When the clock struck zero in Green Bay, the Dallas Cowboys’ focus shifted from the Super Bowl to the offseason. Instead of preparing for Russell Wilson and Richard Sherman, the Cowboys will be preparing for the best way to attack this offseason to best improve this team.

As the Cowboys head into the offseason they will face a significant amount of uncertainty. Dez Bryant, DeMarco Murray, Doug Free, Jeremy Parnell, Rolando McClain, Justin Durant and Bruce Carter are among some tough decisions player personnel wise and Jason Garrett, Rod Marinelli and Bill Callahan’s contracts are up as well. There is a high probability that the Cowboys could look like a significantly different team next year.

Before we dive into the tough decisions, let’s take a look at the more obvious ones. Jason Garrett and Dez Bryant will be back next year.

There is no way that Jerry Jones lets Garrett walk after the job he did with this team. Garrett not only deserves a new contract, but he also deserves a raise. While Dez Bryant’s situation is a tad more complicated, there is slim to no chance that he isn’t a Cowboy next year. While Bryant and the Cowboys will be in the midst of a tough contract negotiation, the Cowboys can always put the franchise tag on Bryant to ensure his spot on the Cowboys next year.

After those two, the decisions get much harder for the Cowboys.

The first decision they may face has to do whether defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli will remain the defensive coordinator for the Cowboys next year. Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio reported that Marinelli is expected to join his friend Lovie Smith in Tampa Bay. The potential loss of Marinelli is huge as he did an incredible job for the Cowboys defense this year. Despite losing star players like DeMarcus Ware and Jason Hatcher to free agency and losing Sean Lee to injury, Marinelli led the defense to an extremely respectable year.

If Marinelli does end up jettisoning to Tampa Bay, the Cowboys are not without options. They can promote linebackers coach Matt Eberflus to defensive coordinator as a reward for the job he did with a unit that was hit hard by injuries. Eberflus has significant experience with 4-3 and 3-4 defenses, so he could bring a more complicated multiple front defense, much like what Rex Ryan is known for.

If the Cowboys decide to hire outside of the organization, they can look at Seattle Seahawks defensive backs coach Kris Richard. You’d be hard pressed to find a position coach that has done a better job than what Richard has done in Seattle. The Seahawks only have one player in their secondary drafted before the fourth round, Earl Thomas, yet they have the best secondary in football, which points to great coaching and development from the Seahawks and specifically to Richard.

Another coach that has the potential to depart is offensive line coach Bill Callahan. Last year, Callahan was blocked from interviewing with other teams, but now that his contract is up, he can interview with whom he pleases. Usually, losing a position coach isn’t a big deal, but with how well the Cowboys offensive line has played this year it is a big blow. Luckily, the Cowboys have a great candidate on the staff in Frank Pollack, who has experience as an offensive line coach and has done a good job.

After the Cowboys figure out their coaching staff for next year, they will likely move on to the more difficult player personnel choices.

One of the toughest comes at the linebacker position. The Cowboys have three linebackers who are impending free agents in Rolando McClain, Justin Durant and Bruce Carter. In all likelihood they can only sign two of them at the most.

McClain seems like the easy choice as he became a leader for the defense and brought a toughness that they have been missing; however, you never what is going through a guy like McClain’s head.

Justin Durant was playing at an extremely high level before he tore his biceps and went out for the season. Bruce Carter was wildly inconsistent, but when he is playing well, there are few players on this roster who are better.

The best option for the Cowboys would be to bring back McClain and Durant, as they are more consistent and reliable than Carter on a week-to-week basis. If you combine Durant and McClain with Sean Lee and Anthony Hitchens, you have a very good unit that should be the strength of the defense.

Another tough decision the Cowboys will likely have is choosing between Doug Free and Jeremy Parnell. Doug Free is clearly the better player as he much better at run blocking than Parnell, but Parnell is significantly younger and will be the cheaper option as well.

If the Cowboys can get a similar deal to what they already had, they should go with Free. He is the leader of the offensive line and he is a much more reliable player than Parnell, who can be a liability at times.

The toughest decision the Cowboys will face will be whether to re-sign DeMarco Murray or let him walk in free agency.

Murray was the most productive running back in the NFL this season as he led the league in rushing yards, 1,845, and tied for the lead in rushing touchdowns (13). He was a workhorse back who is one of the best in the NFL at getting the tough yards.

However, he also led the league in carries with 392 in the regular season, plus 44 more carries in the post season. This is not a good sign as the last eight running backs who carried the ball 392 times or more saw a significant drop in total yards, yards per game and touchdowns.

The unfortunate reality for the Cowboys is that their best option would be to let Murray walk and draft his replacement. Re-signing Murray doesn’t give the Cowboys the same return on their investment than drafting a running back in say the second round. The fact is that you can find a player in the draft who will give the Cowboys similar production to what Murray will give, but at a significantly reduced rate.

The fact of the matter is that if the Cowboys make the decision with their head and not their hearts, Murray will be dawning a new uniform next season.

All in all, the Cowboys put together an incredible season that outperformed even the most optimistic of fans and pundits predictions. This is a season that the Cowboys can build off of, but they will have their challenges in the offseason.

When the clock strikes zero on the Cowboys season next year, the decisions they make this offseason will determine if it ends with a ring on their fingers or not.