By Jamal Baker
NDG Sportswriter
The Dallas Cowboys wasted no time making moves to improve their roster on the first day of legal tampering during the NFL free agency period.
The first domino to fall involved the restructuring of offensive tackle Terence Steele’s contract to keep him with the Cowboys and free up more cap space. Steele is entering his seventh year with Dallas, and the Cowboys have the utmost confidence in him.
“I just think that there’s a ton of good things that he’s doing,” Dallas offensive coordinator Klayton Adams said of Steele at the NFL Combine. “The margins are smaller as you get later in your career for the type of improvement that you specifically want to be able to make, but we’ve got an improvement plan ready for him for probably seven or eight different things that maybe he hasn’t worked on in his career. And so I can certainly see some of the benefits of the way that the guy works. He’s an absolute pro, and we’re gonna continue to find ways to help him get better.”
Dallas also was able to strike a deal with the Green Bay Packers to acquire former Pro Bowl defensive end Rashan Gary for a 2027 fourth-round pick.
At 28 years old, Gary is in the prime of his career and will have a new NFL home with the Cowboys after spending all seven years of his NFL career in Green Bay. He has recorded 46.5 career sacks and earned Pro Bowl honors in 2024.
Gary joins a Cowboys unit that features Quinnen Williams, Osa Odighizuwa, Donovan Ezeiruaku, newly re-signed Sam Williams and former Packers teammate Kenny Clark to form a solid foundational group to build around.
The Cowboys remained busy on day one of free agency by agreeing to terms on a three-year deal with former Cardinals safety Jalen Thompson. The 27-year-old defensive back has started in 87 of his 99 games and spent the last seven years of his career in Arizona.
Thompson will be a welcomed addition to the Dallas defense as he reunites with Cowboys secondary coach Ryan Smith, who served as the cornerbacks coach in Arizona from 2023-2026.
Thompson’s career numbers are impressive to still be a young player—recording 502 combined tackles, eight interceptions, 37 pass breakups and eight quarterback hits. The duo of Thompson and veteran leader Malik Hooker provides a quality starting safety pair heading into next season.
To conclude the first day of legal tampering, the Cowboys agreed to terms with defensive end Sam Williams on a one-year deal to keep him in Dallas for his fifth season. Williams will be 27 at the beginning of the 2026 season and has shown flashes of being a productive pass rusher and special teams player.
The Cowboys carried their day one momentum to day two on Tuesday by securing high-caliber depth pieces on both sides of the ball.
Dallas agreed to terms on one-year deals with former Broncos safety P.J. Locke, former Chargers defensive tackle Otito Ogbonnia and former Eagles quarterback Sam Howell.
In what has been a revelation for the Cowboys, who are hardly ever this active early in free agency, you have to give them credit for seeing obvious holes on their defense and doing their best to shore them up before the draft.
However, there is still a long way to go before anyone can say they have confidence in a defense that was one of the worst in franchise history last season. Still, Dallas has certainly taken several steps in the right direction.
Time will tell if the Cowboys continue to add pieces in free agency, but for now, they’ve made it clear they intend to address their defensive issues head-on.
