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By Jon Machota
April 1, 2026
PHOENIX — After going 7-10 in 2024 and 7-9-1 last season, the Dallas Cowboys probably need to win at least three more games in 2026 to end their playoff drought.
Have they done enough in the offseason to improve their roster? That remains to be seen.
But Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and executive vice president Stephen Jones believe they will have an improved product this upcoming season.
“Just our work in the offseason,” Stephen Jones said Monday from the NFL meetings at the Arizona Biltmore. “We had a great search in terms of revamping our defensive staff, so I feel very optimistic about that and what we can get done there. I certainly feel good about our start with our personnel, what we’ve done in free agency. And certainly sitting here with two (first-round picks), I feel good about improving our team.
“We’re very optimistic about what we can do. All you have to do is look around the league and look who was in the Super Bowl this year. Who would’ve guessed? Hats off to Seattle. Hats off to New England and the job they did. But they weren’t necessarily sitting in the catbird seat this time last year.”
The Cowboys expect to again have one of the league’s best offenses. The goal is to get the defense at least to a respectable level after being arguably the NFL’s worst last season. Jerry Jones has made several jokes this offseason about that side of the ball having nowhere to go but up.
“We’ve been aggressive,” Jerry Jones said Tuesday from the Arizona Biltmore. “We have, relatively speaking, stepped up the financial requirements for what we have done. We may have exceeded, busted (the budget), whatever you want to call it, but we got some more (to do). We’re not through.”
In typical Jones fashion, he doesn’t want to completely close the door on the possibility of acquiring the five-time Pro Bowl edge rusher. The Cowboys were outbid for his services before the start of free agency when the Baltimore Ravens sent two first-round picks to the Las Vegas Raiders in exchange for Crosby. But Baltimore backed out three days later because of a failed physical that was related to his surgically repaired knee.
The same result could have happened had the Raiders accepted the Cowboys’ trade offer. This one doesn’t feel like it’s completely over, especially if Las Vegas’ asking price comes down considerably.
“Really, it’s pretty simple for me,” Jones said of the trade’s falling through. “There’s no hidden item there. You have to pass a physical. We’ve never completed an agreement until the player passes the physical. That implies (that) your doctors, your trainers, everybody involved, get to take a look at it. That goes with the territory. We would’ve basically looked at the same conditions with a physical. And as you know, we were in on making an offer for him. So he would’ve come to Dallas, and we’ll all just guess what would’ve happened.”
Jones delivered that last sentence with a smile.
“It’s real hard when you look at how Clowney came on last year in the snaps he gave us,” Jones said, “it’s real hard not to have a place there for Clowney. But you can’t have it all. You just can’t have it all. If things go right for us, we’ve already made a signing, we’ve made trades, we think that’s the better way to go and, of course, we got the draft. It can very easily answer some of that question.”
While answering a follow-up question about the 33-year-old Clowney, he noted the team wants to find even more opportunities for second-year edge rusher Donovan Ezeiruaku.
“It’s getting (Ezeiruaku) rolling,” he added. “We’re pretty excited about (Ezeiruaku). We all probably totally across the board agree we should have had (Ezeiruaku) out there more than we had him out there last year with a little more emphasis on what his skills are, which is pressure, rush and counting on that to evolve to a higher level. That’s got something to do big time with Clowney.”
Latest on Brandon Aubrey
The Cowboys have said they made an offer before last season to make Aubrey the NFL’s highest-paid kicker. The two sides have been unable to agree on a long-term deal. Similar to the Pickens situation, Jones seems content with Aubrey playing this season under the second-round tender, which is $5.7 million.
“I’m satisfied where we are there,” Jones said. “I’m not going to get into what it would take because that’s obviously still subject of a negotiation, but we do have long-term plans (with Aubrey).”
Inside linebacker
It remains clearly the biggest area of need on the roster. Jones said he thought they were close to signing one of the top options in free agency, but he also noted multiple attempts at trades to fill a starting role.
“We’re looking to improve there, personnel-wise,” he said. “And are continuing to do so right now before the draft as well as the potential in the draft. We want to get better there with personnel. We’ve been trying very much to make some trades. They haven’t worked out for us there. But that won’t deter us from getting better there.”
The Cowboys have said they are comfortable with a rookie filling that starting role of an inside linebacker who is also responsible for calling the defense.
April 1, 2026
PHOENIX — After going 7-10 in 2024 and 7-9-1 last season, the Dallas Cowboys probably need to win at least three more games in 2026 to end their playoff drought.
Have they done enough in the offseason to improve their roster? That remains to be seen.
But Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and executive vice president Stephen Jones believe they will have an improved product this upcoming season.
“Just our work in the offseason,” Stephen Jones said Monday from the NFL meetings at the Arizona Biltmore. “We had a great search in terms of revamping our defensive staff, so I feel very optimistic about that and what we can get done there. I certainly feel good about our start with our personnel, what we’ve done in free agency. And certainly sitting here with two (first-round picks), I feel good about improving our team.
“We’re very optimistic about what we can do. All you have to do is look around the league and look who was in the Super Bowl this year. Who would’ve guessed? Hats off to Seattle. Hats off to New England and the job they did. But they weren’t necessarily sitting in the catbird seat this time last year.”
The Cowboys expect to again have one of the league’s best offenses. The goal is to get the defense at least to a respectable level after being arguably the NFL’s worst last season. Jerry Jones has made several jokes this offseason about that side of the ball having nowhere to go but up.
“We’ve been aggressive,” Jerry Jones said Tuesday from the Arizona Biltmore. “We have, relatively speaking, stepped up the financial requirements for what we have done. We may have exceeded, busted (the budget), whatever you want to call it, but we got some more (to do). We’re not through.”
In typical Jones fashion, he doesn’t want to completely close the door on the possibility of acquiring the five-time Pro Bowl edge rusher. The Cowboys were outbid for his services before the start of free agency when the Baltimore Ravens sent two first-round picks to the Las Vegas Raiders in exchange for Crosby. But Baltimore backed out three days later because of a failed physical that was related to his surgically repaired knee.
The same result could have happened had the Raiders accepted the Cowboys’ trade offer. This one doesn’t feel like it’s completely over, especially if Las Vegas’ asking price comes down considerably.
“Really, it’s pretty simple for me,” Jones said of the trade’s falling through. “There’s no hidden item there. You have to pass a physical. We’ve never completed an agreement until the player passes the physical. That implies (that) your doctors, your trainers, everybody involved, get to take a look at it. That goes with the territory. We would’ve basically looked at the same conditions with a physical. And as you know, we were in on making an offer for him. So he would’ve come to Dallas, and we’ll all just guess what would’ve happened.”
Jones delivered that last sentence with a smile.
“It’s real hard when you look at how Clowney came on last year in the snaps he gave us,” Jones said, “it’s real hard not to have a place there for Clowney. But you can’t have it all. You just can’t have it all. If things go right for us, we’ve already made a signing, we’ve made trades, we think that’s the better way to go and, of course, we got the draft. It can very easily answer some of that question.”
While answering a follow-up question about the 33-year-old Clowney, he noted the team wants to find even more opportunities for second-year edge rusher Donovan Ezeiruaku.
“It’s getting (Ezeiruaku) rolling,” he added. “We’re pretty excited about (Ezeiruaku). We all probably totally across the board agree we should have had (Ezeiruaku) out there more than we had him out there last year with a little more emphasis on what his skills are, which is pressure, rush and counting on that to evolve to a higher level. That’s got something to do big time with Clowney.”
Latest on Brandon Aubrey
The Cowboys have said they made an offer before last season to make Aubrey the NFL’s highest-paid kicker. The two sides have been unable to agree on a long-term deal. Similar to the Pickens situation, Jones seems content with Aubrey playing this season under the second-round tender, which is $5.7 million.
“I’m satisfied where we are there,” Jones said. “I’m not going to get into what it would take because that’s obviously still subject of a negotiation, but we do have long-term plans (with Aubrey).”
Inside linebacker
It remains clearly the biggest area of need on the roster. Jones said he thought they were close to signing one of the top options in free agency, but he also noted multiple attempts at trades to fill a starting role.
“We’re looking to improve there, personnel-wise,” he said. “And are continuing to do so right now before the draft as well as the potential in the draft. We want to get better there with personnel. We’ve been trying very much to make some trades. They haven’t worked out for us there. But that won’t deter us from getting better there.”
The Cowboys have said they are comfortable with a rookie filling that starting role of an inside linebacker who is also responsible for calling the defense.
