The 2019 season was the Dallas Cowboys' 60th in the National Football League (NFL), their 11th playing home games at AT&T Stadium and their ninth and final season under head coach Jason Garrett. It also marked the return of tight end Jason Witten, who retired in 2018 and spent a year as the color analyst for Monday Night Football. Wide receiver Cole Beasley, who was the second-longest-tenured player on the roster, left the team in the offseason and signed with the Buffalo Bills.
Despite having won the first three games to start 3–0, the Cowboys lost 8 of the final 13 games, to finish the season 8–8. The Cowboys failed to improve on their 10–6 record from the previous season after a 26–15 loss to the Bills in Week 13 on Thanksgiving Day, and failed to tie that record with a 31–24 loss to the Chicago Bears the next week. After a Week 16 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, the Cowboys would need both a win over the Washington Redskins and an Eagles loss to the New York Giants in Week 17 to still clinch a playoff berth and a second consecutive division title. The Eagles proceeded to win in Week 17 against the Giants, ensuring Philadelphia would be the 2019 NFC East champions, meaning the Cowboys would fail to defend their division title from 2018 and miss the playoffs for the second time in three years, ending the Cowboys' season.
Head coach Jason Garrett's contract expired at the end of the season. The Cowboys chose not to renew his contract, ending Garrett's tenure in Dallas.
Offseason
Signings Position Player Age 2018 team Contract WR Randall Cobb 29 Green Bay Packers 1 year, $5 million TE Jason Witten 37 Did not play 1 year, $4.5 million DE Kerry Hyder 28 Detroit Lions 1 year, $1 million DT Christian Covington 26 Houston Texans 1 year, $2.5 million
Re-signings Position Player Age Contract FB Jamize Olawale 30 3 years, $5.4 million WR Tavon Austin 29 1 year, $1.75 million OT Cameron Fleming 27 2 years, $7.5 million DE DeMarcus Lawrence 27 5 years, $105 million DT Daniel Ross 26 1 year, $645,000 OLB Justin March 26 1 year, $720,000 FS Darian Thompson 26 1 year, $720,000 LS L. P. Ladouceur 38 1 year, $1.03 million
Trade acquisitions Position Player Age 2018 team Contract Traded away DE Robert Quinn 29 Miami Dolphins 1 year, $8 million 2020 6th-round pick (John Penisini)
Departures Position Player Age 2019 team RB Rod Smith 27 Oakland Raiders WR Cole Beasley 30 Buffalo Bills WR Allen Hurns 28 Miami Dolphins WR Terrance Williams 30 Joined XFL TE Rico Gathers 25 Unsigned TE Geoff Swaim 26 Jacksonville Jaguars OT/OG Parker Ehinger 27 Baltimore Ravens OG Marcus Martin 26 Unsigned DE Taco Charlton 25 Miami Dolphins DE Datone Jones 29 Unsigned DT David Irving 26 Retired DT Caraun Reid 28 Arizona Cardinals OLB Damien Wilson 26 Kansas City Chiefs FS Marqueston Huff 27 Joined XFL K Brett Maher 30 Unsigned
NFL draft
Notes The Cowboys traded their 2019 first-round draft pick to the Raiders in exchange for WR Amari Cooper. The Cowboys traded a conditional 2019 sixth-round draft pick in September 2017 to the Bengals in exchange for CB Bene Benwikere. As a result of a negative differential of free agent signings and departures that the Cowboys experienced during the free agency period, the team received one compensatory selection in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL draft.
Staff
Rosters
Opening preseason roster Dallas Cowboys 2019 opening preseason roster Quarterbacks Taryn Christion Dak Prescott Cooper Rush Mike White
Running backs Jordan Chunn Darius Jackson Alfred Morris Jamize Olawale FB Tony Pollard Mike Weber Ryan Yurachek FB
Wide receivers Tavon Austin Amari Cooper Randall Cobb Reggie Davis Michael Gallup Jalen Guyton Jon'Vea Johnson Devin Smith Cedrick Wilson Jr.
Tight ends Blake Jarwin Marcus Lucas Codey McElroy Dalton Schultz Jason Witten Offensive linemen Juwann Bushell-Beatty T Jake Campos T La'el Collins T Cameron Fleming T Travis Frederick C Mitch Hyatt T Brandon Knight T/G Joe Looney C/G Zack Martin G Connor McGovern G/C Lukayus McNeil G Adam Redmond C/G Tyron Smith T Xavier Su'a-Filo G Cody Wichmann G Connor Williams G
Defensive linemen Dorance Armstrong Jr. DE Taco Charlton DE Maliek Collins DT Christian Covington DT Trysten Hill DT Kerry Hyder DE Joe Jackson DE Jalen Jelks DE Robert Quinn DE Daniel Ross DT Shakir Soto DT Ricky Walker DT Daniel Wise DT/DE Antwaun Woods DTLinebackers Chris Covington OLB/MLB Luke Gifford MLB/OLB Nate Hall MLB/OLB Sean Lee OLB Justin March-Lillard OLB Justin Phillips MLB/OLB Kyle Queiro OLB/MLB Jaylon Smith MLB Joe Thomas OLB/MLB Leighton Vander Esch OLB
Defensive backs Chidobe Awuzie CB Anthony Brown CB Treston Decoud CB/FS Kavon Frazier SS/FS C. J. Goodwin CB Jeff Heath SS George Iloka SS Mike Jackson Sr. CB Jourdan Lewis CB Donovan Olumba CB Tyvis Powell CB/SS Jameill Showers SS Darian Thompson FS Chris Westry CB Donovan Wilson FS/SS Xavier Woods FS
Special teams Chris Jones P L. P. Ladouceur LS Brett Maher K Kasey Redfern P/K Drew Scott LS Reserve lists Noah Brown WR (active/PUP) Tyrone Crawford DT/DE (active/PUP) Andrew Dowell OLB (IR) Ezekiel Elliott RB (did not report) Randy Gregory DE (suspended) Byron Jones CB (active/PUP) DeMarcus Lawrence DE (active/PUP) Lance Lenoir WR (IR) Derrick Puni T (IR)
90 active, 5 inactive
Week one roster Dallas Cowboys 2019 week one roster Quarterbacks Dak Prescott Cooper Rush
Running backs Jordan Chunn Ezekiel Elliott Jamize Olawale FB Tony Pollard
Wide receivers Tavon Austin Amari Cooper Randall Cobb Michael Gallup Devin Smith
Tight ends Blake Jarwin Dalton Schultz Jason Witten Offensive linemen La'el Collins T Cameron Fleming T Travis Frederick C Brandon Knight G/T Joe Looney C/G Zack Martin G Adam Redmond C/G Tyron Smith T Xavier Su'a-Filo G Connor Williams G
Defensive linemen Dorance Armstrong Jr. DE Taco Charlton DE Maliek Collins DT Christian Covington DT Tyrone Crawford DE/DT Trysten Hill DT Kerry Hyder DE/DT Joe Jackson DE DeMarcus Lawrence DE Antwaun Woods DTLinebackers Luke Gifford MLB/OLB Sean Lee OLB Justin March OLB Jaylon Smith MLB Joe Thomas OLB/MLB Leighton Vander Esch OLB
Defensive backs Chidobe Awuzie CB Anthony Brown CB Kavon Frazier SS/FS C. J. Goodwin CB Jeff Heath SS Byron Jones CB Jourdan Lewis CB Darian Thompson FS Donovan Wilson FS/SS Xavier Woods FS
Special teams Chris Jones P L. P. Ladouceur LS Brett Maher K Reserve lists Noah Brown WR (PUP) Randy Gregory DE (suspended) Jalen Jelks DE (IR) Jon'Vea Johnson WR (IR) Lance Lenoir WR (IR) Connor McGovern G/C (IR) Derrick Puni T (IR) Robert Quinn DE (suspended) Daniel Ross DT (IR) Jameill Showers SS/FS (IR) Chris Westry CB (IR) Cody Wichmann G (IR)
Practice squad Ventell Bryant WR Chris Covington OLB/MLB Cole Hikutini TE Mitch Hyatt T Mike Jackson Sr. CB Donovan Olumba CB Clayton Thorson QB Mike Weber RB Cedrick Wilson Jr. WR Daniel Wise DT/DE
53 active, 12 inactive, 10 practice squad
Final roster
Preseason
On March 21, the exhibition matchup between the Cowboys and the Los Angeles Rams was officially announced for Saturday, August 17, at Aloha Stadium just outside of Honolulu, Hawaii, with the Rams serving as the home team.
Week Date Opponent Result Record Game site NFL.comrecap 1 at San Francisco 49ers L 9–17 0–1 Levi's Stadium Recap 2 at Los Angeles Rams W 14–10 1–1 Aloha Stadium Recap 3 Houston Texans W 34–0 2–1 AT&T Stadium Recap 4 Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 15–17 2–2 AT&T Stadium Recap
Regular season
Schedule The Cowboys' 2019 schedule was announced on April 17. Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue NFL.comrecap 1 September 8 New York Giants W 35–17 1–0 AT&T Stadium Recap 2 September 15 at Washington Redskins W 31–21 2–0 FedExField Recap 3 September 22 Miami Dolphins W 31–6 3–0 AT&T StadiumRecap 4 September 29 at New Orleans Saints L 10–12 3–1 Mercedes-Benz Superdome Recap 5 October 6 Green Bay Packers L 24–34 3–2 AT&T Stadium Recap 6 October 13 at New York Jets L 22–24 3–3 MetLife Stadium Recap 7 October 20 Philadelphia Eagles W 37–10 4–3 AT&T Stadium Recap 8 Bye 9 at New York Giants W 37–18 5–3 MetLife Stadium Recap 10 November 10 Minnesota Vikings L 24–28 5–4 AT&T Stadium Recap 11 November 17 at Detroit Lions W 35–27 6–4 Ford Field Recap 12 November 24 at New England Patriots L 9–13 6–5 Gillette Stadium Recap 13 November 28 Buffalo Bills L 15–26 6–6 AT&T Stadium Recap 14 at Chicago Bears L 24–31 6–7 Soldier Field Recap 15 December 15 Los Angeles Rams W 44–21 7–7 AT&T Stadium Recap 16 December 22 at Philadelphia Eagles L 9–17 7–8 Lincoln Financial Field Recap 17 December 29 Washington Redskins W 47–16 8–8 AT&T Stadium Recap Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Game summaries
Week 1: vs. New York Giants
In the season opener, the Cowboys scored in 5 consecutive drives, the longest streak in Cowboys history, despite Evan Engram scoring a touchdown first in this game. After that, it was all Dallas the rest of the way. The win allowed the Cowboys to start 1-0.
Rookie quarterback Daniel Jones would end up playing the remainder of the game for Eli Manning when Manning was removed from the game due to a coaching decision made by head coach Pat Shurmur. This would be Manning's last game he played against the Cowboys, as he did not play in their second game in MetLife Stadium due to Jones being the starter since week 3 of the season.
Week 2: at Washington Redskins
The game started with Montae Nicholson obtaining an interception, which would allow the Redskins to score the next drive. The Cowboys responded with a touchdown pass to Devin Smith to tie the game at 7-7. They would claim the lead, via a touchdown pass to veteran tight end Jason Witten before halftime. The Redskins would respond back after another touchdown scored by the Cowboys. Ezekiel Elliott would run for a first down to clinch the game, allowing the Cowboys to run out the clock. The game ended with Dak Prescott and Elliott rushing for 180 combined yards. This win would improve the Cowboys to 2-0.
Week 3: vs. Miami Dolphins
As historic Vegas favorites (22 points), both Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard obtained 100+ rushing yards in one game. The game started with a missed field goal from the Dolphins. The Cowboys also denied the Dolphins a touchdown when DeMarcus Lawrence recovered a fumble at the Dallas 7-yard line. After this, it was all Dallas the rest of the way. This win improved the Cowboys to 3-0.
Week 4: at New Orleans Saints
The game would be neck-to-neck all the way. Chidobe Awuzie and the Cowboys recorded their first interception of the season. Despite a strong defense and allowing no touchdowns, they would drop to 3-1 with the loss. This game practically mimicked the previous year's game between these two teams in Dallas where it was mainly a defensive battle.
Week 5: vs. Green Bay Packers
In a highly anticipated matchup against Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers in a testament of the Cowboys-Packers rivalry, the Cowboys struggled mightily. Looking to defeat the Packers whom they have not beaten at home since 2007, the first drive resulted in an interception, which the Packers returned the interception for 37 yards without scoring. The Cowboys recovered from a 28 point deficit, but the Packers would prove excessive to overcome, and for the first time since the Divisional Round from 2018, they would allow 30+ points. This loss dropped the Cowboys to 3-2.
Week 6: at New York Jets
The Cowboys traveled to Metlife Stadium to take on Sam Darnold, who had just recovered from mono and the Jets in one of their two trips to East Rutherford, New Jersey. They looked to defeat the Jets, whom Dallas had not beaten since 2007.