3 starters among 9 former Cowboys still available in free agency
· Yahoo Sports
Sometimes, there are mitigating circumstances asto why a player isn't signed in the first few waves of free agency. Veterans who have entered mercenary status often like to wait until after the voluntary offseason work is completed before they sign with a team. They know their bodies, they know the ramp-up required to be of service during the regular season, and they'd rather not go through the installs that are often necessary to get younger players up to speed.
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In other situations are veterans where the interest they hoped for never materializes. Which category do the nine former Dallas Cowboys who are still on the open market fall under? That's a topic for debate, but with less than three weeks before the 2026 NFL draft, these players are still sitting without an employer.
On defense, the Cowboys have three starters who have yet to sign with new teams. Safety Donovan Wilson and linebacker Kenneth Murray combined for 1,788 snaps across 31 starts in 2025. They are primarily seen as the faces of an inept Matt Eberflus defense that ranked at or near the bottom of the league in almost every important team statistic.
Dallas traded for Murray, a former first-round pick with a medium-level salary commitment on the final year of his deal. His warts of play diagnosis were well known and he proved the concerns valid with his play. It maddened Cowboys fans that he was never replaced, even after trading for Logan Wilson at the deadline. It turns out Wilson wasn't a viable replacement either, as he's another of the nine unsigned free agents, already announcing he's retiring from football after being benched by the other historically bad defense, the Cincinnati Bengals, prior to the trade to Dallas.
As for Wilson, he's always been a boom-or-bust player as a enforcer-style safety, but last year's role really threw him to the wolves. Eberflus' scheme did nobody any favors, but Wilson really didn't take to it, posting a career-worst 38.8 coverage grade via Pro Football Focus.
That was more than 20 points below his previous career worse set just a year earlier. The back-to-back-to-back DC changes impacted Wilson more than any other Cowboys defender.
The biggest surprise on the List of 9 may be edge rusher Jadeveon Clowney. After leading the Cowboys in sacks with 8.5, Clowney is still available. That may somewhat be by choice, however. It's hard to imagine a relatively cheap edge rusher who continues to produce having no suitors. Clowney has become that mercenary still defender, playing for seven teams over the last eight seasons.
But Clowney's still really good, posting a career best 80.6 pass rushing grade in 2025. He had five sacks across 47 pass rush snaps in the final two games of the season. His lack of signing is likely more about waiting to see where he'll have the best opportunity to see snaps, and signing prior to the draft doesn't do much for him.
Here's a look at the full list of 2025 Cowboys who are still free agents at this time.
- Edge Jadeveon Clowney
- Safety Donovan Wilson
- Linebacker Kenneth Murray
- Linebacker Logan Wilson (retired)
- Special Teamer CJ Goodwin
- Defensive tackle Perrion Winfrey
- Running back Miles Sanders
- Offensive lineman Hakeem Adeniji
- Edge Dante Fowler, Jr.
This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Clowney, Donovan Wilson headline 9 Cowboys still in free agency