2026 Cowboys Free Agency Thread…

ESPN's Fowler:

Dallas must now pivot to free agency to land its pass rusher. It has monitored Trey Hendrickson dating back to the trade deadline. He's now a free agent. Jaelan Phillips, Odafe Oweh and Boye Mafe will be firmly on Dallas' radar in the coming days.

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I'm not a huge Phillips fan for the money I think he's going to get (22ish/year) but if Parker loves him I get it.

I'd be very happy with Oweh, Mafe would be fine but is more of a fallback. Hendrickson is definitely the top edge rusher but if he's asking for 30+ I don't think it's feasible.

I watched a lot of Dre'Mont Jones the other day and I think he's the guy I'd want as a fallback if we don't get Hendrickson, Oweh or Phillips.
 
bbgun said:
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Am I the only one that’s a little worried about Aubrey? He has been so good since arriving in Dallas, but it seemed like the second half of the season he was off. I know those were long kicks that he missed, but those are the kicks you are paying extra for.

We can have contractual control over him for at least the next three years without a long term deal. Tendered this season, franchise twice if needed. I wouldn’t rush to give him a long term deal. Yips are real, and can happen anytime.
 
Genghis Khan said:
These would all be good signings but those numbers seem unrealistically low.
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I was thinking the same thing. But, it would be badass if we could get them for that. I am just very skeptical.
 
Newt said:
Am I the only one that’s a little worried about Aubrey? He has been so good since arriving in Dallas, but it seemed like the second half of the season he was off. I know those were long kicks that he missed, but those are the kicks you are paying extra for.

We can have contractual control over him for at least the next three years without a long term deal. Tendered this season, franchise twice if needed. I wouldn’t rush to give him a long term deal. Yips are real, and can happen anytime.
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The second half last year gave me nightmare memories of Bailey.
 
boozeman said:
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I just don't understand why they haven't gone ahead and redone more contracts. What are they waiting on? You have to do them to do anything in FA, so just freaking do it.
 
Cotton said:
I just don't understand why they haven't gone ahead and redone more contracts. What are they waiting on? You have to do them to do anything in FA, so just freaking do it.
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They can agree to deals tomorrow but I don't think the cap has to be sorted out until Wednesday when it becomes official, so they might be waiting to see how much space they have to open up once they sign all these top tier FA's.

Or they've just been BS'ing this entire time, either way.
 
I dunno what we will do at rusher, but I do not think getting Mafe or Oweh will move the needle like we need. I would rather just get Hendrickson short term.
 
boozeman said:
I dunno what we will do at rusher, but I do not think getting Mafe or Oweh will move the needle like we need. I would rather just get Hendrickson short term.
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I don't think we really need to move the needle exactly, we just need a defense that is somewhat competitive. Hendrickson definitely has a higher ceiling over the next year or two, although I could easily see a scenario where Oweh is as good or the better player by 2027 or 2028.

I'm kind of meh on Mafe, he'd be a solid starter but I think he's much closer to guys like Dre'Mont Jones and Kwity Paye than he is Hendrickson or Oweh.
 
For the last few years I've broken down the FA options like I have below, I do think this year will be different and that we will actually sign someone in the first tier, but I'm sticking with the classification so I can compare to how I'd have anticipated Stephen's BS in years past.

I'm only looking at defense here, there are a few RB's who I think could be interesting but I'm not going to bother with that given the spending spree we're about to see on the defensive side.

I left out our own FA's and the only ones who I think have any shot at coming back are either Clowney or Fowler, only one, and that's probably 50/50 at best to begin with.

Without any further ado...

Never in a million years

Trey Hendrickson
Odafe Oweh
Jaelan Phillips
Quay Walker
Nakobe Dean
Devin Lloyd
Leo Chenal
Quincy Williams
Devin Bush
Bryan Cook
Coby Bryant
Jaquan Brisker
Jalen Thompson
Jaylen Watson
Tariq Woolen
Alontae Taylor
Jamel Dean

Maybe after Jerry shotguns a bottle of Johnny Blue, but probably not even then

Joey Bosa
Dre'Mont Jones
Kwity Paye
Boye Mafe
Joseph Ossai
Arnold Ebiketie
Reed Blankenship
Nick Cross
Charles Omenihu
Cameron Jordan
Nahshon Wright (lol)
Jaylinn Hawkins
Chauncey Gardner-Johnson
Alex Singleton
Demario Davis
Kaden Elliss
Matt Milano
Germaine Pratt
Kevin Byard
Geno Stone
Kyle Dugger
Alohi Gilman
Amik Robertson
Josh Jobe
Greg Newsome
Cam Taylor-Britt
Jack Jones
Taylor Rapp
Tony Adams

Now you're talking Stephen's language

Arden Key
AJ Epenesa
Al-Quadin Muhammad
DJ Wonnum
Michael Danna
Yetur Gross-Matos
Samson Ebukam
David Ojabo
Hasson Reddick
Von Miller (5 years too late)
Azeez Ojulari
Josh Uche
Ogbo Okoronkwo
Clelin Ferrell
Leonard Floyd
Andrew Wingard
Andre Cisco
PJ Locke
Marcus Epps
Ar'Darius Washington
Darnell Savage
Isaiah Oliver
Derion Kendrick
Benjamin St. Juste
Roger McCreary
Rock Ya-Sin
Adoree Jackson
Kader Kohou

If I had to bet money I think the most likely expensive signing is Oweh or Quay Walker. I think Dean will be middle of the pack in terms of price because of his injuries and could easily see him being signed instead. I don't think they'll sign Hendrickson, they're definitely going to be way more aggressive and spend more than they have since 2012, but closing on the top edge rusher on the market is just a bridge too far for me to believe.

A reasonable, but not overly expensive haul could look something like: Dre'Mont Jones, Nakobe Dean, Jalen Thompson, Marcus Epps

I think signing a group like that would put us in position to win the division, but if they somehow manage to sign Hendrickson instead of a mid-tier guy like Jones you might have to start gassing up the hype train.
 
Smitty said:
The worst defense in football and one of the worst in history is going to be "unstoppable" by adding a 31 year old pass rusher?
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Wasn't he defensive player of the year like 2 years ago with 17.5 sacks?
 
Smitty said:
I'm just saying even adding one elite edge isn't going to make us "unstoppable."
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Exactly. The Raiders defense wasn't unstoppable with him. We wouldn't have been either.

It would have been very foolish to give up 2-3 assets for him. We need way more than 1 guy.
 
Genghis Khan said:
Exactly. The Raiders defense wasn't unstoppable with him. We wouldn't have been either.

It would have been very foolish to give up 2-3 assets for him. We need way more than 1 guy.
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They are talking about Hendrickson. Just have to give up money to get him.
 
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