A potential joint practice in the Pacific Northwest could pit Dak Prescott against Mike Macdonald's defense, offering a high-intensity preview weeks before their preseason kickoff in Seattle.
The Dallas Cowboys don't have the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks on the 2026 regular-season schedule until more than halfway through the year, but there is a preseason opener on the slate August 15.
And we're hearing rumors that Dallas may hang out on in the Pacific Northwest for a time, too. ... with "HBO's Hard Knocks'' the big winner in all of this.
A Cowboys source tells CowboysRoundtable.com that the two teams are talking about a joint practice in conjuction with the game.
And now, former NFL quarterback Brock Huard is citing a source suggesting the same thing.
"From what I understand and the conversations I’m having, they are really, really attempting to make that work," Huard said. "And that would be so awesome for the fans, the experience. I’ve gotten to see that in the Denver market. The Broncos have been able to do [joint practices] and get opponents to come in. It’s really cool.
"I think the Seahawks will do their darndest. And we know the Cowboys, they like to do joint practices anyway. And I think you’re going to see that."
Ah, but tap the brakes here. Now the Cowboys are saying that they'll do joint work against the Saints and the Rams this summer. So this fun idea might be scratched.
The concept isn't foreign around the league, but Seattle had gone over three decades without having an offseason workout with another NFL team before a preseason game. The Seahawks have now done so in back-to-back seasons since Macdonald has taken over.
Huard notes how the practice dynamic could replicate a game atmosphere within the lines before the teams line up in the real deal.
"And in many ways, the intensity of those couple practices are better than the preseason game, because they’re getting after it, because it’s ones-on-ones," he said. "That red zone and that high red zone last year in [Green Bay], that was the first coming-out party of … JSN and Sam Darnold. That was kind of the first little appetizer and vision of what could be and what was to come."
That vision led to Darnold's continued resurgence under center and receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba's breakout into the eventual Offensive Player of the Year last year.
We already know the Cowboys also delve into joint practices. Brian Schottenheimer's team will prepare for his second year at the helm with a joint practice against the New Orleans Saints this summer, as well, before their Aug. 28 preseason game, Dallas' third and final one before Week 1.
Cowboys exes DeMarcus Lawrence and Dante Fowler Jr. make up part of Seattle's stellar defensive line. Lawrence spent his first season away from Dallas after a decade-plus career, and after taking home the Lombardi Trophy, he helped encourage Fowler to make the move to Seattle this offseason as a free agent.
Adding to the drama, the Seahawks are set to be featured in HBO's offseason docu-series "Hard Knocks" this season. An appearance by the Cowboys would surely mean box-office cinema for viewers that week.
"You know what?" Huard laughed. "Maybe it’s an opportunity for the Seahawks and [general manager John Schneider] and Mike to be like, 'Enough cameras on us. Go get it on Jerry. Jerry will go talk to you.'
"They can do the whole ‘Hard Knocks’ episode. Go focus on them and get the focus off us."
That sounds like an idea Cowboys boss Jerry Jones would be interested in. But instead? HBO will get an eyeful of Seahawks this summer.
