FRISCO, Texas -- The Cowboys have added nearly 30 new players to the roster over the last two months, from a collection of free-agent signings, draft picks, undrafted free agents and even a few trades.
All in all, a third of the 90-man roster has been overhauled since mid-March, creating quite a few changes to each position.
Over the next few weeks, we'll take a closer look at where things stand at each position. The Cowboys won't release a depth chart until the first preseason game in August, so the following order of players is simply a projection, which of course, is always subject to change.
Let's close out our series with the defensive end position:
- Micah Parsons
- Dante Fowler
- Donovan Ezeiruaku
- Sam Williams
- Marshawn Kneeland
- Payton Turner
- Tyrus Wheat
- Luigi Vilain
- Earnest Brown IV
Battle to Watch: Who climbs to the top of the pecking order and will line up opposite Micah Parsons? Dante Fowler is coming off one of the best years of his career and is returning to a familiar situation, Sam Williams should be back and healthy with a chance to grow from his first two NFL seasons, and Donovan Ezeiruaku was one of the most polished pass rushers in the 2025 NFL Draft class. You can never have enough good pass rushers, so the Cowboys have a good problem on their hands with figuring out who lines up where, and who gets more snaps.
Time is Now: After tallying 8.5 sacks in his first two seasons after being picked in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft, Sam Williams is looking to return healthy and produce more after tearing his ACL and PCL before the start of the 2024 season. With the amount of recent investment of high draft capital and free agent additions at the position, the room is getting crowded, and Williams has a big season in front of him to prove himself as one of the better pass rushers on the roster.
Trait-Mark: With DeMarcus Lawrence off to Seattle, the Cowboys are in need of a defensive end that can set the edge and help stop the run, something Dallas has struggled with in recent years. Enter Marshawn Kneeland, who was drafted with a second-round pick in 2024 to come in and do just that. After a rookie season where he missed six games and at times struggled to make a noticeable impact, 2025 serves as the year for Kneeland to show what the Cowboys saw on tape at Western Michigan and help them bring ball carriers down.
Don't Forget About … The Cowboys added a plethora of former first round picks this offseason, one of them being Payton Turner, the New Orleans Saints' first round pick back in 2021. It's been tough sledding at times for Turner in his first four seasons as he's only produced five career sacks but is coming off his best professional season yet and has all the tools and a 6'6, 270-pound frame to continue to develop under Aaron Whitecotton and maybe show more flashes of what made him a first-round talent four seasons ago.
