FRISCO, Texas – Athletic testing numbers are in, St. Elmo's shrimp cocktails have been consumed, and the 2026 NFL Combine is officially in the books.
In what's a sort of "spring break" for NFL personnel, there's still plenty of work done and conversations had amongst one another that sets the baseline for contract extensions, NFL Draft board structuring and plenty more. The Cowboys were just as busy as everyone else, especially with a new defensive staff that begun working together for the first time under defensive coordinator Christian Parker.
Let's dive into some of the top headlines from this past week in Indianapolis:
Jerry Jones can see Cowboys "being aggressive" in free agency
Cowboys owner/GM Jerry Jones admitted last week that his team doesn't have time to wait around, saying “we got to go this year” when discussing personnel decisions, specifically referencing Dallas' history of drafting players with an injury history. That means the Cowboys need contributors, and quickly.
"I could see us being aggressive in free agency," Jones said. "By the very virtue of having two number ones, we're gonna spend more money in the draft than normally you would spend… I would bet that we will spend more money in free agency than we have."
Jones recognized that the only way to cash in on the present was by investing in it, and that includes using capital in the future to be able to help the roster now.
"The only way to push more is for me to go borrow some of my future. Expect me to go borrow some of my future…" Jones said. "I want to do everything we possibly can to stop somebody and to basically win some third downs more than we did last year. So I think that would be the area that you would see me bust the budget."
What's ahead for George Pickens and Brandon Aubrey?
Two of the biggest free agents the Cowboys have this offseason are WR George Pickens and K Brandon Aubrey. They made a decision on one of them last Friday, by placing the non-exclusive franchise tag on Pickens, a move that had been expected for quite some time. Pickens will be allowed to negotiate with other teams in free agency, but Dallas has the right to match any offer made to him. If they elect not to match, the team who signs him will at least need to send Dallas two first-round picks, but the compensation is negotiable.
Jerry Jones said he spoke to Pickens on Thursday night to let him know the franchise tag was coming his way, meaning if he signs it before the July 15 deadline to come to terms on a long-term extension, Pickens would be owed approximately $27.3 million for the 2026 season.
"I expressed to him how valuable a part of the team that we think he is, I think he is," Jones said. "The kind of contribution he can make, he'll continue to get better working Dak, working with the other receivers. So we talked about the future, we both reiterated how good it was for him to be here, and know that what we have in place assures that he will be here."
As for Aubrey, Stephen Jones told reporters on Monday that the negotiations have been “a journey.” On Friday, Jerry Jones said that the Cowboys have an offer on the table that would make him the highest-paid kicker in the NFL.
"I think he's outstanding," Jones said of Aubrey. "Love his story, love the fact that the story is with the Cowboys. We feel good that what we are talking about is an appreciation of what he can do for us. That's a way of, not trying to negotiate with anything I might say here, but we've got a good offer on the table for him."
Contract reworking on the horizon
The NFL announced last Friday that the 2026 salary cap would be set at $301.2 million, up $22 million from 2025's $279.2 million.
In order for the Cowboys to free up space and be able to spend in free agency, restructuring needs to be done on some of their top contracts counting against the cap. Dallas is expected to restructure the contracts of Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb and Tyler Smith to create about $66 million in cap space.
Jerry Jones said that he would "borrow some of my future" to help the team now, and that's exemplified in the expected restructures to Prescott, Lamb and Smith. It'll also be applicable to the moves the Cowboys make with their defensive tackles. At present, Quinnen Williams, Kenny Clark and Osa Odighizuwa are slated to cost nearly $64 million against the cap in 2026. That won't be the case for long.
"We'll make the adjustments that you'd think we'd make and spread that out so we can get the players that we want to get, or that we'd like to get," Jones said. "So yeah, it won't end up that much counting this year as counting tonight."
One possibility to free up the money and lower the cap hit? An extension for Clark and Williams, which Jones hinted at last Friday.
"All of those players have a long future relative to their careers with us. And so we have the ability to extend their contract." Jones said.
Quick hitters:
- Cowboys outside linebacker Donovan Ezeiruaku underwent offseason hip labrum surgery and will likely miss most of the spring offseason program. The expectation is he'll be ready to return to the field when Dallas heads to training camp in Oxnard, California.
- Brian Schottenheimer announced last Thursday that the Cowboys will be moving Marist Liufau to outside linebacker, citing his arm length and ability to disrupt the ball as reasons for the change. Liufau told DallasCowboys.com’s Nicole Hutchison that he felt "great and so excited" about the change and vowed he is "going to give it all I got."
- One of the early goals for new DC Christian Parker is finding the Cowboys’ defensive play style, which he believes is necessary to put together before getting into the scheme.
- Cowboys VP of player personnel Will McClay discussed his approach to building Dallas’ roster with the players that DC Christian Parker is looking for: The best players they can find, not necessarily those that are scheme specific, saying "If you can build a team with the best football players that have the traits that fit any system, you have a chance to continue to have success."
- With a year's worth of film now available for other teams to analyze, Cowboys offensive coordinator Klayton Adams is looking to “seek the edge” for Dallas' offense. Sitting in on the defensive coordinator/position coach interviews allowed Adams to hear about the Cowboys offense from a lot of different perspectives around the league and give him an idea of what was working, and what can get better.
- Three names that continued to come up from Cowboys coaches and personnel when it comes to making a jump in year two were Donovan Ezeiruaku, Shavon Revel and Jaydon Blue.
- For the first time since the staff was assembled, DallasCowboys.com spoke to the Cowboys' new defensive assistants under Christian Parker. Derrick Ansley and Ryan Smith detailed their plan for the secondary, Chidera Uzo-Diribe and Scott Symons explained their roles of coaching different kinds of linebackers, and Marcus Dixon is living a "dream come true” coaching the defensive line for the Cowboys.
