Stephen A. Smith, long one of the Dallas Cowboys’ most persistent television critics, spent Tuesday morning arguing that owner and general manager Jerry Jones has finally done enough to put America’s Team back on top of the NFC East.
“I think [Jerry Jones has] done his job. … The Dallas Cowboys should win the NFC East!” Smith said on ESPN’s “First Take,” according to a clip posted by the show’s official account.
The segment asked whether Dallas has a loaded roster heading into the 2026 season. Smith’s answer was yes, and the official “First Take” account framed it as a belief that the Cowboys “could be serious contenders this year.”
The take landed less than two weeks before Dallas opens the regular season on the road against the New York Giants on Sunday Night Football. It also arrived after a 7-9-1 campaign in 2025 that left the Cowboys second in the division and out of the playoffs.
Last year’s problem was not the offense. Quarterback Dak Prescott threw for 4,552 yards and 30 touchdowns. George Pickens had 1,429 receiving yards. CeeDee Lamb added 1,077. Running back Javonte Williams rushed for 1,201 yards and 11 touchdowns.
The defense, however, allowed an NFL-worst 30.1 points per game after Dallas traded star pass rusher Micah Parsons to Green Bay just before the season.
Jones responded by overhauling the staff and the front seven. The Cowboys hired former Eagles assistant Christian Parker as defensive coordinator, added edge rusher Rashan Gary in a trade, kept interior force Quinnen Williams and used first-round picks on Ohio State safety Caleb Downs and edge rusher Malachi Lawrence. Pickens is back on the franchise tag.
Oddsmakers have noticed. Dallas is listed around +184 to win the NFC East and about +2,000 to +2,500 to win Super Bowl LXI, with a win total of 9.5. Philadelphia remains the division favorite after winning the East the past two seasons.
Smith’s endorsement still stood out because of the source. He has spent years needling Jones, questioning Dallas’ postseason toughness and treating Cowboys optimism as a punch line. A clip that credits Jones for doing “his job” and picks Dallas to win the division is a sharp turn from that usual posture.
The franchise’s larger history explains why even a division pick sounds ambitious in some living rooms. Dallas last won the Super Bowl after the 1995 season and has not reached an NFC championship game since. Jones, 83, still holds the owner, president and general manager titles of a franchise valued at about $15.5 billion.
Head coach Brian Schottenheimer enters Year 2 after the offense ranked among the league’s most productive units. Prescott has said the offseason moves gave him more confidence in the roster. The remaining question is whether Parker’s defense can climb from last in scoring to merely average.
That gap is the difference between a 9-8 team and a division champion.
Reaction to the “First Take” clip was split in the usual Cowboys way. Some fans treated Smith’s praise as overdue recognition. Others argued Philadelphia is still slightly better. A few said Smith cannot criticize Jones for years and then declare the East won in the same breath.
The schedule will test the claim quickly. After the Giants, Dallas hosts Washington, then faces Baltimore in Rio de Janeiro, visits Houston and plays Tampa Bay on a short week. Two games against the Eagles follow later in the fall.
Smith did not promise a Super Bowl. He said Jones had done his job and that Dallas should win the East.
For a franchise that has spent three decades selling hope and falling short of January’s final weekend, that was enough to dominate the conversation on the last Tuesday before the games start to count.
