Free agency is weird. You’re bummed that you’re going to be losing guys that you’ve been cheering for and are emotionally attached to, but you’re also going to get new guys who should make your life better… Most of the time. That’s not the case for the Dallas Cowboys. The starters that they’re losing this offseason are either bad or have only been with the team for a cup of coffee. It’s a win-win scenario for the fellas down in the Big D.

First off, George Pickens isn’t on this list for two reasons: one is that it feels like it’s a 50-50 split on whether or not he stays or leaves. The other reason is that he’s not replaceable. You’re just not going to get another receiver who gives you 93 catches for 1,429 yards and nine touchdowns this offseason. Most of the starters they have to replace are on defense, and their defense was generationally bad last year. So that’s good news. If you have to lose a bunch of dudes, you’d like to lose the ones on a generationally bad unit.

EDGE Jadeveon Clowney

It took the Cowboys exactly one game to realize that they needed help with their pass rush after they traded away Micah Parsons. That seems like something they should’ve figured out as soon as they made the trade, but hey… It’s the Cowboys.

Anyway, they signed Jadeveon Clowney on September 14th, so technically he wasn’t there for the whole season… but he played in 13 games, so he kind of was.

He led the team in pressures and, more importantly, in sacks with 8.5. That’s three more sacks than the next closest guy (James Houston, 5.5). That’s the kind of production that’s hard to replace.

LB Kenneth Murray

Kenneth Murray is a linebacker in the NFL, and that’s pretty much all you can say about him. PFF grades are pretty wack, but I decided to take a peek at his grade from 2025: He was ranked 177 out of 188.

He played the second-most snaps of anyone on that defense, so if you were wondering why they stunk so bad last season… That’s one of the reasons.

S Donovan Wilson

Donovan Wilson has been one of the Cowboys’ starting safeties for the past four seasons. For a while there, they were able to hide him behind a good pass rush. Once that good pass rush went away, Wilson got exposed over and over again.

Their new defensive coordinator, Christian Parker, is coming from Philadelphia, where he was the defensive backs coach and defensive passing game coordinator for the past two seasons. You’ve got to imagine that he’s going to have his eye on a free agent or two to get that position back in order.

NCB Reddy Steward

The Cowboys were in a solid spot with their Nickel for a few years; they were getting pretty high-level play from DaRon Bland and Jourdan Lewis. Then, with injuries, Bland moving to the outside, and Lewis hitting free agency, Reddy Steward got thrown into the starting Nickel role… and he stunk.

Going back to the Christian Parker thing: he just turned Cooper DeJean into an All-Pro Nickel, so he’s probably going to have some plans for who takes that job.

RB Javonte Williams

It’s not really fair to say that Javonte Williams came out of nowhere in 2025, but it is fair to say that no one expected him to have that good of a season.

The Broncos drafted him in the second round in 2021, and he had a very solid rookie season (903 yards, four touchdowns). Then, after some wicked injuries, it looked like his career was going to end up being mega-disappointing. He hit free agency last year, having played 29 games in his four seasons in Denver, and having a total of 2,394 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns.

He finished the 2025 season with 1,201 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns. We kind of knew that he had the talent to be awesome, but he seemed like he was washed up… He wasn’t.

Now, the Cowboys have a decision to make: are they going to re-sign him and keep the magic going, or are they going to hit up the draft and free agency to get someone else?

With all the needs this team has on defense, you have to think that they’re not going to have the resources to make a running back a big priority. I would bet that they’re going to look at last season, see that they turned Williams into a 1,000+ yard rusher, and try to recreate last season with someone cheaper.