2026 Cowboys Free Agency Thread…

I thought Oweh was the best edge option on the market after Hendrickson, here's how he compares to Gary statistically:

Gary: 7.5 sacks, 7 TFL, 20 QB hits, 65 pressures
Oweh: 7.5 sacks, 9 TFL, 18 QB hits, 54 pressures

I went back and watched all of their sacks, TFL, QB hits and pressures from 2025 and you don't really see much difference in terms of how they generated pressure. Oweh is more explosive with a little better bend, but not significantly so, and most of his pressures came on twists/stunts and clean up type stuff much like Gary, which is usually the case for basically every edge rusher in the league outside of the top 5-10 guys.

Anybody want to guess how Lawrence generated his pressure this year in Seattle?

Almost exactly the same way, he sure as shit wasn't consistently beating OT's with speed and bending the corner.

I also wouldn't be too worried about the "7 sacks in the first 7 games and none after" or whatever. The pressure didn't look significantly different as the season wore on, it was just kind of one of those random anomalies. For example, against the Vikings late in the season he completely whipped Darrisaw (one of the best LT's in the league) for what should've been a sack but McCarthy somehow bent over with Gary on his back and ducked out of it, only to be sacked about 2 seconds later, and later in the game Gary beat their backup LT for what should've been a sack, but it went down as a PD which eventually got intercepted.

You can see those two plays here at 8:51 and 9:38:

 
Texas Ace said:
I don't hate it.

Like Archer says, it's low cost low risk so we don't lose much seeing how he does under Parker.
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For as cheap as it is you can't really complain, but he isn't anything more than a 4th OLB who might put it together under a better scheme. I also wouldn't be shocked if he was cut during preseason depending on what happens in the draft.
 
Simpleton said:
For as cheap as it is you can't really complain, but he isn't anything more than a 4th OLB who might put it together under a better scheme. I also wouldn't be shocked if he was cut during preseason depending on what happens in the draft.
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Best case scenario, we get a 2014 Bruce Carter type year out of him where he plays best ball in his last year here and gives us a solid year of production on his way out.
 
Cowboysrock55 said:
I assumed Dean would want to play for Parker.

Kind of weird priority to care more about playing with Quay Walker. I think less of Dean as a result.
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They were teammates at UGA. I have a feeling that’s what did it.
 
Chocolate Lab said:
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I thought he’d be in Washington for sure. This is a depth signing that technically means along with EZ , Gary, and Houston, we go four deep at edge with one above-average starter in Gary and an average one with potential in EZ.

Overshown, Loofah, and James put us three deep at ILB with ex UDFA Barron making four technically. That’s one very good starter in Overshown and the rest JAGs. Overshown is an asterisk for all the time he’ll likely play.

Bell, Hooker, Alijah Clark, and now Thompson have us four deep at S with an above average starter in Thompson and an average starter in Hooker.

Bland, Revel, Carson, Bridges, Butler, and Steward represent one above-average starter, a bad starter in Revel, and four JAGs.

Thats bad players/JAGs starting at ILB, CB, and nickel CB. If you go to bat for Loofah and call him average, Then it’s only two JAG starters.

At DT, we have an elite starter in Williams, and two borderline good/very good ones in Osa and Clark.

Then, it’s JAG depth at all eleven positions. Not a one position has even an average player who could start— that is, a desirable free agent were he to hit FA.

That is still incredibly unacceptable, even after what has to be considered a very good day for Dallas in grabbing two above average starters.

We need to sign a CB or Jerry will force one in round one, a class weak at the top.

Short of signing two more solid FA’s we still need to trade down and replace as many of the JAGs we have with draftees as possible.
 
They got caught with their pants down at LB, probably because they spent themselves figuring out how to pull off two half decent moves on day 1 of FA, something they haven't done in 15 years.

With that said, I think you'll see bit players like Bell and James look better in an improved scheme with better coaches, but they still need to add 2-3 starting caliber players. James Houston and Solomon Thomas are pretty solid depth pieces as well.

And it's not fair to call a rookie coming off an ACL a "bad starter", especially not walking into the slop scheme we had last year. He's just as likely to be a very good starter as he is a bad starter, in all likelihood he'll probably be an average starter this year.
 
Top 2026 NFL Free Agent Cornerbacks
Sorted by Expected Market Value (Average $/Year)

We gotta have one of these and a Stephen special before April
+------+-------------------+-----+------------------+----------------------------------------------+
| Rank | Player | Age | Expected AAV | Notes |
+------+-------------------+-----+------------------+----------------------------------------------+
| 1 | Jaylen Watson | 27 | $18M – $21M | Top CB in class; strong 2025 season |
| 2 | Jamel Dean | 29 | $14M – $17M | Elite press corner; proven CB1 experience |
| 3 | Rasul Douglas | 31 | $12M – $15M | Veteran ball hawk; age lowers ceiling |
| 4 | Asante Samuel Jr. | 26 | $11M – $14M | Young CB with strong instincts |
| 5 | Riq Woolen | 27 | $11M – $14M | Elite size/speed traits; scheme dependent |
| 6 | Alontae Taylor | 26 | $9M – $12M | Slot/outside versatility; strong blitzer |
| 7 | Eric Stokes | 27 | $8M – $11M | Former 1st rounder; injury risk |
| 8 | Montaric Brown | 26 | $7M – $9M | Zone coverage specialist |
| 9 | Josh Jobe | 27 | $6M – $8M | Breakout 2025 raised market value |
| 10 | Joshua Williams | 26 | $5M – $7M | Developmental starter upside |
+------+-------------------+-----+------------------+----------------------------------------------+

Then pick up one of these and we’re ready to draft:

Top 2026 NFL Free Agent Inside Linebackers (ILB)
Sorted by Expected Market Value (Average $/Year)

+------+-------------------+-----+------------------+----------------------------------------------+
| Rank | Player | Age | Expected AAV | Notes |
+------+-------------------+-----+------------------+----------------------------------------------+
| 1 | Patrick Queen | 26 | $18M – $21M | Elite coverage LB; true 3-down defender |
| 2 | Frankie Luvu | 29 | $15M – $18M | Versatile blitzer; impact playmaker |
| 3 | Bobby Okereke | 29 | $14M – $16M | High-tackle MIKE; excellent run defender |
| 4 | Jerome Baker | 28 | $12M – $14M | Athletic coverage LB; fits modern defenses |
| 5 | Ernest Jones | 26 | $11M – $13M | Young tackling machine; defensive signaler |
| 6 | Dre Greenlaw | 28 | $10M – $12M | Physical run stopper; leadership presence |
| 7 | Alex Singleton | 31 | $8M – $10M | Veteran tackling production |
| 8 | Devin Bush | 27 | $7M – $9M | Former 1st-rounder; speed still valuable |
| 9 | Azeez Al-Shaair | 27 | $6M – $8M | Strong run defender in zone schemes |
| 10 | Kyzir White | 29 | $5M – $7M | Coverage-capable WILL linebacker |
+------+-------------------+-----+------------------+----------------------------------------------+
 
Ravi is trying to spin this CB class as weak now? Jesus.
 
I keep thinking Chaisson, just because we supposedly loved him in that draft, and we know how these guys cling to that... If we even sign one. I still think they draft one in the first or second.
 
Chocolate Lab said:
I keep thinking Chaisson, just because we supposedly loved him in that draft, and we know how these guys cling to that... If we even sign one. I still think they draft one in the first or second.
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Yeah, I agree, I think you draft one at a premium position regardless of how the rest of FA plays out. We didn't have shit at pass rush last year and haven't added any so far. I don't count Gary because that is not really his thing. Hopefully Howell falls to us and we can take him and his T-Rex arms at 12. Then take a Terrell or maybe McNeil-Hyphen at 20. But, ideally, we trade down, of course. and add firepower to this draft. But, outside of going Edge high I think they should focus most of the rest of the draft on the secondary and LBer.
 
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