The Cowboys have all of their draft picks under contract.
Edge rusher Malachi Lawrence became the final member of the class to agree to terms on Friday. His agents at the Win Sports Group told ESPN that Lawrence came to terms on a four-year, $20.22 million deal with the team.
The Cowboys will also hold an option on a fifth season that must be exercised ahead of Lawrence’s fourth NFL campaign.
Lawrence was one of two first-round picks for the Cowboys this year. Safety Caleb Downs was the other one and Dallas will be looking for the rookies to become cornerstones of an improved defense this fall and in the years to come.
The Cowboys selected offensive tackle Tyler Guyton with the 29th overall pick in 2024. Guyton, who played right tackle at Oklahoma, was charged with moving to left tackle to replace Tyron Smith.
It hasn’t worked out as expected.
Guyton has struggled with his health and with consistency, starting only 21 games in his two seasons.
Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said Thursday that Guyton will compete for the starting job with Nate Thomas.
“Tyler understands the importance of this year,” Schottenheimer said, via Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News. “Why? Because it’s the next year. We’re going to make Tyler earn it. Tyler and Nate Thomas right now are competing to start at left tackle. Why? Because we think that’s going to get the best out of Tyler Guyton and the best out of Nate Thomas.”
Guyton’s knee injury in training camp, Thomas replaced him with the first-team offense in practice. Thomas, a seventh-round pick in 2024, ended up making his first four career starts in 2025.
Pro Bowl left guard Tyler Smith started the final four games at left tackle, but he prefers to stay at left guard.
That leaves Guyton and Thomas to battle it out for the left tackle job, which is not what the Cowboys had in mind when they drafted the two offensive linemen 204 picks apart in 2024.
“Tyler’s biggest thing is the consistency has not been there,” Schottenheimer said. “Very talented, maybe one of the most athletic big men I’ve ever been around with his ability to kick-slide, punch, move [and] run. But there’s got to be more consistency. That’s been the challenge, he’s been working extremely, extremely hard at.”
The Cowboys and Rams do not play in the preseason, but they both train in Southern California. Therefore, they often have joint practices during training camp, including in 2025 in Oxnard.
They will again this year, Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said Thursday.
The date was not announced.
It will give new Rams edge rusher Myles Garrett a chance to practice against his hometown team. Garrett grew up in Arlington, Texas, which is home of AT&T Stadium, where the Cowboys play.
The Cowboys will also have a joint practice with the Saints, who already announced their intention to work with Dallas. The Saints and Cowboys will practice in Oxnard while the Saints are on the West Coast for a preseason game against the Rams in the second week of the exhibition season.
The Saints are coached by the Cowboys former quarterback and offensive coordinator, Kellen Moore.
Cowboys wide receiver George Pickens didn’t attend the early phases of the team’s offseason workouts and he didn’t change course for the team’s first week of OTAs.
Head coach Brian Schottenheimer confirmed that Pickens has not been in attendance during a Thursday press conference. Schottenheimer said that communication has been good with the wideout while stressing that all of the work at this stage is voluntary.
The Cowboys will have a mandatory minicamp starting on June 16 and Schottenheimer said Pickens’s plans for those workouts have not been part of their conversations.
“We haven’t discussed that, but I expect he’ll be here,” Schottenheimer said. “I think he’s in a good spot, but I know he’s handling his business.”
Pickens has signed his franchise tag, so he will be subject to fines if he does not report to the minicamp. The Cowboys have said that they will not be negotiating with Pickens about a long-term deal before the July deadline to sign one and that they have no interest in trading him, so it looks like he will play out the year under the tag before resuming the push for a multi-year pact after the 2026 season.
Don’t expect to see Packers edge rusher Micah Parsons on the field at the start of the regular season.
After suffering a torn ACL in December, Parsons is not going to be able to return until at least October, he told reporters on Wednesday.
Multiple reporters also relayed that Parsons said he had to have a clean-up procedure on his meniscus. Because of that, Parsons has a hard rule of at least a nine-month recovery before he’s able to play.
Parsons’ surgery was performed on Dec. 29, with nine months after that being Sept. 29. That could, in theory, put the Week 4 game against the Buccaneers in play. But the Week 5 against the Bears or the Week 6 against the Cowboys could be a bit more realistic, if not the Week 7 divisional contest against the Lions.
Parsons would rather come back and be effective than come back quickly.
“We have a pretty strong nine-month rule,” Parsons said, via Ryan Wood of USA Today. “It’s just all about … the research and the data. There’s no good outcomes with players coming back early from an ACL, especially if you’re having other things getting fixed up.”
“The goal for me is to complete the season … the goal has always been playoffs,” Parsons added, via Rob Demovsky of ESPN.
With this timeline, it’s likely that Parsons will start training camp and the regular season on the physically unable to perform list.
Parsons recorded 12.5 sacks, 12 tackles for loss, and 27 quarterback hits in 14 games with Green Bay in 2025.
