Jan. 17, 2026, 10:06 a.m. CT
“Offense sells tickets, defense wins championships;” a quote attributed to legendary Alabama head coach Paul “Bear” Bryant, rings true in Dallas. There’s always been a heavier financial focus on keeping their offense humming, while the defense has been left to make due with the remains. This is a large reason why their Super Bowl drought has hit three decades and why the Cowboys’ couches are warm as the NFL enters the playoff’s divisional round this weekend.
The defensive woes go beyond the failures of their 2025 season, unfortunately, and mostly derive from their lack of success on Day 1 of the draft.
Currently armed with two first-round picks and a defensive roster riddled with holes, Dallas must alter their approach or risk whiffing in the draft as they have done so for the last 30-plus seasons.
Since 1994, Dallas has drafted 16 first-round defenders and only one, edge DeMarcus Ware, has made the Pro Football Hall-of-Fame. Defensive end Micah Parsons may become the second, if his trajectory continues, but he now resides in Green Bay and will almost assuredly end up spending more of his career outside Dallas than in it.
Cowboys who didn’t last much beyond rookie deals, if at all
Of the Cowboys last six defensive first-round picks, four did not receive a second contract. This list includes edge Parsons (2021), defensive tackle Mazi Smith (2023), defensive end Taco Charlton (2017), and cornerback Byron Jones (2015).
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Extend it all the way back to the start of the post-Jimmy-Johnson era, eight of the 16 did not get another deal from Dallas after their rookie contracts. Add DE Shante Carver, DE Ebenezer Ekuban, LB Bobby Carpenter, CB Mike Jenkins to the prior list.
Defensive lineman Marcus Spears ($1.1million), cornerback Morris Claiborne ($1.3 million), and linebacker Leighton Vander Esch ($1.2 million) all received one-year “prove it” deals once their rookie contracts expired, but only Spears and Vander Esch eventually landed a third deal.
DE Anthony Spencer received the franchise tag two seasons in a row before landing a one-year, $2 million contract with the Cowboys, his last in Dallas.
Cowboys defenders who landed extensions
Ware’s six-year, $78 million contract averaged $13 million per season and remains the largest contract given to a Cowboys first-round pick in the Jerry Jones era.
Safety Roy Williams, cornerback Terence Newman, and defensive end Greg Ellis remain the only other first-round defenders to garner outright long-term extensions with the team in that time frame.
Pro Bowl & All-Pro Honors
The group has a combined 23 Pro Bowl selections. Ware (7), Parsons (4), and safety Roy Williams (5) account for 69.5% of those honors.
Ellis made the Pro Bowl once in his 11 years in Dallas, while Newman made it twice in nine seasons. CB Mike Jenkins, LB Leighton Vander Esch, DB Byron Jones, and DE Anthony Spencer were also named once while the other seven never made it to Honolulu or Vegas.
While some think the Pro Bowl has become more of a popularity contest, the All-Pro team is anything but.
Making that team for Dallas has become even more scarce as Ware (4), Parsons (2), and Williams (1) combine for the only seven First-team All-Pro selections among the 16 first rounders. Absent second and third-round picks in the upcoming 2026 NFL draft, confidence in Dallas making the right choices considering the circumstances, should be circumspect.
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