Comparing 2025 FA moves and trades to 2026 moves so far

[Bobhaze]

It’s late March in what is supposed to be a “bust the budget” and “different” off-season for our FO. Which made me wonder about how this 2026 off-season of Free agency and trades compares (so far) to last year’s off-season.

2025 Off-season New Free Agency Acquisitions:

Position	Player	Age	2024 team	Contract
RB	Miles Sanders	28	Carolina Panthers	1 year, $1.3 million
RB	Javonte Williams	25	Denver Broncos	1 year, $3 million
G	Robert Jones	26	Miami Dolphins	1 year, $3.75 million
T	Hakeem Adeniji	27	Cleveland Browns	1 year, $1.2 million
DE	Dante Fowler	31	Washington Commanders	1 year, $8 million
DE	Payton Turner	26	New Orleans Saints	1 year, $3 million
DT	Solomon Thomas	30	New York Jets	2 years, $6 million
LB	Jack Sanborn	25	Chicago Bears	1 year, $1.5 million

2025 Trades

Position	Player/Aquired	Age	2024 team	Traded away
QB	Joe Milton	25	New England Patriots	2025 fifth-round selection
WR	George Pickens	24	Pittsburgh Steelers	2026 third-round selection and 2027 fifth-round selection
DT	Kenny Clark and two 1st rounders	29	Green Bay Packers	DE Micah Parsons
DT	Quinnen Williams	27	New York Jets	DT Mazi Smith, 2026 second-round selection, and 2027 first-round selectionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_Dallas_Cowboys_season#cite_note-QuinnenTrade-7

Also Kenneth Murray for a 6th round pick.
And Logan Wilson for 7th.

Here are (so far) our new FA acquisitions in 2026:

Position	Player	Age	2025 team	Contract
QB	Sam Howell	25	Philadelphia Eagles	1 year, $2.5 million
C	Matt Hennessy	29	San Francisco 49ers	1 year, $1.4 million
DE	Tyrus Wheat	26	Detroit Lions	1 year, $1.755 million
DT	Otito Ogbonnia	25	Los Angeles Chargers	1 year, $3 million
CB	Cobie Durant	28	Los Angeles Rams	1 year, $1.5 million
S	P.J. Locke	29	Denver Broncos	1 year, $5 million
S	Jalen Thompson	27	Arizona Cardinals	3 years, $36 million

Trades so far:

Position	Player	Age	2025 team	Traded away
DT	Rashan Gary	29	Green Bay Packers	2027 fourth-round selection

What looks amazingly similar this year compared to 2025 is once again only signing one free agent to a multi-year contract. And there will certainly be a few more FA signings before the 2026 off-season ends. But the only ones left are of the “dumpster dive” variety. And I expect a trade or two perhaps as well.

But how is this off-season (so far) so much different than last year?

 

[davey999]

It’s late March in what is supposed to be a “bust the budget” and “different” off-season for our FO. Which made me wonder about how this 2026 off-season of Free agency and trades compares (so far) to last year’s off-season.

2025 Off-season New Free Agency Acquisitions:

Position	Player	Age	2024 team	Contract
RB	Miles Sanders	28	Carolina Panthers	1 year, $1.3 million
RB	Javonte Williams	25	Denver Broncos	1 year, $3 million
G	Robert Jones	26	Miami Dolphins	1 year, $3.75 million
T	Hakeem Adeniji	27	Cleveland Browns	1 year, $1.2 million
DE	Dante Fowler	31	Washington Commanders	1 year, $8 million
DE	Payton Turner	26	New Orleans Saints	1 year, $3 million
DT	Solomon Thomas	30	New York Jets	2 years, $6 million
LB	Jack Sanborn	25	Chicago Bears	1 year, $1.5 million

2025 Trades

Position	Player/Aquired	Age	2024 team	Traded away
QB	Joe Milton	25	New England Patriots	2025 fifth-round selection
WR	George Pickens	24	Pittsburgh Steelers	2026 third-round selection and 2027 fifth-round selection
DT	Kenny Clark and two 1st rounders	29	Green Bay Packers	DE Micah Parsons
DT	Quinnen Williams	27	New York Jets	DT Mazi Smith, 2026 second-round selection, and 2027 first-round selectionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_Dallas_Cowboys_season#cite_note-QuinnenTrade-7

[TR]
[TD]LB[/TD]
[TD]Kenneth Murray[/TD]
[TD]27[/TD]
[TD]Tennessee Titans[/TD]
[TD]2025 sixth-round selection[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]LB[/TD]
[TD]Logan Wilson[/TD]
[TD]29[/TD]
[TD]Cincinnati Bengals[/TD]
[TD]2026 seventh-round selection[/TD]
[/TR]


Here are (so far) our new FA acquisitions in 2026:

Position	Player	Age	2025 team	Contract
QB	Sam Howell	25	Philadelphia Eagles	1 year, $2.5 million
C	Matt Hennessy	29	San Francisco 49ers	1 year, $1.4 million
DE	Tyrus Wheat	26	Detroit Lions	1 year, $1.755 million
DT	Otito Ogbonnia	25	Los Angeles Chargers	1 year, $3 million
CB	Cobie Durant	28	Los Angeles Rams	1 year, $1.5 million
S	P.J. Locke	29	Denver Broncos	1 year, $5 million
S	Jalen Thompson	27	Arizona Cardinals	3 years, $36 million

Trades so far:

Position	Player	Age	2025 team	Traded away
DT	Rashan Gary	29	Green Bay Packers	2027 fourth-round selection

What looks amazingly similar this year compared to 2025 is once again only signing one free agent to a multi-year contract. And there will certainly be a few more FA signings before the 2026 off-season ends. But the only ones left are of the “dumpster dive variety. And I expect a trade or two perhaps as well.

But how is this off-season (so far) so much different than last year?

It's not different.

 

[Havic]

A top tier lb would have helped tremendously and then go defense with two top 20 picks and I think the defense will be pretty solid coming together as the season progresses

 

[maryquality]

This is Jerry's definition of "all in". Yippee!!

 

[jazzcat22]

It’s late March in what is supposed to be a “bust the budget” and “different” off-season for our FO. Which made me wonder about how this 2026 off-season of Free agency and trades compares (so far) to last year’s off-season.

2025 Off-season New Free Agency Acquisitions:

Position	Player	Age	2024 team	Contract
RB	Miles Sanders	28	Carolina Panthers	1 year, $1.3 million
RB	Javonte Williams	25	Denver Broncos	1 year, $3 million
G	Robert Jones	26	Miami Dolphins	1 year, $3.75 million
T	Hakeem Adeniji	27	Cleveland Browns	1 year, $1.2 million
DE	Dante Fowler	31	Washington Commanders	1 year, $8 million
DE	Payton Turner	26	New Orleans Saints	1 year, $3 million
DT	Solomon Thomas	30	New York Jets	2 years, $6 million
LB	Jack Sanborn	25	Chicago Bears	1 year, $1.5 million

2025 Trades

Position	Player/Aquired	Age	2024 team	Traded away
QB	Joe Milton	25	New England Patriots	2025 fifth-round selection
WR	George Pickens	24	Pittsburgh Steelers	2026 third-round selection and 2027 fifth-round selection
DT	Kenny Clark and two 1st rounders	29	Green Bay Packers	DE Micah Parsons
DT	Quinnen Williams	27	New York Jets	DT Mazi Smith, 2026 second-round selection, and 2027 first-round selectionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_Dallas_Cowboys_season#cite_note-QuinnenTrade-7

Trades in 2025:

Position	Player	Age	2024 team	Traded away
QB	Joe Milton	25	New England Patriots	2025 fifth-round selection
WR	George Pickens	24	Pittsburgh Steelers	2026 third-round selection and 2027 fifth-round selection
DT	Kenny Clark	29	Green Bay Packers	DE Micah Parsons
DT	Quinnen Williams	27	New York Jets	DT Mazi Smith, 2026 second-round selection, and 2027 first-round selectionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_Dallas_Cowboys_season#cite_note-QuinnenTrade-7

[TR]
[TD]LB[/TD]
[TD]Kenneth Murray[/TD]
[TD]27[/TD]
[TD]Tennessee Titans[/TD]
[TD]2025 sixth-round selection[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]LB[/TD]
[TD]Logan Wilson[/TD]
[TD]29[/TD]
[TD]Cincinnati Bengals[/TD]
[TD]2026 seventh-round selecti[/TD]
[/TR]



Here are (so far) our new FA acquisitions in 2026:

Position	Player	Age	2025 team	Contract
QB	Sam Howell	25	Philadelphia Eagles	1 year, $2.5 million
C	Matt Hennessy	29	San Francisco 49ers	1 year, $1.4 million
DE	Tyrus Wheat	26	Detroit Lions	1 year, $1.755 million
DT	Otito Ogbonnia	25	Los Angeles Chargers	1 year, $3 million
CB	Cobie Durant	28	Los Angeles Rams	1 year, $1.5 million
S	P.J. Locke	29	Denver Broncos	1 year, $5 million
S	Jalen Thompson	27	Arizona Cardinals	3 years, $36 million

Trades so far:

Position	Player	Age	2025 team	Traded away
DT	Rashan Gary	29	Green Bay Packers	2027 fourth-round selection

What looks amazingly similar this year compared to 2025 is once again only signing one free agent to a multi-year contract. And there will certainly be a few more FA signings before the 2026 off-season ends. But the only ones left are of the “dumpster dive variety. And I expect a trade or two perhaps as well.

But how is this off-season (so far) so much different than last year?

It is different from the players, they got better players, and did not bring back bad players.

Fans will look into this as being a negative. But so far it has not been.
It has been different. Its started by purging the defensive coaches.

Who cares if the money spent was really any different or not.
What players could the have way over spent on the would have made that huge of a difference.

 

[jazzcat22]

It's not different.

Money spent wise no, quality of players, yes.
Is that not what fans want?
I would think so.

 

[Jarntt]

2025 loses just for the Murray move alone!

 

[Bobhaze]

A top tier lb would have helped tremendously and then go defense with two top 20 picks and I think the defense will be pretty solid coming together as the season progresses

I’m not necessarily disagreeing with you. But why do you think this year’s defense will be “pretty solid”? Hopefully it will but what gives you that confidence?

 

[Hawkeye19]

It’s late March in what is supposed to be a “bust the budget” and “different” off-season for our FO. Which made me wonder about how this 2026 off-season of Free agency and trades compares (so far) to last year’s off-season.

2025 Off-season New Free Agency Acquisitions:

Position	Player	Age	2024 team	Contract
RB	Miles Sanders	28	Carolina Panthers	1 year, $1.3 million
RB	Javonte Williams	25	Denver Broncos	1 year, $3 million
G	Robert Jones	26	Miami Dolphins	1 year, $3.75 million
T	Hakeem Adeniji	27	Cleveland Browns	1 year, $1.2 million
DE	Dante Fowler	31	Washington Commanders	1 year, $8 million
DE	Payton Turner	26	New Orleans Saints	1 year, $3 million
DT	Solomon Thomas	30	New York Jets	2 years, $6 million
LB	Jack Sanborn	25	Chicago Bears	1 year, $1.5 million

2025 Trades

Position	Player/Aquired	Age	2024 team	Traded away
QB	Joe Milton	25	New England Patriots	2025 fifth-round selection
WR	George Pickens	24	Pittsburgh Steelers	2026 third-round selection and 2027 fifth-round selection
DT	Kenny Clark and two 1st rounders	29	Green Bay Packers	DE Micah Parsons
DT	Quinnen Williams	27	New York Jets	DT Mazi Smith, 2026 second-round selection, and 2027 first-round selectionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_Dallas_Cowboys_season#cite_note-QuinnenTrade-7

Trades in 2025:

Position	Player	Age	2024 team	Traded away
QB	Joe Milton	25	New England Patriots	2025 fifth-round selection
WR	George Pickens	24	Pittsburgh Steelers	2026 third-round selection and 2027 fifth-round selection
DT	Kenny Clark	29	Green Bay Packers	DE Micah Parsons
DT	Quinnen Williams	27	New York Jets	DT Mazi Smith, 2026 second-round selection, and 2027 first-round selectionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_Dallas_Cowboys_season#cite_note-QuinnenTrade-7

[TR]
[TD]LB[/TD]
[TD]Kenneth Murray[/TD]
[TD]27[/TD]
[TD]Tennessee Titans[/TD]
[TD]2025 sixth-round selection[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]LB[/TD]
[TD]Logan Wilson[/TD]
[TD]29[/TD]
[TD]Cincinnati Bengals[/TD]
[TD]2026 seventh-round selecti[/TD]
[/TR]



Here are (so far) our new FA acquisitions in 2026:

Position	Player	Age	2025 team	Contract
QB	Sam Howell	25	Philadelphia Eagles	1 year, $2.5 million
C	Matt Hennessy	29	San Francisco 49ers	1 year, $1.4 million
DE	Tyrus Wheat	26	Detroit Lions	1 year, $1.755 million
DT	Otito Ogbonnia	25	Los Angeles Chargers	1 year, $3 million
CB	Cobie Durant	28	Los Angeles Rams	1 year, $1.5 million
S	P.J. Locke	29	Denver Broncos	1 year, $5 million
S	Jalen Thompson	27	Arizona Cardinals	3 years, $36 million

Trades so far:

Position	Player	Age	2025 team	Traded away
DT	Rashan Gary	29	Green Bay Packers	2027 fourth-round selection

What looks amazingly similar this year compared to 2025 is once again only signing one free agent to a multi-year contract. And there will certainly be a few more FA signings before the 2026 off-season ends. But the only ones left are of the “dumpster dive variety. And I expect a trade or two perhaps as well.

But how is this off-season (so far) so much different than last year?

No different unfortunately.

They were supposedly looking to add two “difference makers” in FA.

The only signing that could even be considered borderline (barely) “difference making” is Jalen Thmpson.

This D is still full of holes and in serious need of talent.

They pretty much are continuing their philosophy of banking on any difference makers coming to the roster via the draft.

Of course, once a player they draft performs well, they refuse to sign them early and overpay and jam up that part of their “roster management philosophy” as well lol

In the end, nothing has changed. They remain as incompetent and arrogant as ever. They will peddle hopium and optimism like crazy and act shocked when they once again fall victim to failure because they refused to address the yacht sized holes on the roster

Cowboys!

 

[kskboys]

It’s late March in what is supposed to be a “bust the budget” and “different” off-season for our FO. Which made me wonder about how this 2026 off-season of Free agency and trades compares (so far) to last year’s off-season.

2025 Off-season New Free Agency Acquisitions:

Position	Player	Age	2024 team	Contract
RB	Miles Sanders	28	Carolina Panthers	1 year, $1.3 million
RB	Javonte Williams	25	Denver Broncos	1 year, $3 million
G	Robert Jones	26	Miami Dolphins	1 year, $3.75 million
T	Hakeem Adeniji	27	Cleveland Browns	1 year, $1.2 million
DE	Dante Fowler	31	Washington Commanders	1 year, $8 million
DE	Payton Turner	26	New Orleans Saints	1 year, $3 million
DT	Solomon Thomas	30	New York Jets	2 years, $6 million
LB	Jack Sanborn	25	Chicago Bears	1 year, $1.5 million

2025 Trades

Position	Player/Aquired	Age	2024 team	Traded away
QB	Joe Milton	25	New England Patriots	2025 fifth-round selection
WR	George Pickens	24	Pittsburgh Steelers	2026 third-round selection and 2027 fifth-round selection
DT	Kenny Clark and two 1st rounders	29	Green Bay Packers	DE Micah Parsons
DT	Quinnen Williams	27	New York Jets	DT Mazi Smith, 2026 second-round selection, and 2027 first-round selectionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_Dallas_Cowboys_season#cite_note-QuinnenTrade-7

Also Kenneth Murray for a 6th round pick.
And Logan Wilson for 7th.

Here are (so far) our new FA acquisitions in 2026:

Position	Player	Age	2025 team	Contract
QB	Sam Howell	25	Philadelphia Eagles	1 year, $2.5 million
C	Matt Hennessy	29	San Francisco 49ers	1 year, $1.4 million
DE	Tyrus Wheat	26	Detroit Lions	1 year, $1.755 million
DT	Otito Ogbonnia	25	Los Angeles Chargers	1 year, $3 million
CB	Cobie Durant	28	Los Angeles Rams	1 year, $1.5 million
S	P.J. Locke	29	Denver Broncos	1 year, $5 million
S	Jalen Thompson	27	Arizona Cardinals	3 years, $36 million

Trades so far:

Position	Player	Age	2025 team	Traded away
DT	Rashan Gary	29	Green Bay Packers	2027 fourth-round selection

What looks amazingly similar this year compared to 2025 is once again only signing one free agent to a multi-year contract. And there will certainly be a few more FA signings before the 2026 off-season ends. But the only ones left are of the “dumpster dive variety. And I expect a trade or two perhaps as well.

But how is this off-season (so far) so much different than last year?

Just one simple answer. These players are better. The guys we picked up last year were career busts. These guys are not.

 

[Bobhaze]

Who cares if the money spent was really any different or not.
What players could the have way over spent on the would have made that huge of a difference.

Jazz, quality of FA historically has a direct correlation to money spent.

Does spending money on Free agents guarantee quality? No, certainly not. But the likelihood of success is much greater than with a bunch of low cost one year guys.

It’s like buying a $30k used car or a $10k used car. Which one is more likely to be better?

We’ve seen the low budget FA approach for years and what it has brought us. I guess we can “hope” this year is better?

 

[kskboys]

I’m not necessarily disagreeing with you. But why do you think this year’s defense will be “pretty solid”? Hopefully it will but what gives you that confidence?

I also think it might be. Why? Solid players added to the studs of Q and the draft picks. Locke/Durant/Thompson are easily better than anything we had in the the secondary last season. Gary is a good player, as is Otto. We can now stop the run, think about that. That makes everything on D easier.

 

[Jarntt]

We clearly have not done enough to put this team over the top and we absolutely could have if not for doing the same thing we always have. The goal should be winning a Super Bowl, not being "pretty good"

I like Thompson and think many are selling short how good he is because he played in AZ and they really don't know all that much about him, but he is really only "better than average" and not going to move the needle other than the fact that he over Wilson is a massive improvement. This team continues to try and acquire talent via trade because it is cheaper. Make no mistake about that. The signing bonus is already paid and they are unwilling to spend what they need to in free agency to build a winner so they throw away draft picks on trades instead. That is why we are looking at giving up picks to get a MIKE instead of just signing one. I really liked the Gary move but Clowney was better last year. Yes Gary should be better going forward due to age. The other players all help our depth and I think are good moves, but that doesn't change the fact that we have gone another year without signing a prime free agent who takes us to another level.

If this team trades for Al Shaair or Brooks it will move the needle. Let's see if they are interested in building a Super Bowl caliber team or just becoming relevant enough to fill the stadium and lose in the first or second round of the playoffs

 

[kskboys]

Jazz, quality of FA historically has a direct correlation to money spent.

Does spending money on Free agents guarantee quality? No, certainly not. But the likelihood of success is much greater than with a bunch of low cost one year guys.

We’ve seen the low budget FA approach for years and what it has brought us. I guess we can “hope” this year is better?

My only hope is that Schotty/Parker are being allowed to pick the groceries. I see the guys we picked up as useful players. Only move I really didn't understand was paying Bass 6 mil.

 

[kskboys]

Jazz, quality of FA historically has a direct correlation to money spent.

Does spending money on Free agents guarantee quality? No, certainly not. But the likelihood of success is much greater than with a bunch of low cost one year guys.

It’s like buying a $30k used car or a $10k used car. Which one is more likely to be better?

We’ve seen the low budget FA approach for years and what it has brought us. I guess we can “hope” this year is better?

Money is always a factor in every move/decision in the NFL. It's fine for a fan to ignore it, but the reality is that it's always important.

For instance, if we hadn't overpaid Diggs/Bland/Osa/Hooker, we could've made much better pickups in FA. Money badly spend. And for those who scream hindsight, not true at all in this case, I didn't think we should've paid any of those guys.

 

[shabazz]

2025 loses just for the Murray move alone!

A 6th round pick lost for guy so bad he retired the following season.

 

[fivetwos]

The only thing that makes it different is Thompson.

I knew they were going to pull this (not that I was alone)…..they expect miracles from Parker and expect the two firsts are going to be immediate studs.

It’s not enough to offset years of free agent neglect and blown high draft picks.

 

[Jarntt]

I’m not necessarily disagreeing with you. But why do you think this year’s defense will be “pretty solid”? Hopefully it will but what gives you that confidence?

His point was based on first signing one of those LBers. That or something similar is a huge key and must if we want to be better. Also including the first rounders. I'll use guys I like in the draft, but don't get hung up on the names I pick, feel free to use whatever draft picks you like:

Q, Clark, Peter Woods at #20
EZ, Jordyn Brooks, Overshown, Gary
Bland, Thompson, Hooker/Locke, Delane #12

You don't think that is or at least has a chance to be "pretty solid"? We are short a top pass rusher and that would be a problem, but you can assume that at pick #12 instead. If one of the Edges falls to 12 instead we can go that route and then CB at #20. We could always still find a DE at some point.

 

[kskboys]

A 6th round pick lost for guy so bad he retired the following season.

And Murray had been terrible for his entire career before that!!!! Murray was drafted in 2020. So, he'd been in the league 5 years before we traded for him. And had been consistently just a bad player. Soooooooooooo, why did we trade for him? Makes absolutely zero sense.

In 2025, Jerry was still employing his amazing strategy of acquiring highly drafted players who had been terrible. He is not doing that this year. That is the difference.

 

[Jarntt]

A 6th round pick lost for guy so bad he retired the following season.

Forget the pick, what he did to our defense was something so destructive that only a double agent could have accomplished it. Check his bank transactions!