2026 Free Agency Class Won’t Help Dallas Cowboys Top Need – Mark Heaney, Inside the Star
The Cowboys may be forced to go corner early in the draft.
Weak Cornerback Class Limits Free Agency Hopes
If you take a look at the cornerback class in the 2026 free agency group, you’ll see a pretty rough one if we’re thinking about it with this past season in mind.
Guys like Jamel Dean, Tariq Woolen, and former Cowboy Trevon Diggs have a past filled with great play that put their names at the top of cornerback ranks around the league, but all three have struggled with health, performance, or both in recent times.
30+ year-old veterans like Tre’Davious White, Rasul Douglas, and Jonathan Jones are similar good-sounding options that, in reality, are far closer to the end than their peak.
The best options here are younger guys that are both unproven and likely costly, like the Saints’ Alontae Taylor, Kansas City’s Jaylen Watson, and former Cowboy and current Bears Pro Bowler Nashon Wright.
Overall, it’s a weird group of guys that I don’t see fitting Dallas well.
Free Style: Aubrey’s future is in the Cowboys’ hands – Patrik Walker, DallasCowboys.com
The Cowboys should have no issues on this one.
Why He Could Stay
To put it plainly, he may not have a choice in the matter. [Brandon] Aubrey is a restricted free agent in 2025, and that means though he can negotiate with other teams for the first time in his young NFL career, the Cowboys hold the right to refuse letting him depart for other pastures. They could place a first- or second-round tender on him to ensure that, should he get an offer they refuse to match, the Cowboys would receive expensive compensation in return.
What’s clear is that they have no intentions of parting with him, having finally found the successor and rightful heir to Dan Bailey after years of searching, and failing; and Aubrey has found a home in Dallas on a team that, once the defense is repaired, could be a contender — so this is likely the pasture he wants to continue grazing in.
Why He Could Leave
The only reason Aubrey could consider leaving is money, if that is his primary driver because, let’s be honest, we’re talking about free agents here, and that means money is always atop the list of talking points. But, again, the Cowboys can match any offer he receives, and make another team pay up in a big way to sign him, and would that team be located somewhere Aubrey truly wants to go (e.g., outdoor stadium? climate change?).
Aubrey has made a name for himself in Dallas, the team that gave him a chance to show what he could do and that stuck with him even during a training camp workout that, admittedly, wasn’t all that great prior to the release of Vizcaino — seeing the potential in him from Day 1. So, sure, Aubrey could leave, but not without the Cowboys allowing it … and they likely won’t.
Jerry Jones says he’s a Hall of Famer because of Michael Irvin – Mike Florio, PFT
Jerry gives credit where it is due for his success.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones became a Hall of Famer in 2017. He recently said it never would have happened without the presence of one key player when Jones bought the team in 1989.
“I have a gold jacket,” Jones recently told TMZ. “I wouldn’t have the gold jacket had Michael Irvin not played for the Cowboys, in a manner of speaking.”
It sounds like it’s less about Irvin’s direct contributions and more about Irvin’s attitude.
“To be involved and be around the winning mentality or that winning physicality — when Michael says it, I listen,” Jones said.
Irvin had, and still has, a singleminded desire to win. He helped coach Jimmy Johnson identify the players who needed to stay, and the players who needed to go, when Irvin reunited with his former college coach in Dallas.
Dallas Cowboys’ chances of trading for Maxx Crosby take a minor hit with latest news – Mauricio Rodriguez, AtoZ Sports
Another piece of info to remember around trade rumors for Maxx Crosby.
According to multiple reports, new Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak made a somewhat unexpected decision by hiring his defensive coordinator from within. The Raiders are expected to promote DL coach and run game coordinator Rob Leonard to defensive coordinator.
Leonard has been Crosby’s position coach since 2023, which leaves the door open for speculation: Perhaps Leonard taking over is a way to keep Crosby happy in Las Vegas.
“With Maxx Crosby’s future uncertain in Las Vegas, worth noting that the Raiders hired the coach with whom he works directly,” NFL insider Ian Rapoport noted on social media. “As one person noted, ‘The plot thickens.”
This wouldn’t be the first time Crosby had weight on the Raiders’ coaching decisions. When the Raiders kept Antonio Pierce as head coach in 2024 following a brief stint as interim HC, Crosby was said to be vocal about his support for Pierce.