r/cowboys

By: Seth Walder

Dallas Cowboys:

C+

Biggest move: Keeping WR George Pickens on the franchise tag -- and only the franchise tag

Move I liked: Keeping Pickens on the franchise tag

Move I disliked: Trading DT Osa Odighizuwa

The ripple effects of Dallas' decision to trade Micah Parsons ahead of the 2025 season were still being felt this offseason. That was most apparent when the Cowboys were among the teams vying for Maxx Crosby. They didn't get the Pro Bowl edge rusher, who landed back in Las Vegas.

But losing Parsons was also likely a factor in the Cowboys' decision to trade a fourth-round pick for edge rusher Rashan Gary -- an overpay considering Gary is a vastly diminished relative to his pre-torn-ACL self and still will make $16 million per year.

The Parsons effect was also felt at defensive tackle. The Cowboys had used some of their extra draft capital from the deal to trade for Quinnen Williams in midseason, creating a bit of a surplus at interior lineman with Kenny Clark and Odighizuwa. Dallas' solution was to trade Odighizuwa to San Francisco for a third-round pick.

The Cowboys chose the wrong D-tackle to deal, as Odighizuwa is younger and makes less than Clark, plus is arguably better than the veteran at this stage of their respective careers. The Cowboys would have gotten less draft capital for Clark, but I don't think they fared particularly well with the Odighizuwa deal and wonder if they didn't trade Clark, who was part of the Parsons deal, due to the optics.

Dallas' other major player decision was related to Pickens. After the wide receiver's exceptional 2025 season, the Cowboys applied the franchise tag but said they wouldn't negotiate a long-term deal with him. This was the right move. Handing him a new contract right now would be paying Pickens at the peak of his worth. And I can't help but think about Pickens falling out of favor in Pittsburgh even with Mike Tomlin there -- and wonder if there's a risk of that happening in Dallas, too. Considering that, I don't see a great reason for Dallas to commit to him long term before it has to. And it doesn't have to right now.

The Cowboys made a change at defensive coordinator after finishing last in defensive EPA per play last season. They replaced Matt Eberflus with Christian Parker, who was the Eagles' defensive passing game coordinator and secondary coach. Dallas added safety Caleb Downs and edge rusher Malachi Lawrence in the first round of the draft, signed free agent safety Jalen Thompson and traded for linebacker Dee Winters.

If the coordinator change and personnel reinforcements can make Dallas' defense roughly average while the offense maintains its torrid 2025 production, the Cowboys can quickly become a contender.

Hello all,

Hope everyone is well, my wife surprised me with tickets to a Cowboys game (we live in Canada).

Wanted to bring our son along, who will be 23 months old at the time of the game. Most sporting events allow for children under two years old to sit on a parents lap, but we just noticed the cowboys have an under 1 year old policy.

Reaching out to see if anyone has any experience with this and how strict they are on that.

Also, my son is not overly tall or big if anyone was wondering.

Thank you

By: Patrik Walker, Tommy Yarrish & Nick Eatman

20) Aside from Downs, which rookie makes the biggest impact?

Patrik: My first instinct here is to go with Malachi Lawrence, and I don't doubt he'll make an impact in Year 1, but the first year in the league is rarely a breakout campaign for edge rushers — alongside the fact there are young veterans at the position who will get their shot (such as Sam Williams and James Houston). That said, I'm drawing a circle around rookie cornerback Devin Moore, and for a couple reasons.

Positionally speaking, Moore is more of a boundary cornerback than anything, and there have been serious availability issues with DaRon Bland. I am a firm believer Bland can return to form if he can stay healthy, but the foot injury has nagged him. If Bland misses time, it likely thrusts Moore in rotation with Caelen Carson (but Carson is in the final year of his contract). I believe Christian Parker and Ryan Smith want to develop the fourth-rounder to be a longterm solution at boundary CB, the same formula attached to Shavon Revel. Moore might be a pleasant surprise as early as Year 1, in my opinion.

Tommy: Go ahead and call me basic for picking the second first-round pick, but I do think that it's Malachi Lawrence. This is a pass rushing unit that has a lot of youth spread around it, and Dallas is banking on that youth to grow up and formulate a strong combination of good pass rushers. Lawrence has all the traits you could want in a pass rusher but may need some time to grow accustomed to NFL play. If he ends up learning and developing at a quicker rate, I think there's absolutely a world where he's considered to be the Cowboys' best pass rusher early in his career.

For the 2026 season, if there's noticeable growth and he's able to at the very least show the flashes of what made Lawrence a first-round pick based on the tape from UCF, I think that makes the biggest impact for Dallas outside of Caleb Downs. The good news for Lawrence in the learning process is I think he's got a strong group of position coaches around him in OLBs coach Chidera Uzo-Diribe and pass rush specialist consultant BT Jordan to be able to tap into his skillset early and make the necessary tweaks to his game that'll foster growth.

Nick: Immediately after the draft, I answered a question on here about my favorite Day 2/3 pick and I went with LT Overton. So I'm not going to change that answer here. I think it applies just the same because I really like the plan and vision the Cowboys have for Overton. Unlike the other rookies, the Cowboys do have players that play the same spots as Barham, Lawrence, Shelton and Moore.

But Overton is quite unique in that he's pretty much the smallest and quickness of the defensive tackles. I get the sense the Cowboys are going to use him on passing downs and he can lean on his pass-rushing skills but from the inside. It won't surprise me if he can get around the 5-6 sack range even as a rookie. That would be a huge impact and so for that reason, the fact that he already seems to have a carved-out role, that will be my selection here.

All but one are against the Cowboys. WTF. How does that even happen and what does it say about the Cowboys franchise.