It’s not easy to fly under the radar in Dallas. The Cowboys draw enough attention that even a so-called quiet move can get swallowed up by the noise of a busy offseason. But that also creates a strange little opening: every now and then, a player can arrive with expectations low enough to actually beat them.
That’s the lane here. Not the stars everyone already has pinned to the wall.
Not a CeeDee Lamb type, where the bar is already sitting way up in the rafters. These are three Cowboys who have a real chance to outplay the general expectation around them in 2026.
Rashan Gary fits that description right away. His arrival got buried under the bigger waves of the offseason, especially once Jalen Thompson and, more notably, Caleb Downs entered the picture.
Still, Gary is the new War Daddy in town, and that old Jerry-ism comes with some bite. He also has at least a little familiarity with new defensive coordinator Christian Parker, which suggests the fit was intentional.
That matters.
Not everyone was thrilled when the trade happened, so the ceiling for public optimism may not be all that high. But Gary is going to get chances, and plenty of them. With Quinnen Williams eating up so much attention on the inside, the path is there for Gary to do what edge rushers are supposed to do: attack, disrupt, and make people notice.
Tyler Booker is in a different spot. The expectations are already strong, but he looks like the kind of player who can still clear them.
Last season was such a mess for the Cowboys that it was hard to separate anything meaningful from the wreckage. Even so, they came away with another high-end offensive lineman, and by the end of the year it may be hard to argue against the idea that Dallas has the best interior line duo in football.
Tyler Smith has already built that reputation. Booker, meanwhile, is past the point of being treated like a rookie who has to sit in someone else’s shadow.
This is the season where he gets to show the player he was at Alabama, and more specifically the one he was last year. He already looks like one of the better players on the roster.
The next step is simply letting that show more loudly.
Kenny Clark is another name that could benefit from the ripple effect created by Williams. Just like with Gary, the inside presence of Williams should change the math for everyone around him. Clark stayed with the Cowboys this offseason, and there’s a reasonable sense that Dallas values him as part of what it’s building.
Maybe some of that decision was about optics, since moving on from the player acquired in the Micah Parsons trade would have come with its own look. Whatever the reasoning, Clark is here, and the setup should help him.
When offenses tilt so much of their attention toward Williams, Clark doesn’t need to be extraordinary to take advantage. He just needs to be solid by NFL standards, and that alone could make this a much better situation than the one he was dropped into last year.
In Other News...
Former Cowboys Quarterback's Comeback Took An Unexpected Turn
Will Griers latest NFL stop was supposed to be a familiar one, with the quarterback back in Carolina earlier this offseason after previous time with the Panthers. Instead, the comeback has already taken a sharp turn, and the move closes the door on a career that also included two separate stints with the Cowboys, giving Dallas fans at least a passing connection to a player whose journey never quite settled in one place.
For Carolina, the timing matters because the quarterback room is now down to Bryce Young, Kenny Pickett and rookie Haynes King heading toward training camp. Griers departure removes another experienced option from the mix and leaves the Panthers to sort out their depth and pecking order without the veteran presence they had just brought back into the fold. [Read more 🡒]
George Pickens Just Sent A Clear Message In Cowboys WR Debate
George Pickens gave the Cowboys exactly the kind of production that can tilt a wide receiver conversation in his favor. In his first season with Dallas, he finished third in the NFL in receiving yards and added nine touchdowns, the sort of output that makes it hard to argue he was merely along for the ride in the offense.
Stefon Diggs, meanwhile, is back on the open market after a year with the New England Patriots, and his claim to being the leagues best No. 2 receiver is getting a harder look. The comparison does not seem to be breaking in his favor, and for Dallas, that only adds another layer to a receiver debate that already has plenty of bite. [Read more 🡒]
Tyler Booker Has One Hurdle Left Before Joining The NFL Elite
Tyler Bookers first NFL season gave the Cowboys a pretty clear reason for optimism. The rookie interior offensive lineman drew notable praise in a survey of NFL executives, coaches and scouts, landing in the honorable mention tier just outside the top 10 at his position after showing the kind of strength and athleticism that can make him a long-term anchor inside.
The next step is more specific, and it is the one that will determine whether Booker gets mentioned with the leagues best. He has to clean up the way he handles interior linemen who move well laterally, because that is where some of the rougher moments showed up in 2025 and where the gap still separates him from the top tier. If the agility and technique come along, Dallas may have one of the NFLs better young building blocks in the middle of its line. [Read more 🡒]