Here is what’s happening in Dallas.

The Cowboys are looking at possibly matching up San Diego defensive coordinator Wade Phillips as their head coach, but only if they get Troy Aikman’s former backup, Jason Garrett, as offensive coordinator. Phillips is from Texas and his expertise is the 3-4 defense, the scheme that Bill Parcells installed.

Garrett has been the hot assistant coach for the past month. Nick Saban foolishly thought Garrett would follow him from Miami to Alabama while the Dolphins have wisely prevented him from interviewing elsewhere because new head coach Cam Cameron may want him to be his offensive coordinator.

What's really interesting is that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is also considering Garrett for the team's head coaching position. Jones, who remains close to Raiders owner Al Davis, may be taking a page out of Davis' playbook and going after the hot, young coaching candidate.

But the combination of Phillips and Garrett also makes a lot of sense because Jones really likes Garrett, who also has strong support from former coach Jimmy Johnson and Aikman. Phillips, though, is a wild card in all of this because many of the Cowboys’ front seven defenders are also suited for a 4-3 scheme.

Why not wait to interview Chicago defensive coordinator Ron Rivera?

Bears head coach Lovie Smith, who has one year remaining on his contract, has been linked to Big D, too, because he’s from Big Sandy, Tx. The Bears are currently involved in trying to figure out what kind of raise Smith deserves. It would be a horrible publicity mistake if Chicago actually traded Smith to Dallas for draft picks because they won’t pay him $5 million a season. Last week, the word was Smith would settle for $4.5 million before his team won the NFC championship.

Titans owner Bud Adams is on record that he won’t allow Jones to talk to his coach, Jeff Fisher, because he doesn’t want to part with him, even if he plans to install a GM over Fisher and give this new guy, just like he did with Floyd Reese, all the personnel power. Fisher finally gets rid of Reese and no way will be want to say and be bossed around by a new general manager?

The asking price for a head coach is pretty steep. Tampa Bay paid $8 million and two first-round and two second-round picks to Al Davis for Jon Gruden. Outside of winning a Super Bowl, that deal looks pretty poor these days. The Jets paid three top draft choices for Bill Parcells in 1997. The Patriots (a real bargain in today’s world) paid a mere first-round pick for Bill Belichick.

Now, I can see Jones parting with a first-round pick, but nothing more, for Fisher. He’d probably prefer a cash-only deal. And this is where Norv Turner fits the Cowboys.

If Jones can’t swing the Phillips-Garrett marriage, it makes a lot of sense for him to pay Turner $3 million (or whatever it would take) this season to be his head coach with the promise that he can collect the same amount of money in 2008 when Jones goes after Fisher or Bill Cowher. Turner would step down and be the offensive coordinator for whatever big-name coach Jones can hire or he can simply walk away with a huge severance check.

Let me say that money is no object to Jerry Jones. He’d rather write a check than swap his draft choices. The thinking is that Jerry wants to win badly and knows he needs the draft to keep his team in line for the playoffs.

The Turner scenario makes a lot of sense, especially if he doesn’t mind working for Cowher in 2008 as the game’s highest-paid coordinator. Cowher-Turner or Fisher-Turner, either one of these marriages, is definitely better, on paper, than what Daniel Snyder has paid in Washington.

Pats will have to pay

New England has been operating within its own budget for many successful seasons, but the AFC Championship game loss to Indianapolis exposed some holes in that once mighty defense. The Big Three — Tedy Bruchi, Richard Seymour and Mike Vrabel — didn’t produce any major plays while combing for 14 tackles and one sack. Instead, they couldn’t hold a 21-3 halftime lead over Peyton Manning. A year ago, that would have been blasphemous to say, Belichick’s defense blowing such a margin.

 But cornerback Asante Samuel proved his worth. He limited Marvin Harrison to four receptions and basically evolved into a shut-down cornerback. Unlike Ty Law before him, Samuel just turned 26 and is a lot younger than what Law was (30) when he left the Patriots to join the Jets in 2005. Samuel’s best football is ahead of him and if the Patriots don’t pay, some team definitely will.

 With Bruschi considering retirement and he and Vrabel aren’t getting any younger. Bruschi will 34 next season and Vrabel will be 32. Yes, they are both quality players, but age is suddenly a factor.