The Dallas Cowboys performed a big overhaul of their roster this offseason, mainly on the defensive side of the ball. That totally makes sense considering how the offense and the defense performed in 2025. TL;DR – offense good, defense bad.
There were plenty of big acquisitions that happened this offseason that have Cowboys fans excited for 2026. The two first-round draft picks, Caleb Downs and Malachi Lawrence, are certainly getting plenty of discussion, especially Downs who is being touted as a transformational
player.
Dallas also picked up edge Rashan Gary in a trade, they signed free agent safety Jalen Thompson, and made many other moves on that side of the ball. Including re-doing the coaching staff.
One name that doesn’t get talked about a lot is corner Cobie Durant. Signed as a free agent on a relatively cheap one-year deal, Durant has plenty of quality playing time in the NFL. In fact, Bill Barnwell at ESPN calls it the best deal the team made this offseason.
He explains:
Best: Signing Cobie Durant to a one-year, $4 million deal. I’m enthused about quite a few of the moves the Cowboys made on defense this offseason, including the decision to move up one spot and draft safety Caleb Downs at No. 11. But when we consider the cost involved, there might not be a better move than signing Durant away from the Rams on a one-year deal for about as much as Dak Prescott makes per game.
Durant isn’t a superstar, and he has played behind some very good pass rushes in Los Angeles, but he has allowed a 74.3 passer rating in coverage over the past four seasons. At 28, Durant should still be in the prime of his career. The Rams experimented with him in the slot at times, but he’s best as an outside cornerback, where he’ll start across from DaRon Bland in 2026. Despite his modest deal, Durant should be a massive upgrade on what the Cowboys rolled out at CB last season.
That bolded sentence fragment was done by me to highlight something. Barnwell is pretty matter-of-fact about Durant starting over Shavon Revel Jr. across from Bland. It definitely feels like conventional wisdom has Revel getting that spot, but that may not necessarily be since Christian Parker is new, and he was definitely part of the process of signing Durant. He wasn’t here for the drafting of Revel.
The Cowboys would like for Revel to be the player they think he can be after drafting him in the third round of last year’s draft. Now fully past his injury, he will have a healthy offseason and training camp to look forward to, but he’s no lock as the starter. It certainly could be the case that he is surpassed by Durant in this offseason battle.
What’s your take BTB? Who ya got winning this roster battle?
