Cowboys free agency grades: Dallas gets active, still has needs to address

The Dallas Cowboys (7-9-1) were Jekyll and Hyde when it came to their 2025 offense and defense.

Offensively, the Cowboys soared with the NFL’s No. 7 scoring offense (27.7 points per game) and No. 2 total offense (391.9 total yards per game) in Year 1 with Brian Schottenheimer in charge and calling plays. Quarterback Dak Prescott was the NFL’s third-leading passer with 4,552 yards through the air, wide receiver George Pickens ranked third in the league in receiving yards (1,429), running back Javonte Williams ranked ninth in the league in rushing yards (1,201) and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb ranked 11th in the league in receiving yards (1,077) despite missing three games with an ankle injury.

On defense, it was a tire fire. Dallas fired Matt Eberflus. The Cowboys ranked as the NFL’s worst scoring defense, allowing 30.1 points per game. That’s the second-most points per game allowed in the 66-season history of the Cowboys, with only Dallas’ inaugural 1960 team that went 0-11-1 being worse.

Because of this, the Cowboy’s free agency agenda focused on its defense ever since hiring Philadelphia Eagles defensive backs coach/defensive passing game coordinator Christian Parker as the team’s new defensive coordinator. Dallas also either re-signed (running back Javonte Williams) or franchise-tagged/tendered (wide receiver George Pickens and kicker Brandon Aubrey) key offensive and special teams players. They also traded away defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa to the San Francisco 49ers in exchange for a 2026 third-round pick and defensive tackle Solomon Thomas to the Tennessee Titans in a swap of seventh-round picks.  

Let’s take a stroll by each of the Cowboys’ moves this offseason and grade them individually before assessing a collective grade on Dallas’ 2026 offseason through the first few weeks of free agency. 

New acquisitions

Grade: B-

Trade & Contract: Acquired from the Green Bay Packers in exchange for a 2027 fourth-round pick; signed a revised two-year, $32 million contract with $16 million guaranteed 

The Dallas Cowboys bailed out the Green Bay Packers by trading a 2027 fourth-round pick for edge rusher Rashan Gary given they were likely going to cut him. Gary himself appeared to post a goodbye letter to Green Bay, but claimed he had been hacked. 

He sprinted out to 7.5 sacks in the first eight weeks of 2025 after teaming up with former Cowboys All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons, which ranked as the fifth-most in the NFL to start the year. However, he didn’t record a single sack the rest of the 2025 campaign from Week 9 through the Packers’ opening round playoff loss at the Chicago Bears, and the Packers were happy to move off of him and get a draft pick in return. 

“Just understanding the player that I am and just understanding through the I guess six or seven games [without a sack] as you said, football is football,” Gary said when asked about the sacks production dropoff. “At that time, we were playing meaningful games, so when you’re really playing meaningful games man, it really doesn’t come down to stats. It’s really about how you affect offenses and things like that. So just being able to lock in, being able to be effective and playing how I need to play and being the player that I am, the plays are going to come my way.”  

Parker told Gary he will line up as an outside linebacker in his 3-4 defense with 4-3 spacing and multiple front looks along the defensive line. The revised contract Gary signed saved this acquisition for a Cowboys defense that is starved for league-average or better edge rushers. Gary is one of nine players with at least five sacks in each of the past six seasons (since 2020). He racked up the 10th-most quarterback pressures (280) and the 13th-most quarterback hits (97) in the NFL over the past five seasons. Dallas did fill a need, and he isn’t gouging the Cowboys’ cap space. 

“The main thing for me is to come in, play good ball and play good ball to the point that we’re playing meaningful games,” Gary said. “Then, playing for some trophies and playing for some hats and T-shirts [things that come with winning the division, NFC and the Super Bowl]. That’s my goal.”   

Grade: A

Contract: Three years, $33 million, $22 million guaranteed

After Eberflus insisted on lining up box safety Donovan Wilson as his deep safety in coverage with regularity in 2025, Parker gets a player actually capable of manning that spot in former Arizona Cardinals safety Jalen Thompson. Parker’s defense will run a lot of nickel — five defensive backs on the field — which requires versatility from safeties. Arizona tasked him with covering tight ends and wide receivers out of the slot at times. New Cowboys secondary coach Ryan Smith worked with Thompson in Arizona, so there is also staff familiarity there. Plus, Thompson turns 28-years-old in July, so Dallas has his prime years secured. 

Grade: A

Contract: One year, $4 million, $1.5 million guaranteed

The Cowboys’ defense generated just 12 takeaways last season, the third-fewest in the entire NFL ahead of only the Washington Commanders (10) and the New York Jets (4). Their secondary desperately needed some ballhawks, and Durant fits that label. He has seven career regular-season interceptions since entering the league as a fourth-round pick of the Los Angeles Rams in 2022, and three of them came in 2025. In the 2025 playoffs, Durant led the entire NFL postseason in interceptions with three more and seven passes defensed. The Cowboys made a nice value signing here. 

“I just thrive on taking the ball away. It’s just something I really enjoy doing. See ball, get ball. Nothing like getting the ball back to the offense,” Durant said on a conference call on Tuesday. “Defense wins championships. Offense sells tickets. So just getting the ball back to Dak Prescott is my new mode.”  

He’s also open to playing in the slot, an area lacking since Jourdan Lewis departed for the Jacksonville Jaguars in free agency last offseason, as well as outside. 

“Wherever they put me, that’s where my playmaking ability will thrive at,” Durant said. 

Grade: B+

Contract: One year, $4 million, $1.5 million guaranteed

Parker gets another one of his former players in Dallas. First, Dallas traded a fourth-round pick for Gary, and he also has Locke. Parker was the Denver Broncos‘ defensive backs coach from 2021-23, where Locke developed into a veteran. He represents a nice depth piece to battle veteran Malik Hooker for a starting spot now that he’s overcome some back pain and nerve issues following a successful back surgery. Locke began to feel like himself again in training camp last season.

Locke will also be crucial in Parker’s scheme installation. He could help speed up the learning curve for the rest of his new teammates. He also expects Parker’s scheme to be slightly different than Vance Joseph’s and Vic Fangio’s, the player caller in the latter’s last two coaching stops. 

“When he [Parker] was my DB coach with the Broncos, I mean I’ve been in the same system, so I think it’s pretty much going to be a similar system. I’m pretty sure he’s going to throw his own twists and turns in and make it his own, but it’s going to be a familiar scheme,” Locke said on a conference call on Wednesday. … “I’m just super comfortable in this system.”

Miscommunication frequently received blame for the pass coverage woes Dallas suffered in Eberflus’ zone defense. Communication represents a strength for Locke.

“I think CP, his attention to detail, man,” Locke said. “CP hates gray area, and I think my own experience is that I hate gray area as well. I need to know what to do in this situation: if we get this motion, if we get this formation, if we get this play call, what do you want us to do?… He’s just really big on detail, teaching you the IQ of the game. He’s a technician in that way. … So that’s everything I love as a player, and it’s a reason why a lot of people gravitate towards him.”

Grade: B+

Contract: One year, $2.75 million, $500,000 guaranteed

Dallas needed more defensive tackle depth behind All-Pro Quinnen Williams and three-time Pro Bowler Kenny Clark after trading away Osa Odighizuwa to the San Francisco 49ers and Solomon Thomas to the Tennessee Titans. Ogbonnia also fits the build Parker is looking for in his defensive tackles: massive. He stands at 6-foot-4 and 320 pounds. Ogbonnia, 25, is a young, affordable depth piece at the defensive tackle spot. 

Grade: B

Contract: One year, $2.5 million fully guaranteed

The rocket-armed Joe Milton now has competition to be Prescott’s No. 2 in 2026. Howell, 25, has much more NFL experience than Milton: he started all 17 games for the Washington Commanders in 2023. In that season, the Commanders went 4-13 after Howell led the league in pass attempts (612) and interceptions (21, equaling the number of passing touchdowns he had) and time sacked (65). Washington had the NFL’s worst scoring defense that year, allowing 30.5 points per game. The following offseason, Washington drafted Jayden Daniels second overall in 2024, and Howell departed to be a backup with the Seattle Seahawks. He served as a backup with the Eagles in 2025 and now readies for his third tour of duty in the NFC East with Dallas in 2026.

“Shoot, I’ve done a lot of moving, and obviously that’s been good,” Howell said on Tuesday. “I’ve learned a lot the last couple of years. I’ve been to a lot of different places, learned a lot of different perspectives on the league. Dallas seems like a great place, and I’m excited to get there and work with Schotty [head coach Brian Schottenheimer]. He’s a guy I have a lot of respect for, obviously. Dak is a guy I’ve got a lot of respect for. Dak, just the way he plays the game and how much success he’s had. Shoot, I’d love to have an opportunity to be here as long as they want me here.”

Grade: B

Contract: One year, $1.4025 million, $1.2625 million guaranteed

Matt Hennessey, a 28-year-old who was a third-round pick of the Atlanta Falcons in 202, was a full-time starting center in 2021 for Atlanta, starting all 17 games. He started just five games since 2022, but he could be a nice depth chart filler on the interior with Brock Hoffman no longer on the roster. 

Re-signings

Grade: A

Contract: Three years, $24 million with $16 million guaranteed

The Cowboys’ re-signing of running back Javonte Williams is one of the best bargains of the offseason. Williams was a top 10 running back in basically every metric, and he is now just the sixth Cowboy in the last 50 years to rank in the top 10 of the league in both rushing yards and rushing touchdowns in a season. Williams joins Herschel Walker (1987), DeMarco Murray (twice), Tony Dorsett (three times), Ezekiel Elliott (three times) and Emmitt Smith (nine times) in that exclusive club. 

He’s the perfect fit as Schottenheimer’s battering ram in Dallas, and the Cowboys front-loaded the contract to where there isn’t any guaranteed money in Year 3 of the deal in 2028. That provides the front office plenty of flexibility. 

Grade: B-

Contract: One year, $2.5 million with $2 million guaranteed

Good on the Cowboys for retaining their 2022 second-round pick cheaply, but it’s not great that this is Williams’ second NFL contract following the expiration of his rookie deal. This contract highlights the 26-year-old’s current, unrealized potential through four seasons played in Dallas. Williams started a career-high five games in 2025, but he registered a career-low 1.0 sacks in his first year back after suffering a torn ACL and MCL in the first week of training camp in 2024. Williams is a cheap signing, but he likely won’t be more than a rotational piece. 

Franchise-tagged/tendered 

Grade: Incomplete

Contract: One year, $27.298 million fully guaranteed

George Pickens dominated in his first Cowboys season. The former Pittsburgh Steelers star produced like a borderline top-five wide receiver across numerous metrics, including receiving yards (1,429, the third-most in the NFL), yards per catch (15.4, the fifth-most in the NFL), catches (93, the eighth-most in the NFL) and receiving touchdowns (9, tied for the eighth-most in the NFL in 2025). 

It would make sense for Jerry Jones to get this deal done as soon as possible. However, his agent is David Mulugheta, who is also the agent for Micah Parsons. It will be interesting to see how the two parties come together on an extension this summer, given what happened with Parsons last year.

Grade: Incomplete

Contract: One year, $5.767 million fully guaranteed

The Cowboys applied a second-round tender on restricted free agent kicker Brandon Aubrey. It allows for Aubrey to negotiate with other NFL teams, but the Cowboys can match any contract offer he receives. 

It’s likely another NFL team won’t want to do Dallas’ homework for them on Aubrey’s deal, so it will be up to Jones and agent Todd France, who is also quarterback Dak Prescott’s agent, to come together to work out an extension for the three-time Pro Bowl kicker. Aubrey set the NFL record for the most made field goals without a miss to start an NFL career at 35 in 2023, and his six made field goals from 60 yards 

* Most in NFL history

Grade: B

Contract: One year, $5.767 million fully guaranteed

Bass has 10 career starts and 48 games played in three seasons. He can fill in at either guard spot should there be an injury, or if Dallas decides to kick All-Pro left guard Tyler Smith out to left tackle. Bass surrendered only two sacks and 15 quarterback pressures in his three NFL seasons, all with Dallas. It’s a fair deal.

Grade: B

Contract: One year, $1.005 million fully guaranteed

Steward was an exclusive rights free agent, and he is now back on the league minimum. He registered 1.5 sacks, three passes defended and one forced fumble in 17 games and five starts. He’s a low-cost depth chart filler for 2026. 

Overall Grade: C

Dallas addressed some needs with the signings of Gary, Thompson, Locke, Ogbonnia and Durant, but there are still holes at middle linebacker and edge rusher. It wouldn’t be surprising for Dallas to draft a defensive back high, either. The extensions for Pickens and Aubrey are the biggest items remaining outside of the draft, and their grade could climb higher if deals were struck. No budgets were busted in free agency, but the Cowboys were active. Yet, there are still plenty of areas on defense — edge rusher, middle linebacker and cornerback — that could either use reinforcements or a new front-line talent.