After their Super Bowl LIX win, the Philadelphia Eagles came into 2025 with genuine repeat ambitions. But reality unraveled in October when they lost to a New York Giants squad that had lost four of its first five games. The rest of the NFC East did not take long to follow suit.

“Aside from the Philadelphia Eagles, the NFC East had a dismal 2025 season,” wrote Inside the Star’s Richard Paolinelli in January. “If not for the NFC South, the division would be the worst in the NFL.”

But the offseason told a different story for at least one team. While the Washington Commanders, Eagles, and the Giants each patched what they could, the Dallas Cowboys built something more deliberate. Out of every team in this division, the Cowboys are the ones who came out of this spring with a plan that actually holds together.

Four Teams, Four Plans, One Division at Stake

Every team in the NFC East came into this Spring with a real structural problem. Here is how each of them has handled free agency, as well as the first round of the 2026 NFL draft.

Washington Commanders

• What they needed: A healthy Jayden Daniels, receiver depth, a cornerback, a center, and an overall defense that could hold the field in the fourth quarter.
• What they did in free agency: Washington used their free agency almost entirely on defense. DE Odafe Oweh, LB Leo Chenal, DT Tim Settle Jr., RB Rachaad White, and TE Chig Okonkwo were some of their biggest free agency additions. But Daniels’ receiver room and offensive line depth – the two things that would directly help him survive a full season – were left for the draft to solve.

• What’s still missing: Daniels played just seven games last season, battling with a string of injuries. He finished last season with a 60.6 completion rate and an 88.1 passer rating while the season kept falling apart around him. Their defensive additions help the floor, but do not answer whether Daniels can carry a full season without a genuine receiver threat beyond Terry McLaurin.

Draft Round 1 update: Washington used the 7th overall pick on Ohio State linebacker Sonny Styles. He’s a premium linebacker pick that can shore up their defense. But it does nothing to address Daniels’ biggest offensive needs immediately. With just five more picks beyond Round 1 and no first-round answer for the receiver room or the center position, the offense Washington needs to build around Daniels remains unfinished.

Philadelphia Eagles

• What they needed: Edge depth, offensive line reinforcement, and a tight end solution beyond a returning Dallas Geodert.
• What they did in free agency: General Manager Howie Roseman had admitted the Eagles were struggling with cap space at the NFL Owners’ Meeting. His strategy was to take chances on short-term solutions.
  As a result, WR Hollywood Brown, LBs Arnold Ebiketie, Azeez Ojulari, and Joshua Uche, etc., all signed one-year deals. With every signing coming with a short expiry date, Roseman was just buying time for the draft to solve the problems free agency could not afford to touch.
• What’s still missing: Offensive tackle Lane Johnson and guard Landon Dickerson are both contemplating retirement. The Eagles already lost linebacker Jaelan Philips to the Carolina Panthers despite trying to re-sign him. Dallas Geodert’s return on a one-year deal is a stopgap, not a solution. The personnel around quarterback Jalen Hurts have also thinned out.
  When the offensive line started showing its age last season, even the ‘tush push’ stopped working. Philly’s signature play converted on 79.6% attempts in 2024, but last season that dropped to 63.6%. It’s a direct reflection of what happens when the blockers around Hurts can no longer hold their ground.

Draft Round 1 update: Philadelphia traded up from pick 23 to 20, acquiring the pick from the Cowboys. They used it to select USC wide receiver Makai Lemon, a potential long-term answer at receiver given the failing production and trade chatter around A.J. Brown. But their edge and O-line needs have no first-round answer. One receiver doesn’t close the gap between managing this roster and rebuilding it.

New York Giants

• What they needed: A coaching identity, weapons for Jaxson Dart, and defensive reinforcement up front.
• What they did in free agency: Unlike Washington and Philadelphia, the Giants did use the offseason to build instead of patch. John Harbaugh arrived in New York as the new head coach with a clear offensive vision. TE Isiah Likely followed Harbaugh from the Baltimore Ravens. Tremaine Edmunds anchored the linebacker corps.
  WR Darnell Mooney gave the receiver room a bridge option beyond Malik Nabers. The Dexter Lawrence trade with the Cincinnati Bengals landed them the 10th overall pick, giving them two first-rounders heading into the draft.

• What’s still missing: The secondary, guard spots around sophomore quarterback Jaxson Dart, and the defensive tackle depths are still works in progress. Harbuagh’s system needs time to sync with this roster. If Dart’s tendency to be reckless and get hurt from last season carries over, the entire rebuild stalls with it. They have the draft capital and the plan, but neither guarantees a division title for Harbaugh in year one with the Giants.

Draft Round 1 update: The Giants used both picks well. Ohio State linebacker Arvell Reese went fifth overall, giving Harbaugh a defensive anchor from the get-go. Miami offensive tackle Francis Mauigoa went tenth, shoring up protection around Dart. But two good additions aren’t enough. The question remains whether Dart’s development matches the timeline of the infrastructure being built around him.

All three teams made moves, but none of those were more coherent than Dallas. And that’s the whole point.

The Cowboys Finally Built on All Sides of the Ball

Franchise quarterback Dak Prescott was sharp and efficient last season, showcasing a production that came very close to his 2019 peak. The offense ranked second in total yards per game at 391.9 (behind only the Los Angeles Rams) and averaged 5.9 yards per play, fourth in the league. But the defense created a franchise record nobody wanted by allowing a league-worst 30.1 points per game.

Head coach Brian Schottenheimer described the season as frustrating. Prescott, once eliminated from the playoffs, made it clear that 2026 would not be a repeat of this disaster. The front office, for once, listened.

Seven of Dallas’ external additions this offseason were defensive. Rashan Gary at edge, Jalen Thompson and P.J. Locke at safety, Cobie Durant and Derion Kendrick at cornerback, Jonathan Bullard and Otito Ogbonnia at defensive tackle.

On the offensive side, the team retained George Pickens on a $27.3 million franchise tag that he finally signed on draft day. Running back Javonte Williams re-signed, and Dallas made Brandon Aubrey the highest-paid kicker in the league recently.

After the free agency, Schottenheimer said Dallas has done enough in free agency to “draft natural and draft pure.” He also acknowledged that there are still some gaps in their roster, but the draft, as well as the season beyond, could help them get the players they’ll need.

“We’ve added some really good pieces, we’ve got some good depth,” Schottenheimer noted. “There’s still a few positions that we need to address, that’s all part of the process. Like I say all the time, not my line, I think it’s Stephen’s or Jerry’s, but [player acquisition] is 24/7, 365, and it never stops. We’re never stopping to look, we’re always open for business.”

The remaining needs were real: Linebacker, nickel corner, and edge depth.

Dallas was entering the draft with two first-round picks (12th and 20th overall) to address them. Owner/General Manager Jerry Jones had already indicated his openness to move up or down on the draft board. Peter Schrager’s latest mock draft also had the Cowboys trading up to pick 9, and down to 29, trading their first-round picks with the Kansas City Chiefs to land CB Mansoor Delane and edge rusher Malachi Lawrence, and he was halfway right.

Draft Round 1 update: The Cowboys answered two of their loudest defensive questions on Thursday night in Pittsburgh. They traded pick 12 to the Miami Dolphins to move up to 11th overall, and selected Ohio State safety Caleb Downs, widely regarded as one of the best picks in this class.

Downs’ versatility – capable of playing box safety, slot corner, and half-field coverage – makes him the ideal athlete for new defensive coordinator Christian Parker’s scheme. Schrager, who called Downs his biggest winner of the night, noted that Next-Gen Stats gave Downs a production score of 81, reflecting a high-ceiling prospect with elite football IQ.

Then, Dallas traded their 20th and 218th pick to Philadelphia for their 23rd, 114th, and 137th picks. With that 23rd pick, Dallas went for Malachi Lawrence. Peter Schrager compared Lawrence to Josh Sweat, the Super Bowl LIX standout who logged 2.5 sacks on Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes in the championship.

Lawrence is developmental, but the traits – a tall, lean pass rusher with an instinct to close in on quarterbacks – are genuinely there. With Gary anchoring the edge, Dallas has the luxury of building him properly.

Dallas got its safety and its edge rusher, and it didn’t have to mortgage the future to do it. And now, it all contributes to their new defensive identity.

Christian Parker’s 3-4 Rebuild Will Be the Difference Maker

Parker arrived from Philadelphia, where he served as the passing game coordinator and defensive backs coach under Eagles’ DC Vic Fangio. He is transitioning Dallas from a 4-3 to a 3-4 base, and every free agency addition this offseason fits that system.

His scheme requires boundary corners to handle one-on-one scenarios while the safeties rotate freely. Durant fits that scheme at cornerback, Thompson gives the scheme the safety range it needs, and Gary fits the 3-4 edge demand for a rusher who can hold his ground against the run and still pressure the quarterback on passing downs.

Caleb Downs is the piece that ties the secondary together. Schrager noted that Downs will function as a coach on the field to Parker since he’s smart, versatile, and athletic enough to be deployed in multiple roles on the same drive. NFL.com’s draft analyst Lance Zierlein identified the draft class as deep at linebacker, cornerback, and edge, the exact three positions Dallas needed to address.

The offense was already elite; the draft is the finishing move, and Dallas is already executing it.

The last time Dallas committed to a full defensive overhaul was in 2005, and it worked. From 2005 to 2009, the Cowboys’ defense ranked in the top-10 four times. They had two first-round picks even then, and built a powerful roster through multiple rounds. Parker has the same window now. And when asked about this 2005 parallel, even Cowboys EVP Stephen Jones shared that optimism after the first round of the Draft.

“I damn sure hope it works out that way because that worked out in a very positive way for us,” Stephen said. “Of course, that, along with the rest of the draft, which we still got a lot of wood to chop in terms of the rest of the draft, but I do think we got two really good football players. Starting with Christian Parker has a tremendous vision for what these guys can do in our defense.

Incidentally, Parker sent pictures of Downs and Lawrence repeatedly to make sure the front office knew he wanted those two players. Earlier in the offseason, when he said he’d lobby for the picks, this is exactly what he meant.

The Cowboys Are No Longer Surviving the Division; They Are Planning to Win It

I’ll give the skeptics the floor first because the Cowboys Nation has earned the right to hold that line.

Dallas had a promising team on paper last season, too, but it all flamed out. The fanbase heading into 2026 carried the weight of three decades without an NFC Championship. That frustration isn’t irrational; it’s earned. But analysts are already sensing a shift this time. CBS Sports analyst Pete Prisco put it plainly:

“That team is going to be a Super Bowl contender, and they will win the East,” Prisco declared after Round 1 wrapped up.

What makes that statement land differently this time is the organizational clarity that came with firing defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus. His players were consistently confused and misaligned. That’s a coaching problem that infected a roster that had just enough pieces to try to hold their ground. In contrast, Parker runs a system with defined responsibilities and personnel built to execute them.

What’s more, Dak Prescott is entering his eleventh season as an MVP candidate after a season that almost mirrored his 2019 peak in terms of production. When he said 2026 won’t be a repeat of last season, the front office finally gave him something real to back it up with.

The Cowboys didn’t fix everything. The linebacker crops still depend on later rounds landing correctly. Those are real stakes. But the rest of the NFC East didn’t fix everything either.

Washington needs to build around a quarterback who was impacted by the injury bug last season. Philadelphia patched with short-term deals and used a Dallas hand-me-down pick to move up. And New York needs their new coach and a sophomore quarterback to sync up fast enough to compete.

This gap is the first real opening the Dallas Cowboys have had in years. For once, it was created not just by what they did, but by what everyone else didn’t. The window is open; now it’s their job to step in.