DALLAS, TX - JANUARY 14: Rashan Gary #52 of the Green Bay Packers rushes the passer during an NFL wild-card playoff football game against the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium on January 14, 2024 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images) | Getty Images

NFL Free Agency: Jalen Thompson, Cowboys agree to terms – Patrik Walker, DallasCowboys.com

Change was needed at safety for the Cowboys, and the team wasted no time landing a versatile free agent for Christian Parker’s defense.

The start of legal tampering, on Monday, saw the front office strike a deal to trade for Pro Bowl edge rusher Rashan Gary, but that’s not the only reunion happening, the next move involving safety Jalen Thompson.

Thompson and the Cowboys have agreed to terms on a three-year deal that immediately follows their trade for Gary.

The move reunites Thompson with Ryan Smith, the newly-named secondary coach in Dallas by way of the Arizona Cardinals, where Smith coached the 27-year-old prior to both departing in 2026. It’s a ready-made fit for Thompson, thanks to Smith, and for a Cowboys’ defense in need of an upgrade at the position, inclusive of Donovan Wilson currently being a free agent.

Thompson entered the NFL as the fifth-round pick of the Cardinals in 2019, after earning Second-team All-Pac-12 honors at Washington State. He has since spent the entirety of his seven-year career in the desert, signing a three-year extension in Arizona in 2022.

Packers trade Rashan Gary to Cowboys for 4th-round draft pick – Jon Meerdink, Acme Packing Company

The Cowboys trading for a Packers defensive lineman is becoming an annual tradition, and our friends at Acme Packing Company have their thoughts on what Dallas is getting with Rashan Gary.

Once one of the most exciting young players on the Packers roster, Gary’s decline over the past few years has been precipitous. After recording a career-high 9.5 sacks in 2021, Gary was on pace for an even better year in 2022, but tore his ACL in Week 9. He returned to action in Week 1 of the 2023 season and was off to a great start, but tailed off down the stretch. However, his return to form was promising enough that the Packers rewarded him with a four-year, $107 million extension in October of that season.

Since then, Gary has been in steady decline. He made the Pro Bowl with a seven-sack season in 2024, but his more advanced numbers have painted a grimmer picture. Never an especially quick pass rusher, Gary’s “quick pressures” have been in significant decline for years, especially after his 2022 ACL injury.

He started 2026 strong, but his 7.5 sacks through eight games were something of a mirage; most were slow-burn cleanup sacks that resulted from pressures created by other pass rushers, usually Micah Parsons. Down the stretch, Gary all but disappeared, although Brian Gutekunst had a much different — and arguably erroneous — assessment of his performance.

The most damning indictment of Rashan Gary might be this: the Packers consistently played him for fewer and fewer snaps throughout the second half of the 2025 season. By percentage, his seven worst games of the season in terms of playing time all came after Week 10. That includes the playoffs, where he played just 56.4% of the defensive snaps.

With the season on the line, Rashan Gary, presumably the Packers’ best pass rusher after Micah Parsons went down, played fewer snaps than Kingsley Enagbare and Lukas Van Ness.

Cowboys Have 2 First-Round Picks Again — History Says It Matters – Cody Warren, Inside The Star

The Cowboys are holding tight to their most valuable draft capital.

So, with the 2026 NFL Draft approaching quickly, I looked into the Cowboys draft history and how they faired when they went in with two First Round picks.

Something usually happened; the Cowboys walked away with two players who turned into major contributors.

The Last Time Dallas Had Two First-Round Picks

The last draft the Cowboys had two First-Rounders was in 2005.

I’m not sure if anyone remembers this draft, but the Cowboys walked away with two big-time players.

With the 11th pick in this draft, the Cowboys selected a player who became a cornerstone for the defense and a Hall of Fame player. That guy was none other than DeMarcus Ware.

DeMarcus Ware finished his career 10th all-time in NFL sacks and was eventually inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The 20th pick in that same draft, the Cowboys picked Marcus Spears. Spears didn’t become a superstar, but we all know he gave Dallas exactly what they needed from the first-round defensive lineman.

A reliable starter who helped anchor the defensive front and open up lanes for Ware.

If we look back on this draft, we can see the Cowboys got exactly what they needed.

One elite player and one long-term starter.

Cowboys officially awarded 2 comp picks, full list of 2026 draft slots – K.D. Drummond, The Cowboys Wire

The Cowboys know how to play the compensatory pick formula, and will benefit from it in this year’s draft while still not having a second- or third-round selection.

The NFL announced the slate of 2026 compensatory picks on Monday, and Dallas is going to get two fifth-round picks for players who left the team in 2025 free agency. The Cowboys have almost always been thought of as getting two picks, but recent calculations seemed to indicate they could be only getting one fifth and one sixth. The difference is about 40 prospects off the board.

The Cowboys will have the No. 177 and No. 180 selections in addition to the picks they have by virtue of their 7-9-1 record in 2025. The first pick is almost certainly for losing DE Demarcus Lawrence to the now-world champion Seattkle Seahawks. The other pick is up for a small amount of debate.

Depending on how the NFL calculated playing time and contract rank, the second comp pick could have been for RB Rico Dowdle, who went to the Carolina Panthers, WR Brandin Cooks with the Bills, or cornerback Jourdan Lewis with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

NFL Free Agency: Jalen Thompson, Cowboys agree to terms – Patrik Walker, DallasCowboys.com

Packers trade Rashan Gary to Cowboys for 4th-round draft pick – Jon Meerdink, Acme Packing Company

Cowboys Have 2 First-Round Picks Again — History Says It Matters – Cody Warren, Inside The Star

Cowboys officially awarded 2 comp picks, full list of 2026 draft slots – K.D. Drummond, The Cowboys Wire

Cowboys deal for Javonte Williams looks even better after free agency deals – RJ Ochoa, Blogging The Boys

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