Cowboys Will Lose NFC East To ... Dan Quinn's Commanders?! - Cowherd Odd Prediction

Dallas Cowboys Will Lose NFC East To ... Dan Quinn's Washington Commanders?! - Colin Cowherd Odd Prediction

FRISCO -  The 2024 NFL season is a long way off, and so at this early stage, there are no wrong answers when it comes to which teams will be the haves and the have-nots starting seven months from now.

Combine that fact with two others - one, that media segments must be filled and two, that filling them with contrarian takes can be a traction-getter - and voila! ...

Fox Sports' Colin Cowherd has an extremely bold prediction for who will be the NFC East winner in 2024.

Cowherd projects that the Washington Commanders will come out on top in the NFC East, thereby beating the defending champion Dallas Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles, who like Dallas has an on-paper loaded roster.

The NFC East hasn't had a repeat champion in 20 years, and if this were to happen, the Commanders could go from worst to first in one season. That would indeed be a story.

So what's the logic here?

"I think they get Drake Maye. I think he's like Justin Herbert as a comp... and will be better than people think immediately."

The Commanders win the NFC East in @ColinCowherd's early 2024 playoff predictions pic.twitter.com/tLmyTalHkq

— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) February 16, 2024

Cowherd thinks North Carolina product Drake Maye will be the Washington pick at No. 2 in the upcoming April NFL Draft immediately turn the Commanders into a winner.

"Why the Commanders? $75 million in cap space, love (new coach) Dan Quinn and (new offensive coordinator) Kliff Kingsbury as a staff,'' Cowherd said. "I think the Commanders get Drake Maye. I think he's like Justin Herbert as a comp.''

Obviously, at its best all of this is guesswork. We also "like'' Quinn as he moves from Dallas to Washington. We have no idea about Maye, and Cowherd doesn't, either. Cap space isn't a magic pill, but the Commanders have the most of it of any NFL team, so it's a start.

Why'd Whitt Leave Dallas For Commanders?

Could Washington really turn last year's 4-13 record upside down in a way that makes them better than Dallas and Philly? How?

"I think the Eagles and Cowboys - because of age and drama - are vulnerable," Cowherd said, and here's one area in which he loses the argument.

"Drama''? Yes, the Eagles and the Cowboys have had that. But ... no organization has been plagued by more drama than Washington, and we're not sure Quinn can clean up all of that in one offseason.

"Age''? Oops. The Cowboys entered the season with a younger roster than Washington's and were the second youngest team in the playoffs with the average age being 26 years, four months and 15 days. 

So is there real justification for predicting Washington to be superior to Dallas and Philly in 2024? Yes. The justification is that Cowherd just got us to write about his predi