Dallas, TX
Day 1 of the NFL Draft was a huge success for the Cowboys
Sometimes the thing that makes the most sense makes the most sense for a reason. The possibility of the Dallas Cowboys trading out of their first-round selection at 24 long held merit due to their lack of draft capital in a serious sense. At the draft’s beginning, Dallas only held three top 100 selections but would quickly get to work on improving that.
While on the clock at 24 the Cowboys worked the phones and found a suitor. The draft’s host team, the Detroit Lions, felt inclined to jump up and get cornerback Terrion Arnold out of Alabama and the Cowboys benefited from it.
Dallas picked up an extra third-round pick (number 73 overall) while giving up a 2025 seventh-rounder on top of dropping down five spots in the first round. It was a huge win.
In the moment many fans were hoping that Duke’s Graham Barton would make it the five more picks but the Tampa Bay Buccaneers scooped him up. Ultimately the Cowboys still came away with a quality offensive lineman as a result when they took Oklahoma tackle Tyler Guyton at 29 overall.
The move to pick Guyton in a vacuum is a solid one. Guyton was Dane Brugler’s 27th overall prospect so the Cowboys got value on him in that sense. When you factor in that Dallas also picked up the 73rd overall pick on the way to drafting him Thursday night as a whole was a huge win.
It was imperative that that Dallas walked away from the first round with either serious capital on Friday night or a Day 1 starter along the offensive line. They came away with both.
The Cowboys have an incredible track record when it comes to drafting offensive linemen, so even though Guyton is regarded as a bit raw in the moment, the benefit of the doubt that has been earned in this arena specifically suggests that Dallas just found themselves a quality tackle.
I love this pick for the #cowboys, plus the extra #NFLDraft capital, this is a very good move. I had Guyton forecast in late teens/early 20s due to his athleticism (e.g. 3-cone) along with how he progressed on OL (was DE before college), stock is for him!
— cynthia frelund (@cfrelund) April 26, 2024
So far the Cowboys have had quite the offseason, but Thursday night saw them take a significantly positive step forward.
Morton started 15 games in 1972 for an injured Staubach, who eventually returned in the playoffs. The Cowboys decided to trade Morton in 1974 to the Giants, who sent back a first-round pick, which turned out to be the No. 2 overall pick in 1975. The Cowboys used that selection to take Randy White, a 10-time Pro Bowler and future Hall of Famer.
Ironically enough, White’s best game was likely Super Bowl XII, when he was named Co-MVP with Harvey Martin. The Cowboys’ Doomsday defense dominated the Broncos, who were quarterbacked by Morton.
Overall, Morton played for the Cowboys, Giants and Broncos before officially retiring at the end of the 1982 season.
His career ended with 27,908 passing yards, ranking him 71st in NFL history, just ahead of Hall of Famer Joe Namath (27,663).
With the official NFL schedule coming this week, the Dallas Cowboys have revealed when, where and against who their Week 1 contest will be.
The Cowboys announced that they will square off against the New York Giants on the road in Week 1, with the game set for Sunday, Sept. 13, at 7:20 p.m. CT. So, it’s prime time for the Cowboys to start the season.
This is the second game we know about for the Cowboys this year. Of course, we know they will be playing on Thanksgiving, also.
The official schedule will drop on May 14, the NFL announced last week. Schedules for all 32 teams will be revealed on ESPN and the NFL Network, but each team will unveil its own schedule on social media, also.
The Cowboys were always likely to play a road game in Week 1 because of an Usher and Chris Brown concert taking place at AT&T Stadium that week.
Dallas will also be impacted by an Ed Sheeran concert in Week 7, so that’s another potential road game. They could also play on Monday or Thursday that week, or have a bye.
Cowboys’ strength of schedule
According to Warren Sharp of Sharp Football Analysis, the Cowboys are not going to have an easy road to make the postseason.
The Cowboys have the fourth-toughest schedule in the NFL going into the 2026 season, with only the Arizona Cardinals, Miami Dolphins and Carolina Panthers having tougher slates.
Dallas’ schedule is also the third-toughest in the NFC, and the most difficult in the NFC East.
Sharp does his strength of schedule rankings based on win totals from Vegas oddsmakers rather than utilizing the previous season’s records because that metric doesn’t factor in offseason changes.
The Cowboys will play home games against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Arizona Cardinals, San Francisco 49ers, Tennessee Titans, Baltimore Ravens, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders.
On the road, Dallas will square off against the Giants, Eagles, Commanders, Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Los Angeles Rams, Seattle Seahawks and Green Bay Packers.
Of those opponents, seven of them made the postseason in 2025, a list that includes the Jaguars, 49ers, Eagles, Texans, Rams, Seahawks and Packers.
All of those teams should be as good in 2026, and teams like the Colts, Titans, Ravens, Bucs, Giants and Commanders have a very real chance to be improved as well.
It won’t be an easy road for Dallas to get back to the playoffs in 2026, but there’s at least hope following a defensive overhaul.
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