Jerry Jones spent the offseason trying to fix the part of the Dallas Cowboys that hurt them most: defense. After Dallas gave up an NFL-worst 30.0 points per game last season, the front office made that side of the ball the clear priority, and one NFL analyst says the whole season may hinge on whether the new pieces click fast enough.
Bleacher Report’s Gary Davenport framed the Cowboys’ outlook around a simple idea: if the revamped defense gets to league-average production, Dallas suddenly looks a lot more dangerous. With the offense already established as a strength, that kind of jump could push the Cowboys back into the mix in the NFC East.
The names Jones brought in tell the story of how aggressively Dallas attacked the problem. Rashan Gary adds a veteran pass rusher.
First-round rookie Malachi Lawrence brings more edge talent. Dee Winters comes over after a breakout season with the San Francisco 49ers.
Jalen Thompson and rookie Caleb Downs are in line to start in the secondary.
That’s a lot of change in a hurry, and that’s where the risk comes in. Dallas is counting on several new faces to steady one of the league’s weakest defenses in just one offseason. If the transition drags or the production doesn’t show up, the Cowboys could be stuck near the bottom of the league again on that side of the ball.
Davenport’s best-case scenario is clear enough: Gary, Lawrence, Winters, Thompson and Downs all perform close to expectations, and Dallas becomes a legitimate threat in the division. Jones already knows what his offense can do when healthy.
Now the question is whether the defense he rebuilt can hold up over a full season. If it does, a return to the postseason is in play.
If it doesn’t, the Cowboys may be staring at the same issues that wrecked their 2025 season.
In Other News...
Jerry Jones Is Already Facing Heat Over One Cowboys Defensive Call
The Cowboys decision to move on from Osa Odighizuwa is already drawing scrutiny, and it is easy to see why. Dallas has been working to trim salary-cap commitments and stockpile draft capital, and the trade was part of that broader plan while also creating a clearer path for younger defensive linemen to play more. It is the kind of roster-management move that can make sense in the abstract, especially for a team trying to balance present needs with future flexibility.
Still, the reaction has not been uniformly positive, because the choice invites an obvious comparison to Kenny Clark, who remains on the roster. One ESPN analyst questioned whether Dallas may have let the better long-term defensive tackle go, and that kind of second-guessing tends to linger when a front office is trying to sell a move as part of a bigger strategy. For Jerry Jones, the challenge now is not just defending the logic of the trade, but proving the Cowboys got the right side of the defensive line equation. [Read more 🡒]
Cowboys May Already Regret One Offensive Line Depth Decision
The Cowboys decision not to tender Brock Hoffman looked like a routine depth move at the time, but it has taken on a different feel with the interior line picture shifting again. Hoffman had quietly given Dallas useful flexibility as a backup center and guard, the kind of insurance policy teams tend to miss only after it is gone.
Now the concern is less about what Hoffman was then and more about what Dallas has left behind him. With the lines depth chart already thinned, the Cowboys are leaning more heavily on T.J. Bass behind Cooper Beebe, and Hoffmans ability to handle multiple interior spots makes the choice to move on from him look increasingly questionable. [Read more 🡒]
Cowboys Still Have One Line Problem That Could Haunt 2026
The Cowboys spent the offseason reshaping parts of their defense, moving on from Matt Eberflus, bringing in Christian Parker and adding new pieces around that side of the ball. But for all the attention on those changes, the more uneasy question may still be up front on offense, where the tackle spots look awfully familiar and awfully unsettled heading toward the next season.
Tyler Guyton and Terence Steele are still the names most likely to open at tackle, even though neither has given Dallas much reason to feel settled there in recent years. The team did add Drew Shelton as a developmental option, but he is not viewed as someone who can push for a starting job right away, which leaves the Cowboys with more hope than competition at a position group that could end up mattering just as much as any defensive overhaul. [Read more 🡒]