For the Dallas Cowboys to succeed this year, for the team to have anything close to a realistic chance at winning the NFC East, let alone a Super Bowl, there will need to be one major shift above all others. And the team has known it from the get-go, as, from the moment the 2025 season ended with a thud in January, it has been the focus: The defense has got to be better.
Not just a little better. The defense in 2025 was the worst in the NFL, allowing 511 points. That was not only the most in the league, it was also the most of any Cowboys defense in the history of the franchise. Improving on that is a low bar. But going from 32nd to above average–15th, let’s say–is a huge leap. Despite the addition of new coordinator Christian Parker, an overhaul in personnel, and a team-wide (and media-wide) feeling that things will be different, not everyone is buying that the Cowboys are on the brink of a massive defensive renaissance.
Cowboys Defense: No. 26 in the NFL
OK, so, who dares to question the methods of Parker and his new-look Cowboys unit? It’s The Ringer, which ranked all 32 defenses in the NFL and while there is improvement expected in Dallas, it is not enough to warrant Super Bowl parade plans.
The site has the Cowboys sitting at No. 26. That won’t please Cowboys fans, of course, but there is logic in the reasoning.
Here’s how the site sees it: “This is not a mediocre defense that’s adding some missing pieces. It is the league’s worst defense, now installing a brand-new system under a first-time coordinator while integrating several new starters and relying on a rookie safety to organize the back end. The cornerback room remains the cleanest target for opposing offenses, especially if the reconfigured front does not get home immediately.
“Dallas has enough talent to jump up a few spots over the course of the season, but this ranking reflects the fact that the Cowboys are plagued by uncertainty and have demonstrated little proof of concept.”
Minimal Financial Investment in the Offseason
The last bit of the argument there is just plain fact: Despite all the confidence coming out of The Star, we have no idea how this rebuilt unit work together, how long it will take to find its footing, or whether Parker truly is a good coordinator. He is 34 and the Cowboys will be the first experience he has had as a coordinator. We don’t know whether Caleb Downs will be the face-of-the-franchise star many expect him to be and whether camp star Jaishawn Barham, the third-round rookie linebacker, will be the breakout player many expect.
The Cowboys likely will have six new starters on defense and six more on the second level of the depth chart. But four of those are rookies, two are castoffs from other teams (edge Rashan Gary was about to be released by the Packers, and linebacker Dee Winters was just a fifth-round pick) and the rest were bargain signings of $5 million or less.
The only player the Cowboys signed for more than $10 million AAV was safety Jalen Thompson. Most of the investment in this bunch was through the draft. It was not financial.
Maybe it all does come together, maybe Parker is a genius in the making and, with the Cowboys’ offense, maybe the defense does not need to be great to get to a Super Bowl. But it’s worth remembering just how bad this bunch was last year, and how far it has to go.
Cowboys Hype Gets Emphatic Reality Check With New Rankings