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FRISCO, Texas – Just about two weeks into the free agency period of the offseason, the Cowboys have had a lot of work on their plates in rebuilding the roster, especially on defense.
There is still work to be done, as the Cowboys could be looking for more help at position like linebacker and outside linebacker before or during the 2026 NFL Draft.
For now though, in a special offseason edition of Here We Goooo, let's take a look at the 10 most impactful moves Dallas has made thus far:
Depth is a valuable asset for any team in the NFL, and one that they're sure to lean on throughout the year due to injuries.
On the offensive line and in the secondary, that was especially the case for the Cowboys in 2025. Which is why keeping some of the depth they had on the roster in offensive lineman T.J. Bass, who signed his $5.76 million second round tender, and CB Reddy Steward, who signed his roughly $1 million exclusive rights tender, was so important.
Bass gives the Cowboys a strong depth piece that can fill in at guard with injury, or in a scenario where the Cowboys move Tyler Smith out to left tackle, meaning Bass would end up starting at left guard. As for Steward, he filled in at the nickel corner position in 2025 with injuries to DaRon Bland, and also spent a bit of time at safety.
After suffering a torn ACL and MCL that ended his third season before it started in 2024, defensive end Sam Williams was consistently praised by Brian Schottenheimer and his teammates for the hunger he displayed for getting back on the field.
The former second-round pick played in all 17 games for the Cowboys last season, where he posted 37 tackles, 7 tackles for loss and a sack. It was the third phase of the game, special teams, where Williams made his splash plays last season. Against the Lions, Williams blocked a field goal, and against the Cardinals, he blocked a punt that rolled all the way back to the end zone and was recovered by Marshawn Kneeland for a touchdown.
The outside linebacker and pass rushing unit is fairly thin as things stand at the moment for the Cowboys, and Williams provides good depth and the ability to make game-changing plays on special teams.
After getting his first NFL start against the Cowboys in the final week of the 2022 regular season, he'll now suit up for them.
Howell, a former fifth-round pick that'll now be playing for his third NFC East team (Commanders, Eagles, Cowboys) signed a one-year deal with Dallas and is in line to compete with Joe Milton for the QB2 job behind Dak Prescott.
It sets up for an offseason talking point to keep an eye on as the two young quarterbacks compete. Prescott has played every game for Dallas in three of the last five years, but has faced injuries that caused him to miss time in three of the last six, so it never hurts to have depth at the position.
It's always a plus to have a veteran safety added to the secondary, but it helps even more when he played for your new defensive coordinator.
That's the case with P.J. Locke, who signed a one-year deal with Dallas after spending all six of his NFL seasons with the Denver Broncos. In three of them, new Cowboys defensive coordinator Christian Parker worked with him as the defensive backs coach.
Now, the Cowboys secondary has a player in Locke that has an understanding for what Parker is looking for from his players, especially in the defensive backfield. He can provide Dallas with quality snaps at safety, and has been a significant special teams player in the past for Denver as well.
The Cowboys felt good about their defensive tackle personnel going into the offseason, but the addition of Ogbonnia signaled a shift in not just the kinds of players that would be best for his scheme, but the physical traits that were required to play up front as well.
At 6'4, 320 pounds, Ogbonnia presents a gap-plugging option in the middle of the defensive line for Dallas with Quinnen Williams and Kenny Clark, both of whom are 6'3 and over 300 pounds, that could serve as a difficult unit for opposing offenses to run the ball against.
Ogbonnia has experience playing a 3-4 defense with John Harbaugh and the Chargers, where he spent the last four years, and will be in a similar system although Parker has said the Cowboys will be more multiple and have 4-3 spacing in their defense as well.
A day after the Cowboys agreed to terms with Ogbonnia, Dallas elected to move some more pieces in their defensive tackle room, trading Osa Odighizuwa to the 49ers for a 2026 third-round pick. Dallas also traded DT Solomon Thomas to the Titans for a seventh-round pick swap.
Odighizuwa was a year into his four-year, $80 million extension that he signed with Dallas going into the 2025 season. That said, the Cowboys were set to devote over $60 million to three defensive tackles in 2026, and the move cleared up some space for the Cowboys while also getting them back into Day 2 of the 2026 NFL Draft.
It was certainly not an easy trade for the Cowboys to make, as Odighizuwa was highly respected in the locker room and within the organization. That said, the 92nd overall pick Dallas received in the trade gives them their third top-100 pick, all three of which could go towards adding talent to the defense.
Cornerback was a thin position room for the Cowboys last season, and the unit also struggled to generate turnovers throughout the course of the season.
In signing Durant, the Cowboys gained a versatile player that can play on the outside at corner or in the slot and is coming off a season where he had six total interceptions across the regular and postseason. Durant's three postseason interceptions were the most in the NFL.
Versatility has been the name of the game with Dallas' offseason secondary acquisitions, as Christian Parker's defense will have a lot of flexibility and different things they can do with the personnel currently on the roster.
It was no secret that after his year full of career-high marks, the Cowboys wanted to bring back running back Javonte Williams.
In late February, they did, signing him to a three-year, $24 million deal. Williams proved to be a reliable bell cow in Brian Schottenheimer's offense, and opened up plenty of other opportunities for the unit as a whole in the play action game.
Dallas also returns all five of their starting offensive lineman in 2026, which is a big plus not just for the offense as a whole, but for Williams, who thrived running behind them in 2025. The right side of the line with Tyler Booker and Terence Steele was especially strong in creating rushing lanes for Williams.
Remember versatility being the name of the game for the Cowboys in the secondary this offseason? There may be no better example of that than Thompson.
Thompson, who spent the last seven years of his NFL career with the Cardinals, can give the Cowboys snaps at nickel corner, deep safety and play in the box some as well. He's been coached by new Cowboys secondary coach Ryan Smith in Arizona and now gets to play for him again in Dallas.
While the Cowboys' starting safety tandem could be Malik Hooker and Thompson, there could be scenarios where Thompson lines up at nickel with P.J. Locke taking the other safety spot, or all three share the field at the same time. Parker's scheme wants to make it difficult for opposing quarterbacks to figure out what the defense is doing pre-snap, which makes the addition of players like Thompson more valuable.
In the last year, the Cowboys have now completed two deals with Green Bay, both of which included pass rushers. Dallas sent Micah Parsons to Green Bay for two first-round picks and Kenny Clark before the 2025 season, and now the Cowboys acquired Gary for a 2027 fourth-round pick.
Gary is not Parsons, and said on his conference call with local media that he wouldn't strive to be, but immediately becomes Dallas' best outside linebacker on the roster and gives them a boost in pass rush, but especially against the run and setting the edge.
With two strong run defending defensive tackles in Quinnen Williams and Kenny Clark, Gary is a good addition, even though the Cowboys will still likely look for more to add to the OLB room. Plus in each of the last six seasons, Gary has recorded six or more sacks as well.
