The Dallas Cowboys will be one of the last teams to take the field for training camp this offseason, with both veterans and rookies reporting on July 28th. Typically, we see rookies report about a week before the veterans, but Dallas is one of the few teams that have elected to let all of their players report at the same time. Watch What’s Trending Now! 2025 was a disappointing season for the Cowboys, who boasted one of the best offenses in the NFL, but missed the playoffs due to having one of the worst defenses in the league. They’ve worked hard to rectify that this offseason, and on paper, they’ve done a good job. Now, it’s time to turn that on-paper success into on-field success.
With training camp beginning in a little over a week, here’s everything you need to know about the Dallas Cowboys before they report on July 28th. The New Additions As I hinted at earlier, the Cowboys made a lot of defensive additions this offseason. And it all starts at the top with a new defensive coordinator, Christian Parker, who has spent the last two years assembling one of the best secondaries in the NFL with the Cowboys’ NFC East rivals, the Philadelphia Eagles. The first move the Cowboys made this offseason was trading for Rashan Gary. The former Packer has finished with 7.5 sacks in each of his last three seasons and should give Dallas an immediate boost off the edge. But that’s not the only addition the Cowboys made to the edge rusher position.
With their second pick in the first round of the NFL Draft, the Cowboys selected Malachi Lawrence, an athletic freak who ran a 4.52-second 40-yard dash with a 40-inch vertical out of UCF. The rookie should see significant playing time right away, but I’d also keep my eye on Jaishawn Barham, who is one of the best run-defending edge rushers in this rookie class. Both guys will see the field as a rookie and will make an impact.
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The Cowboys also traded for former sixth-round pick Dee Winters, who is entering the final year of his contract, from San Francisco. The former 49ers off-ball linebacker racked up 101 tackles last season while picking off one pass and breaking up five more. He should be a day one starter in Parker’s defense. Moving back to the secondary, the Cowboys made quite a few impactful additions.
First, they signed Cobie Durant and Jalen Thompson, two of the most underrated players at their position, in free agency. Then, they drafted Caleb Downs, who was my No.
1 player in the draft, with the 11th overall pick. All of these additions should help the Cowboys field at least an average defense in 2026. An Upgraded Defense We just talked about all the additions Dallas made this offseason, but let’s talk about how impactful they could actually be this year. First, let’s set the stage. In 2025, the Cowboys gave up 30.1 points per game, which ranked dead last in the league. They also finished dead last in opponent passing yards per game, giving up over 251 yards through the air per contest.
They were better against the run, especially after they traded for Quinnen Williams, but they still gave up 125 yards per game on the ground, which ranked 23rd. As you can see, Dallas really struggled on defense last season, which is what led them to make such drastic changes on that side of the ball.
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But just how much better will they be in 2026? Starting up front, their defensive line should be much improved. They retained Quinnen Williams and Kenny Clark, forming one of the better defensive tackle duos in the NFL, and now they have four capable edge rushers with Rashan Gary, Malachi Lawrence, Jaishawn Barham, and Donovan Ezeiruaku. Don’t be shocked if this defensive line is pretty good. Imago
The linebacker position is interesting for Dallas. They got Dee Winters, who should be an immediate upgrade, but they also got DeMarvion Overshown back from a severe knee injury. If those two can play how they did in 2025 and 2024, respectively, the Cowboys have a really solid off-ball linebacker unit.
Cornerback is where things get a bit sketchy. DaRon Bland is going to be one of the boundary starters, and ever since his incredible five-pick-six season, he hasn’t been very good. I do believe Cobie Durant will help them out, but if you have a liability on one side, you can’t do a whole lot about it. Caleb Downs coming down from the safety position and playing in the slot should give them a massive boost, though. He’s expected to play in the slot most of the year while Jalen Thompson and Malik Hooker hold it down on the backend, so if he can be as productive in the slot as he was in college, their cornerback room won’t be in as much trouble as we might expect. If everyone plays at the highest level possible, this could be a top-10 defense. That may sound ambitious, but this roster really is talented.
Christian Parker just has to extract the most from them. Realistically, it’s more likely that they end up finishing in that 12-18 range in terms of points per game allowed. But if they do that, this should be a playoff team given how good this offense is. Position Battles to Watch Left Tackle The top position battle to watch with the Cowboys is the left tackle battle between former first-round pick Tyler Guyton and former seventh-round pick Nate Thomas. Guyton has been the starter for the past two years, but he’s dealt with some injuries and really hasn’t played well when he’s been on the field.
Thomas hasn’t played well either, but he’s really their only other option right now. Imago
Protecting Dak Prescott’s blindside is the most important thing for the Cowboys’ offense this season. Guyton and Thomas combined to give up 54 pressures, 39 hurries, and five sacks last season, which is just unacceptable. It’s a battle between bad and worse, but one of them is going to come out on top. Cornerback The entire cornerback position is up for grabs this offseason. Let’s take Caleb Downs out of the equation, because he’s going to be the starter in the slot, and just talk about the two boundary positions for a second. Right now, the five main guys in the running are Cobie Durant, DaRon Bland, and Shavon Revel Jr., but guys like Reddy Steward and Devin Moore could enter the conversation as well.
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I feel confident Durant will be a starter, given he played better than everyone on Dallas’s roster in 2025, so it comes down to who will be alongside him. Bland is coming off a year where he gave up a 67 percent completion rate, 630 yards, and five touchdowns with one pick. Not good.
Revel Jr. is coming off a year where he gave up a 67 percent completion rate, 295 yards, and two touchdowns in seven games. Not good. Reddy Steward is coming off a year where he didn’t play a single snap in the regular season. Not good. Devin Moore is a rookie who has a lot of upside but has no NFL experience. Not bad, but not great for a Week 1 starter.
The good news is, Dallas has options. The bad news is, I don’t know how great any of them are. I hope Moore wins it, because he has the most upside, but I doubt he will as a fourth-round rookie. Edge Rusher The edge rusher battle is going to be another fascinating one.
I feel good about penciling Rashan Gary in as a starter, but what’s going to happen behind him? Malachi Lawrence and Donovan Ezeiruaku are going to be battling it out for the other starting spot, but I wouldn’t be shocked if they end up splitting time pretty evenly to start the year.
Ezeiruaku played pretty well in his rookie season, logging 36 pressures and two sacks, but there’s no denying that Malachi Lawrence’s upside is higher than his. But what about behind them? Who else will earn playing time this season?
Will it be Jaishawn Barham, who could very well move to off-ball linebacker? Will LT Overton make any sort of an impression? What about James Houston, who had 5.5 sacks last year? This will be a fascinating battle to watch play out in training camp and into the preseason.
