Updated Jan. 10, 2026, 11:16 p.m. CT
The Dallas Cowboys‘ 2025 season is has been over for a week, but there’st still been one piece of business left to play out. By virtue of their 34-17 loss to the New York Giants in Week 18, the club finished out of the playoff picture and under .500 for the second-consecutive season. Their 7-9-1 record was the result of horrific defense that led to the firing of their defensive coordinator, Matt Eberflus this past weekend.
The loss, along with other Week 18 results, gave the Cowboys the No. 12 pick in April’s amateur draft. But the Cowboys also own the Green Bay Packers‘ first-round pick by virtue of their late-summer trade of All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons. With the Packers making the playoffs, Dallas would have to wait for Green Bay’s season to end to know where that pick would end up.
Well on Saturday, the first of three wild-card weekend days, the Packers season came to an end. Green Bay raced out to a 21-3 halftime lead, and also still led 21-6 entering the fourth quarter. But their rival Chicago Bears scored 25 points in the fourth quarter to pull of the biggest playoff comeback in their franchise’s history, a 31-27 win.
Combined with the Carolina Panthers also being eliminated on Saturday after a late score by the Los Angeles Rams, the Cowboys will select No. 12 and No. 20, the latter thanks to the Packers.
Cowboys Total Draft Picks
The Cowboys now know all of their draft picks that are assigned by virtue of performance. They still await the awarding of compensatory picks, of which they are expected to receive two at the end of the fifth round for losing DeMarcus Lawrence and Jourdan Lewis in free agency last year. Here’s their expected haul.
Expert NFL picks: Exclusive betting insights only at USA TODAY.
1.12 – Cowboys’ own pick
1.20 – Cowboys pick from Parsons’ trade
4.112 – Cowboys’ own pick
5.150 – Cowboys’ own pick
5.177 – Expected comp pick for Lawrence
5.179 – Expected comp pick for Lewis
7.225 – Cowboys’ pick from Kansas City Chiefs