Pro Football Rumors

Pickens is the NFL’s only player to generate three straight seasons north of 16 yards per reception and accumulated over 2,000 since 2022, according to ESPN Stats and Info. The former second-rounder has also only missed three career games. Prescott will be the best QB Pickens has played with, after having teamed with Kenny Pickett, Mason Rudolph, Justin Fields and a post-prime Russell Wilson. Upside exists here, and with Parsons out of the picture, the Cowboys will likely need their receiver arsenal plenty to keep up in 2025.

The Bills did not see Elam justify his 2022 first-round draft slot, observing Christian Benford outplay him and never giving Elam a full-season run atop the depth chart. The fourth-year veteran’s unwanted cameo in the AFC championship game, as Benford exited early, helped swing the Bills’ fourth Sean McDermott-era postseason loss to the Chiefs.

Elam, nevertheless, landed on his feet in Dallas. He is on track for a Week 1 starting role for the first time. While Shavon Revel rehabs the ACL tear that ended his college career, Elam will be expected to play often.

Many teams checked in with the Patriots on Milton, who impressed in a meaningless Week 18 win over Bills second-stringers. Three years remain on the cannon-armed Tennessee prospect’s rookie contract, and he will head into the season as Prescott’s lone active-roster backup.

While Will Grier is on the practice squad, Milton is the only Prescott backup on the 53-man roster. Prescott has missed significant time in three of the past four seasons. Milton’s belief he can be an NFL starter affected his place in New England, which is building around Drake Maye, and he did not seem to fit under new HC Mike Vrabel.

With prices rising elsewhere on the roster, the Cowboys have kept costs low at linebacker. Murray represents a bit of an exception, being tied to a two-year, $15.5MM deal the Titans authorized in March 2024. Like Elam, Murray has not justified his first-round draft slot. But the former Chargers draftee has been a starter for most of his career.

Murray followed Azeez Al-Shaair as a Titans tackles leader (95; eight for loss) to leave town weeks after the season. Murray, whom the Bolts benched at points, and 2024 third-rounder Marist Liufau are set to hold down the fort while DeMarvion Overshown rehabs another major knee injury.

Extensions and restructures:

• Reached four-year, $90MM extension ($36.35MM guaranteed) with CB DaRon Bland
• Gave TE Jake Ferguson four-year, $50MM extension ($20.66MM guaranteed)
• Extended FB Hunter Luepke on two-year deal worth over $5MM fully guaranteed
• Restructured QB Dak Prescott‘s contract, creating $36.6MM in cap space
• Restructured WR CeeDee Lamb‘s contract, creating $20MM in cap space

Days after the Parsons trade, the Cowboys paid Bland. The fifth-round find has become more important in Dallas since Trevon Diggs‘ two significant knee injuries. Bland is no stranger to health issues himself, having suffered a foot fracture during 2024 training camp; that injury kept him out 10 games last year.

The Cowboys will nevertheless buy in, as Bland is vital to their 2025 plans — with Diggs coming off injury and Shavon Revel not yet recovered from his. Considering Elam’s Buffalo track record, Bland will be one of the Cowboys’ five most important players this season.

The Cowboys identified Bland as an extension candidate early in the offseason, but the Parsons final hours effectively paused other matters. Bland went from rookie-year slot corner to the 2023 Diggs boundary replacement following the latter’s ACL tear. Bland proceeded to post a record-setting five pick-sixes during a nine-INT season, giving the Cowboys two first-team All-Pros at corner. Neither staying healthy in 2024 certainly hurt a defense that cratered from fifth to 31st in scoring (and that was with Parsons playing 13 games).

Pro Football Focus graded Bland second among CBs in 2023 and 33rd in ’24. Bland, 26, has played the majority of his snaps outside over the past two seasons; he is expected to shift to a more versatile role this year. A Deommodore Lenoir-like role appears set for Bland, who repped extensively in the slot this offseason. Bland shifting inside in sub-packages appears the plan. That stands to help maximize a CB corps that will likely face tougher assignments due to Parsons’ departure.

The lack of a true WR2 helped keep Ferguson a central piece in Dallas’ passing attack. The fourth-year tight end totaled 71 catches for 761 yards and five touchdowns in 2023, earning Pro Bowl acclaim. Missing three games due to an MCL sprain last season, Ferguson spent much of his third year catching passes from Cooper Rush. This Cowboys extension, which comes three years after they could not agree on terms with franchise-tagged TE Dalton Schultz, represents clear faith Ferguson can return to his 2023 form alongside Prescott.

At $12.5MM per year, Ferguson checks in as the NFL’s eighth-highest-paid tight end. Dallas guaranteed its top TE’s 2026 base salary but would carry only $7.2MM in dead money by moving on in 2027, providing flexibility on a through-2029 contract. Though, a March 2027 guarantee of $7MM will require an earlier decision. Ferguson carries a pair of $9.5MM option bonuses (in 2028 and ’29); both do not need to be exercised until Week 1 of those years.

The Cowboys have been able to find Day 3 options at tight end, as Schultz and Blake Jarwin (whose extension did not pan out) showed. This extension entrenches Ferguson above 2023 second-rounder Luke Schoonmaker on the depth chart.

Re-signings:

• Osa Odighizuwa, DT. Four years, $80MM ($39MM guaranteed)
• Markquese Bell, S. Three years, $9MM ($6.2MM guaranteed)
• KaVontae Turpin, WR. Three years, $13.5MM ($5MM guaranteed)
• Bryan Anger, P. Two years, $6.4MM ($3.3MM guaranteed)
• Trent Sieg, LS. Three years, $4.45MM ($1.81MM guaranteed)
• C.J. Goodwin, DB. One year, $1.26MM

The Cowboys have used the franchise tag six times since 2018. Odighizuwa was poised to run that count to seven had he not agreed to terms before the early-March tag deadline. Odighizuwa, 27, marks yet another Cowboys draft hit. He joins Prescott, Lamb, Bland and Kenny Clark as $20MM-per-year players on this roster.

Only Zach Allen and Chris Jones posted more pressures among interior D-linemen than Odighizuwa’s 33 last season. Odighizuwa’s work only produced 4.5 sacks — the former third-rounder’s next five-sack season will be his first — but those rushes led to 23 QB hits. A four-year starter, Odighizuwa has registered 28 tackles for loss and 13.5 sacks in total. How his rush lanes look without Parsons will be a subplot to follow in Dallas this season, but the team does have a formidable DT duo with Clark arriving.

Jerry Jones has professed run defense was paramount in making the Parsons trade. The swap came after Odighizuwa ranked 67th (per PFF) in run defense among interior D-linemen (Clark ranked 43rd). ESPN’s pass rush win rate metric, however, ranked Odighizuwa 12th last season. He will be asked to provide consistent pressure to help the team’s lower-wattage edge rush produce.

The clubhouse leaders in choosing the right talent from this era of spring-league football, the Cowboys added Turpin in 2022 and Brandon Aubrey in 2023. Turpin is a two-time Pro Bowler who landed on the All-Pro first team last season, posting both kick- and punt-return touchdowns. The Cowboys found two special teams gems from the USFL, and Turpin is now signed through 2028.

Listed at just 153 pounds, Turpin also served as a gadget player for Dallas on offense last year. The Cowboys upped his offensive snap count to 315 in 2024, and the 5-foot-9 playmaker totaled 512 scrimmage yards and two TDs. The team was prepared to use a $5.35MM second-round RFA tender had this extension not been agreed to. A future suspension could be in play, however, as a July arrest on weapons and marijuana charges ensued.

Free agency additions:

• Dante Fowler, DE. One year, $6MM ($5MM guaranteed)
• Robert Jones, G. One year, $3.75MM ($3MM guaranteed)
• Javonte Williams, RB. One year, $3MM ($2MM guaranteed)
• Payton Turner, DE. One year, $2.5MM ($2MM guaranteed)
• Miles Sanders, RB. One year, $1.34MM ($1.2MM guaranteed)
• Jack Sanborn, LB. One year, $1.5MM ($150K guaranteed)
• Perrion Winfrey, DT. Two years, $2.04MM
• James Houston, DE. One year, $1.09MM
• Saahdiq Charles, OL. Practice squad
• Robert Rochell, CB. Practice squad

Fowler’s primary coaches from his previous stint in Dallas — Dan Quinn, Aden Durde — are gone, and the Cowboys are shifting to Eberflus’ scheme. But Schottenheimer and Fowler did overlap in 2023. He fetched a raise after outproducing the Commanders’ higher-paid ex-Cowboy D-end (Dorance Armstrong).

Fowler led Washington with 10.5 sacks, turning his second-best season. Unlike his last campaign with double-digit sacks (with the 2019 Rams), no big-ticket offer awaited. Still, the former top-five pick now appears a more important piece in Dallas post-Parsons.

Having played behind Parsons, Armstrong and DeMarcus Lawrence during his first Dallas stint, Fowler was productive in a limited role. He logged just 30% and 25% snap rates, respectively, in 2022 and ’23 — as a post-Randy Gregory solution. Joining Quinn for a third time, Fowler played 52% of the Commanders’ defensive snaps last season. With Dallas’ current DE corps consisting of unknowns, the 31-year-old EDGE will likely be asked to play more than he did during his first stint.

Williams and Sanders’ form over the past two seasons has led fantasy sites to push fifth-rounder Jaydon Blue. The older RBs, though, look set to receive more work early.

Williams has not looked the same since his ACL and LCL tears in October 2022. An eye-catching runner as a rookie, the 2021 Broncos second-rounder could not reach 3.8 yards per carry in either of his post-surgery seasons. The bulldozing runner, 25, could not capitalize on run block win rate’s best O-line last season, leading the Broncos with a paltry 513 rushing yards. Williams is listed as Dallas’ Week 1 starter nonetheless.

Sanders, 28, bombed on his four-year, $25.4MM Panthers deal. Carolina cleaned house after Sanders’ first season there, and Chuba Hubbard quickly usurped the former Super Bowl LVII starter. A four-year Eagles starter who amassed 1,269 rushing yards in 2022, Sanders only logged 55 carries last season. The Cowboys have the Ezekiel Elliott dead money off their books, but despite Rico Dowdle (1,079 rushing yards) far outproducing Williams and Sanders last season and garnering only a $2.75MM Panthers pact, the Cowboys are starting over with another low-cost backfield.

Dallas showed preliminary interest in Dre Greenlaw and pursued E.J. Speed in free agency. The Kenneth Murray trade became the team’s top LB investment. Sanborn, however, will bring scheme familiarity after starting 19 games under Matt Eberflus in Chicago. The Bears nontendered Sanborn as an RFA in March, leading to this low-cost Eberflus reunion.

Notable losses:

• Brandin Cooks, WR
• Rico Dowdle, RB
• Chuma Edoga, T
• Chauncey Golston, DL
• Linval Joseph, DT
• Eric Kendricks, LB
• Trey Lance, QB
• DeMarcus Lawrence, DE
• Carl Lawson, DE
• Jourdan Lewis, CB
• Zack Martin, G (retired)
• Cooper Rush, QB
• Matt Waletzko, OL (waived/injured)

Two of the greatest guards in NFL history have come through Dallas, which drafted Martin several years after Larry Allen‘s time with the team ended. Martin may not have dominated like the all-time mauler did, but he finished his career as a more decorated player.

Martin’s seven first-team All-Pro nods match Hall of Famers John Hannah and Randall McDaniel for most in guard history. A two-time second-team All-Pro as well, Martin earned All-NFL acclaim all nine seasons he finished. He will be a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

While Parsons’ star power outflanks Martin’s, the stalwart guard is the most accomplished of the Cowboys’ modern parade of successful first-round picks. The 2014 first-rounder’s importance to the Cowboys prompted the team to give in during his 2023 holdout, which turned the final two seasons of a six-year, $84MM deal into fully guaranteed salaries. Martin, 34, played out a two-year, $36.85MM revised pact but did not finish the 2024 season due to injury.

Ankle surgery ended Martin’s run as the Cowboys’ right guard. The ex-Notre Dame tackle, famously drafted over Johnny Manziel ahead of Tony Romo‘s age-34 season, had started all 162 games he played. Martin helped Elliott and DeMarco Murray to rushing titles (and Tony Pollard and Rico Dowdle to 1,000-yard years) while aiding Dak Prescott to going from fourth-round pick to impressive Romo successor.

The Cowboys have a replacement lined up, in first-rounder Tyler Booker, but they are losing one of the best players in franchise history. This offseason wrapped the Cowboys’ All-Decade-teamer-laden O-line’s run, with Tyron Smith retiring after a Jets one-off. Martin’s exit created more than $25MM in dead money thanks to void years. The team will absorb $16.4MM of that total in 2026.

Last year’s Dallas edition also played mostly without Lawrence, who suffered a Lisfranc injury in Week 4. Lawrence stuck around longer than DeMarcus Ware did in Dallas, lasting 11 years. The twice-franchise-tagged D-end made the effective transition from the Cowboys’ edge anchor to their top Parsons complementary piece. The back half of Lawrence’s Dallas run did not produce high sack numbers; his last seven-sack season came in 2018. But he was one of the game’s better all-around DEs.

Lawrence, 33, had hoped to re-sign with the Cowboys but ultimately never received an offer. He rejoined Aden Durde in Seattle, receiving a soft landing (three years, $35MM with $13MM guaranteed at signing) despite the major foot injury. The Cowboys also lost Lawrence’s primary replacement, as Golston joined a now-loaded Giants pass rush — thanks to the ensuing Abdul Carter addition.

On his way to becoming one of the biggest draft busts in NFL history, Lance did not turn things around in Dallas. Acquired for a fourth-round pick in 2023, the ex-49ers draftee attempted just 41 passes as a Cowboy.

Rush started over the former North Dakota State phenom following Prescott’s hamstring tear. After two stints with the Cowboys, the former UDFA find became Lamar Jackson‘s backup in Baltimore. Going 9-5 as a starter, Rush signed a two-year, $6.2MM deal. Lance is on a one-year, $2MM pact as the Chargers’ backup.

The Cowboys did not see Cooks closely remind of Amari Cooper, helping explain the George Pickens gamble. The fourth trade of Cooks’ career brought him from Houston to Dallas in March 2023, and after an eight-touchdown debut season, Cooks missed seven games due to injury last year.

Cooks’ absence did allow slow-developing third-rounder Jalen Tolbert to grow more comfortable. After a 610-yard 2024, Tolbert becomes an interesting contract-year piece. He would stand to be a more affordable Lamb complement compared to Pickens as a 2026 free agent. Cooks, 31, returned to the Saints on a two-year, $13MM deal.

Draft:

• Round 1, No. 12: Tyler Booker (G, Alabama) (signed)
• Round 2, No. 44: Donovan Ezeiruaku (DE, Boston College) (signed)
• Round 3, No. 76: Shavon Revel (CB, East Carolina) (signed)
• Round 5, No. 149: Jaydon Blue (RB, Texas) (signed)
• Round 5, No. 152 (from Cardinals): Shemar James (LB, Florida) (signed)
• Round 6, No. 204 (from Lions through Browns and Bills): Ajani Cornelius (G, Oregon) (signed)
• Round 7, No. 217 (from Titans through Patriots): Jay Toia (DT, UCLA) (signed)
• Round 7, No. 239 (from Packers through Titans): Phil Mafah (RB, Clemson) (signed)
• Round 7, No. 247 (from Chiefs through Panthers): Tommy Akingbesote (DT, Maryland) (signed)

Booker is O-lineman No. 6 drafted in the past 15 Cowboys first rounds. The team was closely connected to eyeing a wide receiver in Round 1, hosting the likes of Tetairoa McMillan and Emeka Egbuka. The team has done extraordinarily well with first-round O-linemen, however, turning Tyron Smith, Travis Frederick, Zack Martin and Tyler Smith into All-Pros. With Tyler Guyton a work in progress, the Cowboys will hope Booker can be a quick study.

Swapping out Martin for Booker will leave four rookie-deal O-linemen in Dallas’ starting lineup, with only RT Terence Steele signed to a lucrative second contract. The Crimson Tide’s starting left guard for most of the past three years, Booker drew All-America acclaim last season. The Cowboys were planning to draft McMillan had the draft’s top receiver prospect been there at No. 12, but the Panthers had a high view of the Arizona alum and took him at 8.

Both the Dane Brugler and Daniel Jeremiah big boards pointed to Dallas landing a steal in Ezeiruaku, whom The Athletic and NFL.com offerings respectively ranked 22nd and 30th. The mid-second-rounder brings elite college production, after a Division I-FBS-leading 16.5-sack season came two years after an 8.5-sack sophomore slate.

With Parsons gone, Williams coming off an ACL tear and Kneeland more of a traits-fueled project (zero rookie-year sacks), the Cowboys may need Ezeiraku early. They have three second-round picks invested at D-end; it is paramount the team see quality returns here if the Parsons trade is to work.

Like Cooper Beebe last year, the Cowboys laid a clear path to playing time for their third-round pick. Revel was viewed as a likely first-rounder before his ACL tear; a freefall instead commenced. Revel, as his father warned this summer, was not going to be ready by Week 1. The Cowboys had hoped a September return could happen, but their reserve/NFI placement sidelines him for at least four games.

With Elam struggling throughout his Bills tenure, Dallas may need Revel to develop into a rookie-year regular to join Trevon Diggs and DaRon Bland.

Other:

• Exercised G Tyler Smith‘s $21.27MM fifth-year option; extension discussions have begun
• Declined CB Kaiir Elam‘s $12.68MM fifth-year option
• Have discussed extensions with K Brandon Aubrey, DE Sam Williams
• Placed LB DeMarvion Overshown on reserve/PUP list
• LT Tyler Guyton suffered bone fracture, sprained knee during training camp
• CB Trevon Diggs underwent knee surgery
• Placed WR Jonathan Mingo, RB Phil Mafah on short-term IR
• Claimed OL Trevor Keegan off waivers from Eagles
• Signed nine UDFAs

While the Cowboys have taken deserved heat for prolonging the Prescott (twice), Lamb and Parsons negotiations, they do have a history of locking up O-linemen early. Both Tyron Smith and Travis Frederick signed extensions not long after the team exercised their fifth-year options. Although it does not look like Tyler Smith will be extended by Dallas’ Thursday-night opener, a deal should still be expected before the 2026 season.

Manning both the LT and LG positions, Smith has settled at guard and become one of the NFL’s best. The Fort Worth native is now a two-time Pro Bowler who will be expected to anchor Dallas’ post-Martin front. The guard market has climbed past $23MM per year, thanks to Trey Smith‘s $23.5MM-AAV Chiefs extension. Tyler Smith, who is two years younger than Trey and holding a better resume, will be expected to come in north of that total.

This a clear candidate to be the NFL’s first $25MM-per-year guard, and Smith changed agents in preparation for these negotiations. A payroll devoid of a Parsons megadeal could accommodate such a contract more easily, even if the Cowboys still have the NFL’s highest-paid player and third-highest-paid WR (in Prescott and Lamb).

A big season awaits Diggs, who is on track to be ready after it appeared he would join Revel as a Cowboys CB starting the season late. Transitioned off the active/PUP list last week, Diggs has logged full practices ahead of the team’s Philadelphia trip. Diggs’ knee flared up during the 2024 season, after he had spent the year rehabbing an ACL tear. That invites questions about the former All-Pro’s long-term Dallas future.

The Cowboys can escape this five-year, $97MM extension fairly easily in 2026 by taking on less than $6MM in dead money in a release scenario. Bland’s payday points to the team being ready to move on. Still going into just an age-27 season, however, Diggs can still show he is a capable starter and either convince the Cowboys to keep him or create a nice post-cap-casualty free agent market. The aggressive corner will need to start that process by merely staying on the field, which he has been unable to do since signing his extension.

Overshown and Diggs each left December’s Cowboys-Bengals game with major injuries. The linebacker, who had rehabbed a 2023 ACL tear, is on Dallas’ reserve/PUP list and not expected to return for some time. While Guyton has joined Diggs in recovering in time for the team’s opener — as a three-Tyler O-line awaits NBC’s intro graphics — Overshown’s ACL, MCL and PCL tears have him set to wait longer. A midseason return appears the best-case scenario with Overshown, who had flashed in his first NFL action.

Top 10 cap charges for 2025:

1. Dak Prescott, QB: $50.52MM
2. Terence Steele, RT: $18.13MM
3. CeeDee Lamb, WR: $15.33MM
4. Trevon Diggs, CB: $12.09MM
5. Donovan Wilson, S: $8.65MM
6. Malik Hooker, S: $7.75MM
7. Kenneth Murray, LB: $7.41MM
8. Osa Odighizuwa, DT: $6.25MM
9. Dante Fowler, DE: $6MM
10. DaRon Bland, CB: $5.82MM

Jones is not going anywhere. Set to turn 83 this year, the omnipresent Cowboys czar has given no real consideration to stepping down as GM. It certainly can be argued the Cowboys would be better off had Jones done so years ago and only focused on the ownership component, his strength, while letting personnel men run the football side. That setup worked for the Cowboys during their modern-era apex. This offseason brought an important update to Jones’ GM run, as the Parsons trade dwarfed everything else the franchise did in 2025.

Of course, plenty will still be on Prescott — who is about to set a record for highest cap number in a season — to justify his $60MM-per-year contract. The oft-discussed passer is now 32 and has missed 24 games due to injury this decade. Drawing the NFC North (booking a Week 4 Parsons return trip) and AFC West, the Cowboys — who have 10 games against 2024 playoff qualifiers — will have a tough road this season.

Even as 2026 looks like the better bet for a potential Cowboys recovery from losing their top player, the NFL’s most-discussed team will remain in the spotlight. That will mean plenty of Jones assessments of his roster. While this season will be important, the 2026 draft now becomes a pivotal proving ground for the late-career decision-maker as he attempts to justify a potential legacy-altering trade.