Bill Parcells was always fond of saying he was in the talent acquisition business, and in that regard he was no different than the staff members on any of the 32 NFL teams. The NFL is constantly looking for new talent to upgrade its teams, and while the draft and college free agents are the biggest source of new talent, another key source of talent are the rosters of other NFL teams.
Free-agent signings, trade acquisitions, waiver claims, and players signed off another team’s practice squad mean there’s
a lot of coming and going on an NFL roster, especially now when teams are carrying up to 90 players on their offseason roster. Which means there are a lot of familiar names popping up on rosters across the rest of the league.
The Cowboys let 17 of their free agents walk this offseason (and traded away two more players), but they are not the only ex-Cowboys who have found homes on a different roster. In fact, almost 50 former Cowboys are currently under contract with another NFL team, even if only some of those guys were “Cowboys,” while others were just passing through.
So which NFL teams currently have the most former Cowboys on their offseason roster? Here’s a look through the other 31 offseason rosters to find the answer.
FIVE
San Francisco 49ers: Osa Odighizuwa, Robert Jones, Isaac Alarcon, Luke Gifford, Malik Turner
When Bill Parcells, Jeff Ireland, and Tony Sparano made their way from Dallas to Miami in 2008 and brought a handful of Cowboys veterans with them, the term “South Beach Cowboys” was coined. Perhaps we need to start calling the 49ers the West Coast Cowboys.
THREE
- Seattle Seahawks: DeMarcus Lawrence, Dante Fowler, Noah Igbinoghene
- Detroit Lions: Payton Turner, Cedric Wilson, Damone Clark
- Indianapolis Colts: Charvarius Ward, Juanyeh Thomas, Sean McKeon
- Carolina Panthers: Mike Jackson, Will Grier, Robert Rochelle
- Arizona Cardinals: Jalen Brooks, Simi Fehoko, Rivaldo Fairweather
Like DeMarcus Ware before him, DeMarcus Lawrence had to leave Dallas to get a Super Bowl ring, but what stands out here are two players that “got away.” Charvarius Ward signed as an UDFA in Dallas in 2018 but was traded away to the Chiefs at the end of his rookie training camp. He has since started in 96 games and made the Pro Bowl. Mike Jackson was a fifth-round pick for the Cowboys in 2019, but was signed off the practice squad by the Lions in his rookie season. He moved around a bit before becoming a starter and has since started 55 games.
TWO
- Chicago Bears: Jack Sanborn, Neville Gallimore
- New Orleans Saints: Asim Richards, John Ridgeway
- Buffalo Bills: Connor McCovern, Tommy Akingbesote
- New York Jets: Mazi Smith, Nahshon Wright
- Pittsburgh Steelers: Brock Hoffman, Rico Dowdle
- Baltimore Ravens: Chidobe Awuzie, Amani Oruwariye
- Jacksonville Jaguars: Chuma Edoga, Jourdan Lewis
- Tennessee Titans: Tony Pollard, Solomon Thomas
- Los Angeles Chargers: Trey Lance, Tyler Biadasz
Only four players out of the 18 in this two-man group – Jack Sanborn, Mazi Smith, Brock Hoffmann, and Solomon Thomas – were on the Cowboys roster at some time during the 2025 season.
ONE
- Philadelphia Eagles: Andy Dalton
- Washington Commanders: Dorance Armstrong
- New York Giants: Chauncey Gholston
- Green Bay Packers: Micah Parsons
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Dennis Houston
- Atlanta Falcons: Nick Folk
- Miami Dolphins: Jalen Tolbert
- Cleveland Browns: Maliek Collins
- Houston Texans: Dalton Schultz
- Kansas City Chiefs: Matt Waletzko
The standout player in this group is of course Micah Parsons, but there are others here who translated their move out of Dallas into big contracts. And shout-out to Nick Folk, who has been doing his thing in the NFL since he was a sixth-round pick for the Cowboys in 2007.
None
The Patriots, Bengals, Broncos, Raiders, Vikings, and Rams all currently make do without a former Cowboy on their roster. Perhaps that will change over the coming weeks and months, perhaps not.
Note that this exercise is just a result of a cursory glance at the team rosters, there may be more former Cowboys on the rosters than are listed in the table above. Obviously not all of these players will make the 53-man roster, but it is an interesting offseason snapshot.
And with 25 NFL teams maintaining at least one former Cowboy on their rosters, Cowboys fans can lean back knowing that the next Super Bowl winner will very likely feature at least one former Cowboys player – and perhaps a whole bunch of current Cowboys players.
