelli also agreed to a new 3-year deal on Tuesday, January 13, and locks up coaching continuity which is something Jerry Jones was hoping for.
Now with Garrett and Marinello signed to new deals the next order of business will be trying to sign offensive coordinator, Bill Callahan, and offensive line coach, Scott Linehan, to new deals. The Cowboys feel they have a special group and want to keep as many of their coaches/players as possible.
Dez Bryant, DeMarco Murray and Rolando McClain are also in line for new deals and the Cowboys hope to keep all three, for the right price. For now the reacquisitons of Garrett and Marinelli is a good start to the Cowboys offseason plans.
