INDIANAPOLIS — Cowboys co-owner Stephen Jones didn’t mince words Monday when it came to reflecting on the team’s 2025 defensive performance.
“The results speak for themselves,” Jones said from the JW Marriott in downtown Indianapolis, moments after wrapping up a meeting with the league’s competition committee. “You are what you are … and unfortunately, we were historically bad on the defensive side of the ball.”
Which means a historic overhaul might be in the cards for the Cowboys: a team that not only has the ammo to accomplish such a feat, but apparently the motivation.
“We certainly acknowledge that,” Jones said about the team’s defense, which finished last in points allowed per game last year, “and we certainly want to fix it.”
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The sweeping changes have already begun. The Cowboys already overhauled the team’s defensive coaching staff. They swapped out the old (in former defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus’ staff) for the new — and the young. First-time defensive coordinator Christian Parker will lead a defensive staff with an average age of 36. Only J.J. Clark, an assistant linebackers coach a year ago, remained from last year’s staff.
Whether it’s head coach Brian Schottenheimer, team owner Jerry Jones or Stephen Jones, there’s been effusive praise for Parker. Stephen Jones said he’s excited about Parker’s vision, formed through working with some of the league’s best defensive minds and curated by his own ideas, as well.
“I think we put an outstanding staff together,” Stephen Jones said Monday, “and now we’ve got to go get the players and their vision for the type of players that’ll help him execute what he wants to do philosophically on defense.”
Jones said they’re in the process of learning that vision. The Cowboys’ new defensive staff was assembled from a variety of different places. That means a variety of different opinions on which players fit that vision.
There inevitably was going to be a lot of change from last year’s defense. The Cowboys have 12 free agents on defense, including both unrestricted and restricted free agents. There likely won’t be a ton of interest in the majority, considering that last year’s defense had the worst defensive EPA (Expected Points Added) since 2020, according to rbsdm.com.
Filling all the needs the Cowboys have on defense — encompassing pretty much every position outside of interior defensive tackle — will be costly. That would likely require the Cowboys spend more than they historically have on defense. With less than a month before the league year begins, it feels like the Cowboys are willing to do it.
The Cowboys are roughly $24 million over the salary cap after the release of linebacker Logan Wilson. They also have the ability to open up an estimated amount of cap space that exceeds $100 million if they choose to restructure all the deals possible. They could open up even more this offseason if they elected to extend defensive tackles Quinnen Williams or Kenny Clark.
It’s easier to bust a budget, as Jerry Jones said earlier this offseason, when there’s more room.
Offensively, there’s only one big thing left to do, Stephen Jones said. He said the Cowboys plan to place the franchise tag on George Pickens within the next seven-to-10 days. The Cowboys also want to get a long-term deal done with kicker Brandon Aubrey, who’s a restricted free agent.
After that, there’s a clear target for the Cowboys’ salary cap usage.
“We want to fix this defense,” Jones said when asked about exhausting the available cap space they’re expected to have.
The draft is another avenue to fix it. Jones said after the season that the Cowboys would likely use their two first-round picks on defense. The only exception would be a player like CeeDee Lamb falling into their lap like in 2020, which deterred them from their original plans of selecting a defender. With no moves needed on offense in Jones’ mind, however, it’s hard to envision any non-defender capturing their heart in the first round.
And considering the juxtaposition between how good their offense was last year and how bad their defense performed, it’s fair to wonder when the Cowboys’ attention in the draft will ever veer from the defensive side of the ball. At one point during Jones’ meeting on Monday with local reporters, the team’s 2005 draft was brought up. The Cowboys used six of their eight picks on defense. They started with future Hall of Famer DeMarcus Ware. They also drafted Marcus Spears, Chris Canty and Jay Ratliff.
Jones cut in before the question could be finished.
“I’d like to have another draft like that,” he said with a smile. “Let’s do that right now.”
No pressure, but if the Cowboys want to turn around their worst defense in franchise history, in terms of points allowed, then they will need to hit on multiple defensive starters in free agency and the draft. They’ll need to allocate resources toward those efforts.
As the NFL Scouting Combine kicks off this week, it looks like they’re willing to do so.
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