There’s good news and bad news for the Dallas Cowboys. The good news: they don’t have a whole lot of important players entering free agency. The bad news: that’s because their roster kind of stinks.
We’re looking at 11 key players who might be hitting the open market, but only four of them are really worth anything. That’s Brandon Aubrey, along with three playmakers who were some of the only bright sports in a difficult season for Dallas. But will they remain Cowboys in Brian Schottenheimer's second year in charge?
Javonte Williams, Running Back
2025 was Javonte Williams’ best season by a whole lot. Regardless of how much confidence he and everyone in the building had going into the season, it’s hard to believe anyone thought that he was going to rush for over 1,200 yards and lead the team in touchdowns.
It couldn’t have come in a better season, because now he’s the top-five free agent running back. If he had the kind of season we’ve seen out of him in the past, he’d be a top-15 guy (maybe).
He’s competing with Breece Hall, Kenneth Walker, Travis Etienne, and Rico Dowdle. One of those guys (probably Hall) is going to get a pretty payday. However, when does free agency ever actually go the way that it’s supposed to go?
It’s very easy to imagine some team’s front office looking at Williams’ numbers, seeing that they were the best of those top-five guys, knowing that his injury history is behind him, and cutting him a mondo-sized check.
That probably shouldn’t happen, but it’s a reasonable future. And, given the Cowboys have some confidence in Jaydon Blue, they will not be inclined to match the price for Williams in a walk year.
Jadeveon Clowney, Edge/Defensive End
Should Jadeveon Clowney have an impact on free agency? No. Will he have one? Yeah, probably… It just probably won’t happen until the middle of/after training camp.
In 2025, he signed with the Cowboys on Sept. 14 (in Week 2) after Dallas realized that their defensive line desperately needed help in the post-Micah Parsons era. He definitely offered that help.
He ended the season playing 44 percent of the defensive snaps (a career low), but led the team in sacks (8.5). He’ll be 33 years old by the time the 2026 season starts, but he’s clearly still got a decent amount of gas left in the tank.
By no means is Clowney going to be a season-changer (nor will he get paid like one), but a team is going to eventually sign him because he has shown that he can add real and useful depth to an edge rusher room. Getting to the opposing quarterback has never been more important.
George Pickens, Wide Receiver
The Cowboys aren’t known for making smart decisions with their skill players and/or making those decisions at the right time. However, it sounds like they’re talking about franchise tagging George Pickens, which would be a very intelligent move.
Jerry Jones absolutely does not get the benefit of the doubt, so we can’t believe that he’ll do the right thing until we see it. Let’s go down the path of George Pickens hitting the free agent market:
Pickens is, by far, the best free agent wide receiver available this season, and he’s the only bona fide WR1 that a team will be able to get without having to trade. Those guys get paid… You just don’t see it happen that often because smart teams don’t let 25-year-old WR1s walk out the door.
In 2024, the Titans paid Calvin Ridley (probably not a WR1 anymore). In 2023, the Titans paid DeAndre Hopkins (but that was in July). In 2022, the Jaguars paid Christian Kirk $72 million for some reason. In 2021, the Giants got duped into paying Kenny Golladay. In 2020, Emmanuel Sanders got the bag. In 2019, the Raiders paid Tyrell Williams.
My point is that lesser dudes get paid chonko-money in free agency. He’d make $28-ish million if he got franchise tagged. If he hits the market, that’d be $30 million or more.
The question after that would obviously be: ‘Does a rich George Pickens play with the same stank as a rookie contract George Pickens?’ We don’t know the answer. And also, will Pickens be upset with the Cowboys decision to franchise tag him rather than sign him to an extension? This was reportedly a question the Steelers asked themselves before trading Pickens to Dallas, and it remains relevant to this day.