Stephen Jones teases extensions for Cowboys’ DaRon Bland, Jake Ferguson- Randy Gurzi, Sports Illustrated

Get it done early, Dallas.

Bland and Ferguson each enter their fourth season in the league and are scheduled for free agency in 2026. Jones said they want to keep both players around and want to begin looking at extensions for them.

Bland burst onto the scene in 2023 when he recorded nine interceptions with five pick-sixes. He missed 10 games in 2024 but has proven himself to be one of the premium ball hawks in the NFL.

Dallas Cowboys tight end Jake Ferguson runs after a catch against the Atlanta Falcons during the second half at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. / Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

Ferguson also broke out in 2023 with 71 receptions for 761 yards and five touchdowns. His production slipped this past season but he was dealing with nagging injuries and the loss of Dak Prescott.

NFL writer identifies win-win first-round trade for Cowboys-Broncos – Todd Brock, Cowboys Wire

With the number of holes the team still has to fill, trading back would be a great option.

NFL.com draft analyst Chad Reuter believes they should go to that well again in 2025.

In a list of six win-win first-round trades teams should make, Reuter’s first order of hypothetical business is a deal between Dallas and Denver that leaves both clubs in better shape than they currently are.

The Cowboys and Broncos should swap first-rounders, Reuter says, with Denver taking over the 12th overall pick and also getting Dallas’s fifth-rounder, No. 149. The Cowboys get the 20th pick plus an additional second-rounder, No. 51, to go with the 44th overall selection they already own.

With the 12th pick, Broncos head coach Sean Payton would likely have his choice of this year’s two premier tight ends, Tyler Warren and Colston Loveland. He could also look at wide receivers Tetairoa McMillan (Arizona) and Matthew Golden (Texas), he writes, “if Courtland Sutton is not in the team’s plan past his upcoming contract season.”

3 Cowboys quarterback options in the 2025 NFL Draft – Mark Heaney, Inside The Star

QB2 is up for grabs.

The Most Likely: Quinn Ewers, Texas

Quinn Ewers, the former Longhorn and Texas native, is easily the most likely candidate to join the Cowboys quarterback room.

Formerly a projected first-overall pick, Ewers’ career in Austin never blossomed as some thought it would. His passing struggles and talent limitations took his draft stock from first-round lock to a solid middle-to-late round option.

I personally felt that Texas would have been better off with Arch Manning in the College Football Playoff, but they rode with their veteran instead.

As he heads into the NFL Draft, Ewers projects as a backup with moderate potential to become a starter one day. He has the size, experience, and occasional “wow throw,” and the accuracy lapses, turnover problems, and mechanical problems that scare you.

If the Cowboys can find their way to drafting him, without having to use a premier pick, it would be a good fit.

With the right passing scheme and development, Quinn Ewers could take over one day, even if it’s not the best successor option out there.

3 Cowboys who (maybe) won’t make the 53-man roster in 2025 – Jerry Trotta, The Landry Hat

Looking ahead to camp battles.

LB Damone Clark

The Cowboys have added to their linebacker room more so than any other position group, trading for former Chargers first-round pick Kenneth Murray Jr. and signing underrated Bears free agent Jack Sanborn.

Regardless of how the rotation shakes out, Clark seems to be on the roster bubble after he was relegated to a special teams player under Mike Zimmer last season. That’s not to say the former fifth-roud pick can’t undergo a renaissance under Eberflus. He’s still just 24 years old and Eberflus, a former LBs coach, knows how to develop linebackers.

However, if the Cowboys re-sign Eric Kendricks or another vet, or select a linebacker in the NFL Draft, it’s possible that Clark has played his last snap for the team that drafted him in 2022. He needs a strong OTAs and training camp more so than any player on the roster.

Dallas Cowboys roster review: RB position after free agency – Connor Livesay, Blogging The Boys

And Dallas is likely not done adding to this group.

While the production has been down for Williams over the last three years, he has still proven to be a capable receiver and pass protector out of the backfield, which was probably a big reason he was acquired. Along with Williams, the Cowboys also signed Miles Sanders to a one-year deal this offseason.

Sanders, now 27, had a very productive career in Philadelphia, but has struggled to make much of an impact in Carolina since joining the Panthers in 2023. Both Sanders and Williams provide veteran depth and starting experience to the Cowboys running back room, which it needed, but the Cowboys need more at the position, and that will likely come in the 2025 NFL draft. There was an assumption the Cowboys would add to the running back room in free agency, and they did, but it is pretty much a guarantee that they will be drafting a running back relatively early in the 2025 NFL draft.