The War Room · 2026
Dallas Cowboys offseason brief
The roster state the front office faced entering the offseason, reconstructed from last season's snaps and the contract ledger. Needs predict behavior; the risk bands are odds, never verdicts.
QB room · aging-vet
Aging veteran on big money: the highest QB-draft propensity state in football. Succession planning is live.
Need board
Ten position groups ranked against the other 31 teams. Draft prior is the measured chance a team in this need state spends a top-100 pick there; corner priors deliberately ignore rank because corner drafting is need-insensitive, and the QB prior reads the room class above.
| Rank | Group | Need | Returning snaps | Cap committed | Age | Draft prior | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | S | +4.5 | 27% | 0.2% | 29.0 | 14% | |
| 2 | ED | +2.7 | 47% | 0.3% | 27.6 | 29% | |
| 3 | RB | +1.7 | 42% | 0.5% | 26.0 | 18% | |
| 4 | WR | +1.6 | 54% | 3.4% | 26.5 | 34% | |
| 5 | LB | +1.3 | 50% | 0.6% | 25.7 | 18% | |
| 6 | QB | -1.4 | 100% | 22.5% | 32.7 | 26% | |
| 7 | CB | -1.9 | 81% | 3.7% | 25.9 | 29% | |
| 8 | TE | -2.8 | 100% | 2.7% | 27.1 | 8% | |
| 9 | IDL | -4.0 | 100% | 6.3% | 28.8 | 25% | |
| 10 | OL | -4.2 | 85% | 3.6% | 25.5 | 32% |
Own expiring contracts
Keep is the incumbent re-sign band; walk is the projected compensatory selection his departure earns two drafts out, gross of the net-loss formula.
| Player | Pos | Expiring cap | Gtd | Keep | Walk | Flags |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Donovan Wilson | S | 3.1% | 64% | Low | R5 comp | |
| Jadeveon Clowney | ED | 1.3% | 36% | Low · ret 0.99 | R6 comp | |
| Israel Mukuamu | S | 0.6% | 29% | Low | no comp | |
| C.J. Goodwin | CB | 0.5% | 12% | Low | no comp | |
| Miles Sanders | RB | 0.5% | 90% | Elevated · ret 0.89 | no comp | age-cliff |
Market targets
Free agents at this team's top-3 need groups, screened to external-buy bands below Severe. External buys keep under 80% of platform production 43% of the time; the band prices that ladder.
| Player | Pos | From | Expiring cap | External band | Forecast retention |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andrew Van Ginkel | ED | MIN | 8.2% | High | 0.95 |
| Grant Delpit | S | CLE | 5.3% | High | n/a |
| Haason Reddick | ED | TB | 5.0% | High | 0.95 |
| Joey Bosa | ED | BUF | 4.5% | High | 0.95 |
| Kayvon Thibodeaux | ED | NYG | 3.8% | High | 0.95 |
| Harrison Smith | S | MIN | 3.7% | High | n/a |
| Leonard Floyd | ED | ATL | 3.6% | High | 0.95 |
| Yetur Gross-Matos | ED | SF | 3.5% | High | n/a |
| Denico Autry | ED | HOU | 2.7% | High | n/a |
| Tyquan Lewis | ED | IND | 2.3% | High | n/a |
Built from the team needs ledger (validated against ten years of revealed draft and free-agency behavior) and the second-contract risk model. Odds, not verdicts. Browse the full free-agency class or return to the team page.