The Cowboys haven’t made the loudest defensive splash this offseason, but that may be exactly the point.
While the Rams have grabbed the headlines with major additions like Myles Garrett, Trent McDuffie, and recently un-retired Aaron Donald, Dallas has taken a quieter route under new defensive coordinator Christian Parker. The result is a defense that looks less glamorous on paper, but maybe more built to last.
Dallas didn’t just tinker. The Cowboys replaced 17 of their 26 defensive players from last season, a 70% roster turnover after finishing the 2025 campaign dead last in both pass defense and scoring defense.
Parker’s plan wasn’t about chasing the biggest names available. It was about finding starters who fit his system and, just as important, rebuilding the depth across all three levels.
That depth matters because injuries always hit eventually, and the Cowboys may be better equipped to absorb them than the Rams. Los Angeles lost several depth pieces at every level and is leaning hard on its stars to carry the load. That becomes a much bigger problem if one of those stars misses time, especially with Garrett already reportedly dealing with knee swelling and lower-body soreness and not practicing for several weeks.
Dallas, by contrast, has spread the responsibility around.
The secondary now has a young core that includes Caleb Downs, Shavon Revel Jr., Ameer Speed, and Alijah Clark, while veterans Jalen Thompson and Cobie Durant join DaRon Bland and Malik Hooker to give the unit more stability. Up front, the Cowboys have put together a deeper rotation with Rashan Gary, Donovan Ezeiruaku, Von Miller, James Houston, Kenny Clark, Quinnen Williams, Jonathan Bullard, and Osa Odighizuwa. The idea is simple: if one piece goes down, the whole thing doesn’t fall apart.
The Rams may still look like the more star-studded group. But Dallas has built something different - a defense with more balance, more options, and fewer obvious weak spots. And in the long run, that might matter more than any headline-grabbing name.
In Other News...
Rams Secondary Overhaul Suddenly Looks Bigger Than Fans Realized
The Rams spent the offseason reshaping the back end of their defense, and the cornerback additions are the kind of moves that can change how a secondary looks from the first snap of the season onward. Around the league, a handful of notable defensive backs changed teams, but Los Angeles stands out because it brought in both Jaylen Watson and Trent McDuffie, two names that immediately change the conversation about depth, matchups and week-to-week stability.
Watson and McDuffie arrive with different resumes, but the common thread is that each gives the Rams a real chance to raise the floor of a unit that needed fresh answers. The broader league context matters here too, with Chris Johnson landing in Miami, Benjamin St-Juste going to Green Bay and Jamel Dean heading to Pittsburgh, but Los Angeles may have made the most intriguing bet on upside. How quickly that overhaul clicks will go a long way toward showing whether the Rams just added bodies or truly changed the shape of their secondary. [Read more 🡒]
Rams Are Testing A Risky Australia Plan Before NFL History
The Rams have already started treating Melbourne like a dry run, sending employees to Australia to work through the logistics of what would be the NFLs first regular-season game there. The goal is less about sightseeing than survival: charting the travel, the flight experience, sleep, fatigue and recovery so the team can understand what it might feel like to arrive halfway around the world and still be ready to play soon after.
It is a more aggressive approach than the one other teams, such as the 49ers, are expected to take, with San Francisco planning to get to Melbourne a week early. For the Rams, the question is whether the league can turn a historic event into a workable football week without giving away too much on the front end, and the answer may shape how future international games are handled. [Read more 🡒]
Matthew Stafford Just Became A Bigger Threat For The Rams
Matthew Staffords postseason story has changed dramatically since he arrived in Los Angeles. After going 0-3 in the playoffs with Detroit, he has since built a 7-3 playoff record with the Rams, and that shift has helped redefine what this franchise can expect when the calendar turns. With the roster around him continuing to evolve, theres a growing sense that Stafford is no longer just the quarterback trying to survive January. He is part of a team that has learned how to lean into those moments.
The Rams have also put work into the rest of the operation, especially the rushing game and the defense, with offseason additions like Myles Garrett and Aaron Donald adding to the sense that the support system around Stafford could get even stronger. Looking ahead to 2026, the expectation is not simply that Stafford will be asked to carry the offense, but that he may have more help than ever if the group comes together the way the Rams envision. The upside is obvious, even if the full picture still has to play out. [Read more 🡒]