Bill Parcells' Cowboys fell from 10-6 in 2003 to 6-10 in 2004. Doug Benc/Getty Images

I'm starting to wonder how badly this will all end for Bill Parcells. His brief tenure with the Cowboys is already taking misguided turns -- there's no way he can seriously consider Drew Bledsoe as the answer for what ailed a 6-10 team last season -- but there will certainly be more decisions that will leave us shaking our heads. Call it intuition. The unquestioned faith Parcells inspired in so many other franchises isn't in Dallas right now.

Aside from the emergence of Julius Jones and Jason Witten, what has gone right for the man in the last 12 months? The additions of Vinny Testaverde and Keyshawn Johnson didn't exactly ignite the offense last season. Parcells also passed on an opportunity to find a veteran cornerback in free agency, which didn't help when the Cowboys were defending the pass. More recently, Parcells has given no indication he's interested in giving young quarterback Drew Henson a shot at valuable experience. Now Bledsoe is a possibility to join the team, a move owner Jerry Jones reportedly doesn't support.

I bring all this up because Parcells is running out of time. His current contract expires after the 2006 season, and he's not likely to resurrect the Cowboys a second time before that moment arrives. All the good vibes from that 10-6 season in '03 have vanished, and to be honest, I don't see why Parcells would want to do this job much longer.

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For one, the longer he sticks around Dallas, the more people are going to wonder if Bill Belichick had more to do with his success than anybody realized. I'm already thinking that, by the way. Secondly, Parcells already has significantly improved his financial situation. He lost quite a bit in his '02 divorce from his ex-wife Judy (including an undisclosed monetary settlement and two homes), but the four-year, $17.1 million deal he signed with Dallas has surely eased that pain.

Finally, I don't know if Parcells has fostered an environment that will yield future success. Valley Ranch is currently a tense place. Parcells has fired four assistants since '03 -- John McNulty, George Warhop, Steve Hoffman and Jim Jeffcoat -- and I suspect he played some role in the retirement of Larry Lacewell, the Cowboys director of college and pro scouting and a longtime friend of Jones. McNulty's dismissal was particularly harsh. After McNulty informed Parcells he had a job offer from New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin last January, Parcells wouldn't let him out of his contract. A few days later, after Coughlin had filled all his positions, Parcells dumped McNulty and replaced him with Todd Haley. And this was after that 10-6 season.