Cowboys season ends poorly with 34-17 loss to Giants – Mark Heaney, Inside The Star
And with that, the 2025 Cowboys season mercifully comes to a close.
The 2025 Dallas Cowboys season is officially in the books, as a 34-17 loss against the New York Giants capped off a 7-8-1 record for the team.
This one featured both familiar issues for Dallas and brought some hope for 2026.
We saw fresh faces get chances they normally wouldn’t, while also seeing some players who absolutely should not be brought back next season.
Dallas had been eliminated from playoff contention far before this game kicked off, but the record concluding under .500 is awfully fitting. It’s the first time in Dak Prescott’s career that he played the entire season and finished with a losing record.
Additionally, this very likely marked the end of a very poor one-year tenure for Defensive Coordinator Matt Eberflus with the Cowboys. All reports indicate he is likely to be fired, which will spark the search for yet another defensive leader on the sidelines.
Here, I’ll cover both halves of football from today’s season finale to recap what went down in Dallas’s final showing.
Don’t forget these 5: Drive-extending penalties- Nick Eatman, DallasCowboys.com
In case you wanted to remember Sunday’s game.
Thomas offside – After the Cowboys missed a fourth-down attempt inside the 3-yard line, the thought process was to try and pin the Giants back, call timeouts and get the ball back in good field position. But on first down for the Giants, Solomon Thomas was called offside before the snap. That gave the Giants enough breathing room and, more importantly, a first-and-5. The Giants were able to keep the ball and drive for a touchdown.
Murray’s hit out of bounds – The Cowboys still had a shot to get the ball back with the Giants having second-and-21 at their 26-yard line with 1:21 to play. But Kenneth Murray was flagged for a late hit out of bounds on Tyrone Tracy, negating a third-and-long. The first down by penalty move the ball to the Giants 46, and they were in the end zone a few plays later to grab a 16-10 lead.
Cowboys’ $82 million letdown may have just played his last snap for Dallas – Jerry Trotta, The Landry Hat
Dallas has a big decision to make on Terence Steele this offseason.
Steele inked a five-year, $82.5 million contract with $50 million guaranteed before the 2023 season. While he hasn’t missed a game since signing, he hasn’t lived up to the deal. He ranks 12th and 5th, respectively, among right tackles in annual salary and guaranteed money.
From a pass-blocking standpoint, the return on investment just hasn’t been there. Among 37 tackles that have logged at least 500 pass-blocking snaps, Steele has allowed the ninth-most sacks (three), third-most quarterback hits (nine), and seventh-worst pass-blocking efficiency (95.9), per PFF.
The Cowboys can cut Steele with a post-June 1 designation and save $14 million against the cap while absorbing just $4 million in dead money. It would create a hole at right tackle, but Dallas can get an equal-to-similar level of play at a much lower cost.
Whether that’s Tyler Guyton if they move Tyler Smith to left tackle, Nate Thomas, or someone not currently on the roster, the Cowboys aren’t without options. Regardless, moving on from Steele will absolutely be part of the decision-making process.
Cowboys climb draft order, here’s where their 1st-round picks will be – K.D. Drummond, Cowboys Wire
Sunday certainly helped Dallas’ draft stock.
One positive, when looking at the long-term health of the franchise, is that things have relatively gone the Cowboys way in the last couple of weeks when it comes to draft slot positioning. Despite winning in Week 17, most of the teams who could impact where Dallas selects also won. And as they lost in Week 18, capping their wins at seven, they got help again.
By virtue of their Week 4 tie against Green Bay, the Cowboys will draft after any team that finishes with the same number of wins. So if they had won, they’d draft after all seven and eight-win teams. With their loss, they draft ahead of any team with eight or more victories, and the Atlanta Falcons added themselves to that group on Sunday.Need a news break? Check out the all new PLAY hub with puzzles, games and more!
Atlanta Falcons’ victory
The Falcons defeated the New Orleans Saints, 19-17, and while most of the football world was focused on that meaning the Carolina Panthers would win a three-way tiebreak for the NFC South title, it also moved the Falcons behind Dallas in draft order after the Cowboys’ loss.
The Miami Dolphins could also move behind the Cowboys, sliding Dallas up as high as No. 11, if they can upset the New England Patriots in the late window.
Full list of Cowboys’ pending free agents entering 2026 NFL offseason- Randy Gurzi, Sports Illustrated
It’s officially the start of the offseason.
Dallas Cowboys unrestricted free agents
Javonte Williams, RB
Miles Sanders, RB
George Pickens, WR
Jalen Tolbert, WR
Brock Hoffman, IOL
Robert Jones, IOL
Hakeem Adeniji, OT
Dante Fowler Jr., EDGE
Jadeveon Clowney, EDGE
Payton Turner, EDGE
Sam Williams, EDGE
Kenneth Murray, LB
Jack Sanborn, LB
CJ Goodwin, CB
Corey Ballentine, CB
Donovan Wilson, Safety
