Blogging The Boys
The Dallas Cowboys have spent most of the offseason looking to upgrade their roster from their disappointing 2025 season. Today we will rank the five biggest upgrades the Cowboys made over the offseason as they look to make a playoff push in 2026.
While the Cowboys did not make any huge splashes in free agency, they did do a nice job of bringing in players that will raise the floor of this defense at positions of need. P.J. Locke is another great example of a floor-raiser in Dallas. Locke has been more of a depth piece than an every down starter over the course of his career so far, but the Cowboys added three safeties over the offseason that are equal or better players than the two they had been starting over the last few seasons.
Locke has split time at both strong and free safety throughout his career in Denver. His versatility, special teams impact, and instincts are much needed in Dallas after a season full of coverage busts, and asking players to do things they simply weren’t capable of doing. Locke may not be a 17 game starter for the Cowboys in 2026, but with Caleb Downs ability to play nickel, as well as other spots, we will see plenty of snaps with three safeties on the field for the Cowboys, and we should not be shocked to see Locke get playing time at multiple spots on the backend of the defense.
Heading into free agency and the draft, the linebacker position was the biggest position of need for the Cowboys. The Cowboys did not address the linebacker position until day two of the 2026 NFL draft when they drafted Michigan LB/EDGE Jaishawn Barham in the third round and trading for San Francisco 49ers linebacker Dee Winters.
As of today it sounds like the starting two inside linebackers in the Cowboys base defense will be DeMarvion Overshown and Dee Winters, with Jaishawn Barham getting plenty of work both as a traditional linebacker and pass rusher. Winters really broke out in 2025 for the 49ers, after starting 17 games due to injuries to Fred Warner. Winters is not a perfect player, but based on his tape over the 2024-2025 season, he will still be an instant upgrade over what the Cowboys had last year in Kenneth Murray.
One of the more underrated moves of the Cowboys offseason was adding Cobie Durant in free agency. The cornerback position was an absolute disaster last year for the Matt Eberflus-led defense. Whether it was DaRon Bland, Trevon Diggs, Kaiir Elam, Trikweze Bridges, Calen Carson, or Shavon Revel at the end of the season, whoever the Cowboys were putting out there to play the outside corner spot was getting picked on early, and often.
The Cowboys elected to move on from Diggs and Elam by the end of the season, but...
