The Dallas Cowboys have spent most of the offseason looking to upgrade their roster from their disappointing 2025 season. Today we will rank the five biggest upgrades the Cowboys made over the offseason as they look to make a playoff push in 2026.
5. P.J. Locke over Donovan Wilson
While the Cowboys did not make any huge splashes in free agency, they did do a nice job of bringing in players that will raise the floor of this defense at positions of need. P.J. Locke is another great example of a floor-raiser in Dallas. Locke has been more of a depth piece than an every down starter over the course of his career so far, but the Cowboys added three safeties over the offseason that are equal or better players than the two they had been starting over the last few seasons.
Locke has split time at both strong and free safety throughout his career in Denver. His versatility, special teams impact, and instincts are much needed in Dallas after a season full of coverage busts, and asking players to do things they simply weren’t capable of doing. Locke may not be a 17 game starter for the Cowboys in 2026, but with Caleb Downs ability to play nickel, as well as other spots, we will see plenty of snaps with three safeties on the field for the Cowboys, and we should not be shocked to see Locke get playing time at multiple spots on the backend of the defense.
4. Dee Winters over Kenneth Murray
Heading into free agency and the draft, the linebacker position was the biggest position of need for the Cowboys. The Cowboys did not address the linebacker position until day two of the 2026 NFL draft when they drafted Michigan LB/EDGE Jaishawn Barham in the third round and trading for San Francisco 49ers linebacker Dee Winters.
As of today it sounds like the starting two inside linebackers in the Cowboys base defense will be DeMarvion Overshown and Dee Winters, with Jaishawn Barham getting plenty of work both as a traditional linebacker and pass rusher. Winters really broke out in 2025 for the 49ers, after starting 17 games due to injuries to Fred Warner. Winters is not a perfect player, but based on his tape over the 2024-2025 season, he will still be an instant upgrade over what the Cowboys had last year in Kenneth Murray.
3. Cobie Durant over Trikweze Bridges/Kaiir Elam
One of the more underrated moves of the Cowboys offseason was adding Cobie Durant in free agency. The cornerback position was an absolute disaster last year for the Matt Eberflus-led defense. Whether it was DaRon Bland, Trevon Diggs, Kaiir Elam, Trikweze Bridges, Calen Carson, or Shavon Revel at the end of the season, whoever the Cowboys were putting out there to play the outside corner spot was getting picked on early, and often.
The Cowboys elected to move on from Diggs and Elam by the end of the season, but they quickly found out that their defensive back depth chart had no one they could trust to win their matchup consistently. The addition of Cobie Durant gives them an immediate upgrade at the cornerback position.
We will likely see Durant in a camp battle with Revel for the outside cornerback spot opposite of Bland, but with the uncertainty surrounding Bland’s health coming into the season, Durant could be on the field a ton for the Cowboys in 2026 in some capacity. Whether it’s as a full-time starter, or a contributing depth piece, the Cowboys cornerback room got better in 2026, and the addition of Durant helped raise the floor a ton.
2. Jalen Thompson over Malik Hooker
Similar to P.J. Locke, Jalen Thompson had split time between free safety, nickel, and box safety over the course of his career. Thompson has been a very steady presence for the Arizona Cardinals. By rejoining forces with his former defensive back coach, Ryan Smith, who is now the secondary coach in Dallas, Thompson will immediately upgrade the Cowboys secondary as starter.
Christian Parker and Brian Schottenheimer have stated multiple times this offseason this defense will be multiple. So while we have Jalen Thompson listed as taking over for Malik Hooker, we will likely see him play all over the field for the Cowboys, allowing them to play many different personnel packages depending on what they are looking to defense on a week-to-week basis. Thompson is an upgrade at free safety, strong safety, or the nickel spot, and another high quality addition to a secondary that desperately needed new blood in the building.
1. Caleb Downs over….
There is no doubt that Caleb Downs will likely be the biggest difference-maker to the Cowboys defense in 2026. Whether it’s starting at the nickel, playing down in the box with aggressiveness as run defender or blitzer, or playing the deep safety spot and taking away the deep-third, he will be everywhere for the Cowboys in 2026.
Downs has been talked about a lot as the nickel player in Christian Parker’s defense. That will ask him to play in coverage against slot receivers a ton, but do not expect him to just be a slot corner in Dallas. With all the new additions to the Cowboys defense this offseason, where Downs ultimately lines up will likely depend on the opponent, the down-and-distance, and what the defense is trying to take away in that particular week.
Downs will be wearing too many hats to know exactly what position he will be upgrading, but realistically he’s the caliber of player you could line up anywhere (except for defensive tackle) and he’s likely going to make an impact and improve your defense.
