The Dallas Cowboys’ head coaching search has begun to take shape. So far, the candidates having either interviewed with the team or have one scheduled are Robert Saleh, Leslie Frazier and Kellen Moore.

While this process unfolds, it seems the national audience has a much greater infatuation with the targets without those same credentials, namely Deion Sanders.

The rumor connecting Sanders to the Cowboys’ opening reported Monday night has caught fire and now that unquenchable flame has some penciling in that move at The Star.

Sanders’ move to the professional ranks is not the likely scenario here but cannot be completely ruled out. With that in mind, how would such a hire impact the Cowboys.

Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox has laid out a few scenarios that include a rebuild of the current roster, parting with Micah Parsons and Dak Prescott through a trade.

“There’s also a non-zero chance that players like Prescott and Parsons don’t want to be part of whatever comes next for the Cowboys after feeling like they were on the right track with McCarthy,” wrote Knox.

“While the Cowboys may not actively engage in a bargain sale this offseason, other teams will undoubtedly call to see if top players like Parsons can be had,” wrote Knox. “That’s simply how things go when a franchise hits the reset button, and hiring Sanders would represent the biggest Cowboys reset in recent memory.”

This ridiculous strategy has a few flaws that misrepresent what the Cowboys are looking to do. Starting with Prescott, the quarterback has a no-trade clause and even if Dallas moved him it would create a $103.2 million dead cap hit. For a team unwilling to spend so much on their roster already, that is a bold change of pace.

More importantly, the suggestion that a shift to Sanders would impact Parsons’ feelings about the franchise. More than any player in recent Cowboys’ history, he has expressed his passion for representing the team.

The idea that Sanders, a former Cowboys’ defensive star himself, would change that pattern of behavior ignores an extensive pattern of pro-Cowboys action.

Players like Prescott and Parsons are not interested in asking for trades, they are looking to win. That has not happened at the highest level yet, but in a world where Sanders comes to Dallas, he is not coming to rebuild.

There will be some impacts felt across the league if the Cowboys shock the football world with a Sanders hire. But if he comes to Dallas, he will want to win immediately and those plans will require Parsons and Prescott. … and the media should be obliged to be more responsible about its ridiculous rumor-mongering.