The Dallas Cowboys face a very unfamiliar situation to them. And it\u2019s the result of NFL teams basically ignoring their 2026 free agent class. <\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t![\"Jul](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/USATSI_21098239-scaled.jpg\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJul 27, 2023; Oxnard, CA, USA; Dallas Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones during training camp at Marriott Residence Inn-River Ridge Playing Fields.
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tKirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n
The Dallas Cowboys will face a situation that\u2019s very uncommon for them in 2027: having no compensatory picks in the NFL Draft. <\/p>\n
But the reason behind should be looked at closely, as they reveal NFL teams really didn\u2019t like a large portion of the 2025 Cowboys. Let\u2019s dive in. <\/p>\n
NFL neglects Cowboys free agents<\/p>\n
Before we get into how the NFL told the Cowboys its free agency class wasn\u2019t good at all, there\u2019s a concept we all need to understand. Compensatory free agents. <\/p>\n
So let\u2019s all get on the same page with a quick \u201ccomp picks for dummies\u201d crash course: <\/p>\n
Now that we\u2019re on the same page, let\u2019s get to the point. <\/p>\n
The Cowboys lost zero compensatory free agents this year, according to Over The Cap\u2019s projections<\/a>. <\/p>\n To illustrate why that\u2019s a big deal, consider this: They were the only team in the NFL to lose zero CFAs this year. Public Over the Cap data goes back to 2014 and I went down the rabbit hole. You know what I found out? <\/p>\n This is the first time from 2014-2026 that the Cowboys lose no CFAs. <\/p>\n That means out of 13 free agents that weren\u2019t kept by the Cowboys one way or another, all either remain unsigned or they signed minimum-type deals that didn\u2019t qualify them as CFAs. <\/p>\n No comp picks will affect how the Cowboys maneuver <\/p>\n This is no small thing, either. The Cowboys believe in the \u201cdraft and develop\u201d mindset. That\u2019s why they\u2019re often comfortable letting players walk in free agency. They know such losses translate to draft picks down the road, and they\u2019re okay with the trade off. <\/p>\n Going into 2027, however, they\u2019ll be more limited in terms of draft capital. Specially after giving up their fourth rounder to acquire edge rusher Rashan Gary from the Green Bay Packers. <\/p>\n That means they\u2019ll be even more inclined to hold on to their picks. That affects how they approach the trade market now until next year\u2019s draft. It may also influence their spending next year and heck, even their approach to contract extension negotiations. <\/p>\n There were a lot of question marks about how the Cowboys built their 2025 roster, mostly on the defensive side of things. Seeing how the NFL responded to its free agency class is no surprise. <\/p>\n The good news? 2026 is already looking a lot better. <\/p>\n \t\t\t Dallas Cowboys News<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t The Dallas Cowboys like to say team-building is a 365 day a year process. Very soon, they may just get a chance to make a big-name trade happen. <\/p>\n Compensatory Picks<\/a> Dallas Cowboys<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Dallas Cowboys face a very unfamiliar situation to them. And it\u2019s the result of NFL teams basically…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":819797,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5135],"tags":[5229,276132,1596,8998,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-819796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-america","tag-compensatory-picks","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-cowboys","tag-texas","tag-tx","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116631889046858852","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/819796","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=819796"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/819796\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/819797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=819796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=819796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=819796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Arizona](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/USATSI_27885379-1-200x200.jpg\")
\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tStill time for a big Cowboys move? Why Dallas has a realistic shot at making bold proposed trade happen\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n