Looking at the slate of free agent tackles, Green Bay\u2019s Rasheed Walker stands out as the best in class. Walker, technically a left tackle, is expected to leave Green Bay this offseason. With an estimated annual salary well over $20 million,<\/a> Walker would cost the Cowboys more, but he\u2019d also represent a clear upgrade in pass protection. Unfortunately, Walker is a below average run blocker so what Dallas would make up for in pass pro they\u2019d lose in their ground game. Such a move might also force the Cowboys’ current left tackle, Tyler Guyton, back to his college position of right tackle.<\/p>\n Expert NFL picks: Exclusive betting insights only at USA TODAY.<\/a><\/p>\n More affordable options like right tackles Braden Smith and Jonah Williams might hit the market. Spotrac has them commanding salaries between $10 million and $14 million on their next deals. They aren\u2019t clear upgrades, but they\u2019d offer slight cost savings and clear upgraded pass protection. It\u2019s worth noting Williams, by way of the Arizona Cardinals, enjoyed his best season under Klayton Adams in 2024. So aside from a select few, there aren\u2019t many free agent upgrades on the market this offseason.<\/p>\n Maybe the best way for the Cowboys to mix things up and save money in the process is to try an internal option at RT. Third year man Nate Thomas is under contract in 2026 and comes with NFL game experience. The problem is that game experience didn\u2019t show a player ready for a starting gig quite yet. Thomas graded dead last in pass protection grades last season and it\u2019s hard for anyone to argue to the contrary. He\u2019s worth developing as a swing option but to bank on him being a starter is reckless at best. 2025 rookie Ajani Cornelius didn\u2019t log a single snap last season. Given the struggles Dallas endured at OT, that\u2019s not a good sign for his viability or readiness.<\/p>\n At the end of the day, Steele doesn\u2019t look so bad. He\u2019ll likely always be a liability in pass protection but he\u2019s getting more affordable by the day and he\u2019s a positive influence on the locker room. Unless Adams can make inroads with a free agent he knows like Jonah Williams, alternative options are extremely limited.<\/p>\n You can follow Reid on X\u00a0@ReidDHanson<\/a>\u00a0and be sure to follow\u00a0Cowboys Wire on Facebook<\/a>\u00a0to join in on the conversation with fellow fans!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Feb. 15, 2026, 7:57 a.m. CT For months now, it has seemed like a forgone conclusion the Dallas…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":755240,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2066],"tags":[95878,230,229,257,2461,7,6,96666,96667,95882,97764,95896,95888,95895,95897,95899,98563,95883,97123,102589,95881],"class_list":{"0":"post-755239","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas-cowboys","8":"tag-accessfree","9":"tag-cowboys","10":"tag-dallas","11":"tag-dallas-cowboys","12":"tag-dallascowboys","13":"tag-football","14":"tag-nfl","15":"tag-sstssportsnflcowboys","16":"tag-sstsncowboys","17":"tag-tagamerican-football","18":"tag-tagjonah-williams","19":"tag-tagnational-sports","20":"tag-tagnfl","21":"tag-tagnfl-hub","22":"tag-tagoverall-negative","23":"tag-tagoverall-neutral","24":"tag-tagrasheed-walker","25":"tag-tagsports-news","26":"tag-tagterence-steele","27":"tag-tagtyler-guyton","28":"tag-typestory"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116078300118906652","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/755239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=755239"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/755239\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/755240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=755239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=755239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=755239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1771214181_127_86373428007-square-1.jpg\")