The Cowboys look smarter by the week for locking up Javonte Williams early.
Back in March, Dallas gave Williams a three-year, $24 million extension, and at the time it already looked like a solid bet. He had just turned in the best season of his career, the kind that showed he could thrive as a legitimate RB1 when the situation fit. Now the deal looks even better.
Williams is also coming off the best rushing season a Cowboys back has posted since Ezekiel Elliott in 2019, and the $8 million per year price tag suddenly feels like a bargain. It’s the one offseason move Jerry Jones made that keeps aging well.
The reason is simple: the running back market is climbing fast. The position has started to regain value, and Dallas got ahead of that surge before it hit full force.
Just in the last week, two of the league’s top backs landed massive new deals. The Atlanta Falcons signed Bijan Robinson to a three-year, $66.75 million extension, and the Indianapolis Colts paid Jonathan Taylor $44 million over the next two seasons.
Then came another big number, with the Detroit Lions signing Jahmyr Gibbs to a three-year, $67.5 million extension. That made three players in the span of a week who became the highest-paid running back in NFL history, all topping $22 million per year on new contracts.
It’s a far cry from the 2010s, when teams were often told to let star backs walk. The market is moving the other way now, and that shift only boosts Dallas’ timing on Williams.
If he had hit free agency after a 1,200-yard, 10-touchdown breakout season, he would have had a much stronger case for a bigger payday. He probably would have been looking for more than $10 million per year, and a team would have had to come close to that figure.
Williams may not be in the same tier as Robinson, Taylor, or Gibbs, but he’s still a quality runner whose career was slowed by injury before his resurgence. For Dallas, that makes this extension look like a smart deal for a good player at exactly the right time.
The Cowboys won’t have to chase the rising running back market now. Jerry Jones got there first.
In Other News...
Cowboys Defense Raises An Early Concern As Camp Nears The End
As training camp winds down in Oxnard, Brian Schottenheimer is still treating the Cowboys roster as a work in progress, saying the 2026 group is not yet finalized. But the bigger takeaway from one recent practice was on the defensive side, where a routine camp rep offered an early glimpse at the kind of communication issues that can linger this time of year, especially with a new coordinator trying to install his system.
Christian Parker is running the defense for the first time in Dallas after serving as the Eagles pass defense coordinator, and the transition is already under the microscope. One play that stood out involved KaVontae Turpin getting free on a catch, a reminder that the Cowboys are still ironing out details in the secondary and that the final preseason stretch may matter more for the defense than the calendar suggests. [Read more 🡒]
Maxx Crosby Just Gave Cowboys Fans A Reason To Dream
Maxx Crosbys name has hovered around the Cowboys before, and its back in the conversation again for all the usual reasons. Dallas has not hidden its willingness to make a splash if the right player becomes available, and Crosby fits the profile of a star defender who would instantly change the feel of a roster looking for more difference-makers. His recent positive comments about Dak Prescott only added a little more intrigue to a situation that already had Cowboys fans watching the Raiders closely.
Prescotts place at No. 31 on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2026 list has already kept his name in the national discussion, and Crosbys view of him only strengthens the sense that Dallas still has real star power at quarterback. The bigger question is whether Crosby eventually decides the Raiders direction no longer matches his own. If that door ever opens, the Cowboys would almost certainly be in the mix, and they have made it clear they are prepared to chase big moves if one can push them closer to contention. [Read more 🡒]
Cobie Durant Is Making Dallas Rethink A Key Defensive Battle
Through six practices in Oxnard, the Cowboys have pushed the pace and the competition has started to sharpen, especially in a secondary that still has a few roles up for grabs. One of the early standouts has been Cobie Durant, the free agent cornerback who signed a one-year deal in March and has looked like more than just a depth addition as Dallas gets deeper into preseason mode.
Durants appeal is obvious: he brings experience, he arrives off a strong 2025 season with the Rams and he has given the Cowboys another credible option in a cornerback room that could use one. If the weeks ahead keep unfolding the same way, Dallas may have to seriously consider him for a starting job opposite Daron Bland, especially with the competition behind him still sorting itself out. [Read more 🡒]