The Dallas Cowboys may be changing their stance on a long-time position coach’s job security in his current role.
Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Friday, “Cowboys TE coach Lunda Wells now has completed an interview with the Commanders for their vacant OC position.” Wells, if one remembers, was not allowed to interview with Washington last year.
“The Commanders put in a request to interview Cowboys TEs coach Lunda Wells for their offensive line coach position under Dan Quinn, but Dallas blocked the request, sources say. Wells and DQ worked together for years,” NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported in February 2024.
Where owner/general manager Jerry Jones was once reluctant to allow overtures from other franchises on Wells, he clearly no longer is. One has to assume Wells’ narrative in the DFW has drastically changed over the last two years.
Jones never held a grudge against Commanders head coach Dan Quinn after his run as Cowboys defensive coordinator. It’s not as though some beef against Quinn from 2024 has been resolved. If anything, it’s Quinn who should have hard feelings about never being promoted in Dallas despite clearly deserving to be.
That’s not what’s at play here. This is solely on Wells. Even if he doesn’t get the Washington job, it’s clear his job isn’t safe like it once was.
Cowboys Open Door for a Potential Lunda Wells Split
While TE Jake Ferguson had his best season in 2025, hauling in a career-high eight touchdowns and 82 receptions, and Brevyn Spann-Ford improved in multiple facets, even if his numbers don’t explode off the page. At the same time, Luke Schoonmaker — a former 2023 second-rounder — not taking a meaningful step forward is a bad look for Wells. And it may be why Jones may be willing to let him walk.
Schoonmaker became a non-factor by the end of the season, though he wasn’t much of a factor at all through 17 appearances. He didn’t have a single touchdown catch, and every other meaningful counting stat fell off from his 2024 numbers. In fact, he only has a 49-438-3 stat line through three seasons, which doesn’t give the Cowboys much confidence ahead of his rooke contract’s final year.
Schoonmaker looked like a potential building block out of Michigan. Now? He’s an afterthought, and while some of the blame should fall on him, Wells also deserves some finger-pointing. Perhaps he isn’t as good at his job as Cowboys fans wish.
Jones doesn’t like wasting anything, but using a second-round pick on a bust is something he clearly won’t accept. Of course, that’s not something to fire Wells over. Hence, a soft declaration to the rest of the NFL that Wells could be had for the taking after six years of giving the impression that he was untouchable.
