After trading away Micah Parsons before the start of the season, the Dallas Cowboys needed someone to anchor their pass rush. They turned to veteran defensive end Jadeveon Clowney, who was signed following their Week 2 win over the New York Giants.
Clowney took some time to knock off the rust after missing training camp, but once he was comfortable, he became the team’s best pass rusher. Clowney finished the season with 8.5 sacks, including three in the season finale.
As good as he was against the pass, Clowney is even better at setting the edge in the run game. That’s why the team hasn’t been shy about saying they want him back in 2026.
Will Jadeveon Clowney return to the Cowboys in 2026?
Clowney has also expressed a desire to return, but The Athletic’s Jon Machota is reluctant to say that’s a lock. Instead, he says Clowney’s return is “on the fence,” mainly due to his performance. According to Machota, Clowney could command more money than expected, which might be a problem for the Dallas front office.
“Clowney seems like a decent bet to be on the “in” line. But he’s an unrestricted free agent and probably made himself some money with how he played this past season. The Cowboys have been very open about wanting the soon-to-be 33-year-old back next season,” Machota wrote.
Machota also said the Cowboys could go either way with the rest of their pending free agents on the edge. Dante Fowler, Sam Williams, and Payton Turner aren’t priorities to re-sign, but their lack of depth could lead to a reunion with any of these players, for the right price.
“Fowler, Williams and Turner could easily have been on the ‘out’ line but there’s probably a dollar amount where any one of them could be back, just because of how thin Dallas is at the position. Another spot where it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Cowboys use one of their two first-round picks.”
Ideally, the Cowboys would be able to bring back Clowney on a one, or two-year deal and use the 12th pick on a stud to groom alongside him and Donovan Ezeiruaku. There will still be a lot of work to do on defense, but this would be the right start to fixing their issues.
