How the Cowboys are building ‘our defense’ in Year 1 with Christian Parker – Jon Machota, The Athletic

Christian Parker has his fingerprint on the Cowboys’ defense.

FRISCO, Texas — Near the end of this year’s NFL Draft, Jerry Jones sat down at a table in front of reporters with several pieces of paper and a cell phone in his left hand. To his right was Dallas Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer. To his left was executive vice president Stephen Jones and vice president of player personnel Will McClay.

When the first question asked of the group...

The good news is that Caleb Downs has changed his jersey number. Many people have been anxious to read that sentence since learning that the player they can’t believe made it to the Cowboys was originally set to wear 18 and not the number that he wore in college.

Downs wore 2 at Ohio State and many have assumed that this would be the case in the NFL as well. The issue is that veteran Cobie Durant is currently listed as number 2 for the team so there has to be a bit of a deal made on some level....

Through free agency, a few trades, and the 2026 NFL Draft, the Dallas Cowboys have made some significant additions that should help upgrade their roster from a season ago, especially on the defensive side of the ball. While that’s true, that doesn’t mean there aren’t more moves they could still make at certain positions.

LB Bobby Wagner

By drafting Jaishawn Barham and trading for Dee Winters, the Cowboys have upgraded the LB position, but they shouldn’t stop there. Although he turns 36 in June, Bobby Wagner is still performing like a Top 10 player at his position in the...

The Dallas Cowboys have not only brought in some fresh faces to improve their pass rushing rotation, but also some familiar ones. Tyrus Wheat spent two years in Dallas’ developmental pipeline before a one-season stop in Detroit. Now back as a free agent, how does Wheat factor into the competition at EDGE?

Background

Years in NFL: 3
Acquired by: Free Agent (2026)

Wheat went undrafted in 2023 after three years at Mississippi State, where he led the Bulldogs in sacks every season. Signed after the draft, he did enough in camp to earn a spot on the practice squad....

Over the last few months, countless mock drafts have competed for our eyeballs and our clicks, and we’ve reviewed and summarized more mock drafts here on Blogging The Boys than I care to admit.

And all that pre-draft jibber-jabber is well and good – until you’re held accountable for the accuracy of your predictions, which is exactly what we’re doing today as we look at how good some of the biggest names (and some smaller names as well) in the mock draft business were at accurately predicting the actual outcome of the 2026 NFL Draft.

Today is judgment day for...

When I’m ranking the best NFC defenses after the 2026 NFL Draft, I’m not just looking at who added the best players.

It does matter, but it’s not the whole story that goes into building a great defense. We have to factor in what the defense did last season, who they lost in free agency, coaching, fit, chemistry, and whether the pieces fit together.

Defense isn’t just lining up a bunch of talented players and hoping it works. Communication, leadership, and trust play a big role. After factoring in all of those factors, these are the teams I at the...

The Dallas Cowboys have significantly improved their team this offseason. Consider what they had to improve upon, though.

The Cowboys finished the 2025 season with a 7-9-1 record, and did so despite fielding arguably the worst defense in franchise history. Regression to the mean alone suggests that things will stabilize there, but the offseason has certainly been devoted to defense with the bulk of free agency and the team’s draft picks belonging to that side of the ball.

As is always the case, nothing about who the Cowboys are going to wind up being will be known until they start...

As we near the summer months, a lot of content is going to be about poisiton battles and players that might surprise up and grind their way to a starting spot, and the best place for that to start is on the Dallas Cowboys offensive line.

The Cowboys offensive line is pretty well set, but they have a spot that is up in the air. The last two seasons, Tyler Guyton & Terrence Steele have struggled at the tackle position.

Drew Shelton is a super athletic tackle from Penn State that the Cowboys drafted in the 4th round, the longest...

Motivated by going undrafted, Cowboys’ Michael Trigg hopes to make most of chance – Nick Harris, Fort Worth Star-Telegram

The Dallas Cowboys handed out $200,000 to sign Michael Trigg in undrafted free agency.

Throughout the years, the Dallas Cowboys have found gems in the undrafted free agent ranks that have gone on to be superstars for the team. From Tony Romo to Drew Pearson to Cliff Harris and Nate Newton, Dallas has prided itself on finding the best talent that doesn’t hear their names called in the draft year-after-year.

In 2026, they’re hoping to hit on...

Much has been made about the fact that the Dallas Cowboys drafted Caleb Downs in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft. This makes sense given how much we expect it to change the defense and team at large moving forward.

But Downs was one of two players taken in the first round for the Cowboys. What’s more is that he was the player taken with Dallas’ original selection, or at least the original selection was utilized to trade up to get him. The Cowboys were clearly itching to do so as they attempted multiple trades before finally getting...

A week or so after the 2026 NFL draft, the Dallas Cowboys should feel really good about what they did in Pittsburgh. Despite only adding one surefire starter, the Cowboys did an excellent job of adding multiple players who should contribute in a big way in 2026. Fourth-round offensive tackle Drew Shelton is a player who has flown a bit under-the-radar post draft.

Despite Shelton being the Cowboys biggest reach according to the consensus board, the Cowboys seemed to be very high on the former Penn State offensive lineman and considered drafting him in the third round with the 92nd...

Christian Parker has gotten a lot for his defense, but he may be on the verge of getting more. It was reported on Tuesday by Jordan Schlutz that the Cowboys are hosting free agent cornerback Adoree’ Jackson for a visit.

Jackson has had a number of stops in the NFL, but he most recently played for the Philadelphia Eagles so he played in Parker’s secondary there.

As noted, the Cowboys have really re-stocked the cupboard with the ingredients that Parker appears anxious to cook with. He has gotten some players who he worked with in the past in Rashan Gary...