Dallas Cowboys

Dallas is last in the league with only $2.6M in current cap room and $34.4M in dead money weighing the books down, making every roster move a tight squeeze until commitments ease in year three.

30 contracts expiring

Madden Tools Analysis

Five starting spots have weak depth behind the starter.

Dallas holds five picks in the current draft including three first-rounders, and 19 total across the three-year window, giving the rebuild meaningful resources to address the LT and REDGE holes if the cap-tight present can hold the roster together.

• Acquired: Round 1 from Packers, this draft
• Acquired: Round 6 from Saints, next draft
• Acquired: Round 6 from Steelers, this draft
• Traded away: Round 7 to Saints, next draft
• Traded away: Round 1 to Jets, this draft
• Traded away: Round 5 to Steelers, this draft
• Traded away: Round 7 to Eagles, this draft
• Traded away: Round 4 to Packers, this draft

The roster's top strength is its receiver and interior defensive line talent, headlined by Lamb, Pickens, and Williams, while the left tackle position, ranked 30th leaguewide at the starter level, is the clearest weak point on the depth chart.

• LThigh

  Tyler Guyton starts at LT but ranks 30th among starters leaguewide, making this the roster's most urgent upgrade with Nathan Thomas and Ajani Cornelius as thin backups.

• REDGEhigh

  Malachi Lawrence starts at REDGE with Donovan Ezeiruaku behind him, but the position ranks 27th among starters, meaning a high-impact addition here would transform the pass rush.

• RTlow

  Terence Steele holds the RT1 spot and ranks 22nd at the position, a manageable weakness given Drew Shelton provides developmental depth behind him.

• 69T.J. BassRGT.J. Bass sits as the RG2 behind Tyler Booker and is redundant with Booker's emergence, and releasing him clears $5.8M with zero dead money.Frees $5.8M · $0 dead
• 59Curtis RobinsonWILLCurtis Robinson grades out at 59 overall and operates as the SAM2 behind DeMarvion Overshown, and cutting him recovers $1.2M with no dead-money penalty.Frees $1.2M · $0 dead
• 61Princeton FantTEPrinceton Fant is the TE3 at 61 overall behind Jake Ferguson and Luke Schoonmaker, making him expendable at a savings of $1.0M with no dead money owed.Frees $1.0M · $0 dead
• 65Sam HowellQBSam Howell is the QB3 at 65 overall behind Prescott and Joe Milton, and releasing him frees $2.0M while leaving only $500K in dead money.Frees $2.0M · $500.0K dead
• 78Malik HookerFSMalik Hooker backs up Jalen Thompson at FS at 78 overall but carries a costly release structure, freeing $2.8M while leaving $3.8M in dead money, making him a cap decision that requires weighing short-term savings against the dead-money hit.Frees $2.8M · $3.8M dead

Dallas hands you a competitive but constrained franchise built around Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, George Pickens, and a budding offensive line anchored by Tyler Smith. Prescott is entering the later stage of his career, so the window to win now is real but narrowing, and the cap situation demands disciplined roster management: $2.6M in current room, $34.4M in dead money, and $335.6M committed next season leave almost no margin for error. The pass rush is the defense's most glaring weakness, with Malachi Lawrence and Donovan Ezeiruaku starting at REDGE in front of a deep interior anchored by Quinnen Williams. The young core of Tyler Booker at RG and Caleb Downs at SS, both with elite dev traits at 22 and 21 years old respectively, gives the rebuild a genuine foundation to build toward. Cap relief arrives significantly by the third year, when commitments drop to $241.2M, opening the door to meaningful free-agent investments. The franchise sits in a now-or-later tension: push for a playoff run with Prescott in his prime years, or begin threading succession planning into the roster-building process before that window closes.

The Dallas Cowboys were founded in 1960 as an NFL expansion team in Dallas, Texas, originally to be called the 'Steers' and then 'Rangers' before settling on 'Cowboys.' Owned by Clint Murchison Jr. and run by GM Tex Schramm, personnel chief Gil Brandt, and head coach Tom Landry, the team went 0-11-1 in its first season. Beginning in 1966 the Cowboys reeled off an NFL-record 20 consecutive winning seasons (through 1985), and Landry, the only head coach for the franchise's first 29 seasons, built the 'Flex' Doomsday Defense and won Super Bowl VI and Super Bowl XII behind Hall of Fame QB Roger Staubach. After the 1978 season NFL Films editor Bob Ryan dubbed Dallas 'America's Team.' The modern era began in 1989 when Jerry Jones bought the team and replaced Landry with Jimmy Johnson; shrewd drafting (Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith) and the Herschel Walker trade fueled a 1990s dynasty led by 'The Triplets' (Aikman, Smith, Michael Irvin) that won Super Bowls XXVII and XXVIII under Johnson and XXX under Barry Switzer. Those five Lombardi Trophies tie Dallas for third-most all-time, and its eight Super Bowl appearances are tied for second-most. Since Super Bowl XXX (January 1996), however, the Cowboys have not returned to a conference championship game, the recent Jones era defined by regular-season competitiveness paired with chronic playoff disappointment.