The 2026 NFL Draft will award compensatory picks to teams that lost top free agents from last year’s class. That includes the Dallas Cowboys, who saw Jourdan Lewis sign a three-year, $30 million contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
How did the Cowboys get a compensatory pick for Jourdan Lewis?
The Cowboys received a fifth-round pick for letting Lewis hit free agency. That is now the number 180 overall pick in the draft.
What did the Cowboys do with the compensatory pick from Jourdan Lewis?
The Cowboys traded this pick as part of their Round 1 move up one spot with the Miami Dolphins to take Caleb Downs.
How was Jourdan Lewis’ performance for the Jaguars in 2025?
Lewis missed five games
for the Jaguars due to injury, but he managed to record two interceptions and 39 tackles in his first season with the Jags.
Should the Cowboys have re-signed Lewis?
Lewis spent his first eight NFL seasons with the Cowboys and established himself as a solid defender for them. His $10 million average annual salary with the Jaguars proved to be too rich for the Cowboys. Given his price tag, the Cowboys made the right move in moving on from him, because he did not necessarily live up to that value in his first season with Jacksonville.
Now that he’s 31 years old for the 2026 campaign, the Cowboys can invest in someone younger with this fifth-round pick and move forward.
What is a compensatory pick?
Compensatory picks are awarded to teams that suffer a net loss of qualifying free agents during the previous year’s free agency period. So 2026 NFL Draft compensatory picks are awarded due to free agents lost in 2025.
Then those players are ranked on the amount of salary, playing time, and a bunch of other criteria and slotted into the end of rounds three through seven.
