The Dallas Cowboys are once again watching the Super Bowl from home. Despite the #1 overall offense, Pro Bowl and Pro Bowl-type players, as well as the defensive turnaround of Dan Quinn, the Cowboys got bounced in the 1st round.

So begins another offseason to prepare for the eventual hype that will build up come August. After free agency settles and the draft ends, we'll see just how different this team is from 2021. Even more so, how the rest of the NFC will look at the same time.

As it looks now, the Cowboys should be a heavy favorite. Not because of the defense featuring Micah Parsons, Trevon Diggs and lead by Dan Quinn. Not because of Dak Prescott and the top scoring offense in the league. It's because of circumstances.

Specifically, circumstances around the QB position in the NFC.

The outlook of the position is going to be altered plenty. Tom Brady is retired, Aaron Rodgers might be gone and Jimmy Garoppolo (yes, Garoppolo) has already made it clear he's gone.

As far as QBs go, the outlook right now favors the Dallas Cowboys almost immediately. Aside from Dak, only Matthew Stafford and Kyler Murray are in the same conversation.

At the moment, if Garoppolo and Rodgers were to be traded to the AFC, the starting QBs look like this:

NFC West

Los Angeles – Stafford

Arizona – Murray

San Francisco – Trey Lance

Seattle – Russel Wilson (?)

NFC North

Green Bay Packers – Jordan Love

Minnesota Vikings – Kirk Cousins (?)

Chicago Bears – Justin Fields

Detroit Lions – Jared Goff

NFC South

Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Kyle Trask

New Orleans Saints – Taysom Hill

Atlanta Falcons – Matt Ryan

Carolina Panthers – Sam Darnold

NFC East

Dallas Cowboys – Dak

Philadelphia Eagles – Jalen Hurts

Washington Commanders (here) – Taylor Heinicke

New York Giants – Daniel Jones

It's an underwhelming list, aside from a handful of names.

The Dallas Cowboys have a mixed history against the top quarterbacks in the league. With how the outlook of the conference is, the players who will return and the favorable schedule (here) there's no reason the Cowboys shouldn't take full advantage.

Many NFC teams will be headed into a rebuild. Others are already in the middle of their own. If the Cowboys realize this early, and take full advantage of the offseason, they could emerge as contenders.

If they let this chance pass them by, they'll be stuck as pretenders.