The 2025 season was the Dallas Cowboys' 66th in the National Football League (NFL), their 17th playing home games at AT&T Stadium, and their first under head coach Brian Schottenheimer.
This was the Cowboys' first season since 2013 without guard Zack Martin or defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence. Martin announced his retirement on February 20, and Lawrence signed with the Seattle Seahawks during free agency. It was also the team's first season since 2020 without defensive end Micah Parsons, as the Cowboys traded him to the Green Bay Packers in exchange for defensive tackle Kenny Clark and two first round draft picks amid a contract holdout going back to the previous season and heading into the subsequent offseason and preseason.
The Cowboys improved upon their 7–10 record from the previous season, but missed the playoffs for the second straight season, as they were eliminated from playoff contention after the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Washington Commanders in Week 16 and clinched the NFC East and became the first repeat NFC East champion since 2004. Dallas also clinched their second consecutive losing season after their upset loss in Week 18 to the New York Giants for the first time since the infamous Dave Campo era from 2000 to 2002.
Despite having the second-best offense in the league, led by George Pickens, Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, and Javonte Williams, as well as one of the best special teams units led by Brandon Aubrey, the defense was ranked as the league's worst in many statistical categories, most notably points allowed per game, as well as yards allowed per game. The points allowed per game surpassed the 2020 mark of 29.6, at 30.1, setting a new franchise record. The Cowboys also allowed 511 points altogether, which also surpassed the 2020 mark of 473. The Cowboys also recorded a league- and franchise-worst touchdowns allowed, at 60.
The Cowboys' Thanksgiving game against the Kansas City Chiefs became the most watched NFL regular season game on record, drawing 57.2 million viewers. The game was broadcast on CBS and streaming service Paramount+, and peaked with 61.4 million viewers by the game's conclusion.
Offseason
Signings
Position Player Age 2024 team Contract RB Miles Sanders 28 Carolina Panthers 1 year, $1.3 million RB Javonte Williams 25 Denver Broncos 1 year, $3 million G Robert Jones 26 Miami Dolphins 1 year, $3.75 million T Hakeem Adeniji 27 Cleveland Browns 1 year, $1.2 million DE Dante Fowler 31 Washington Commanders 1 year, $8 million DE Payton Turner 26 New Orleans Saints 1 year, $3 million DT Solomon Thomas 30 New York Jets 2 years, $6 million LB Jack Sanborn 25 Chicago Bears 1 year, $1.5 million
Re-signings Position Player Age Contract WR KaVontae Turpin 29 3 years, $18 million C Dakoda Shepley 31 2 years, $2.3 million DT Osa Odighizuwa 27 4 years, $80 million CB C. J. Goodwin 35 1 year, $1.2 million SS Markquese Bell 26 3 years, $9 million P Bryan Anger 37 2 years, $6.4 million LS Trent Sieg 30 3 years, $4.5 million
Trade acquisitions Position Player Age 2024 team Traded away QB Joe Milton 25 New England Patriots 2025 fifth-round selection WR George Pickens 24 Pittsburgh Steelers 2026 third-round selection and 2027 fifth-round selection DT Kenny Clark 29 Green Bay Packers DE Micah Parsons DT Quinnen Williams 27 New York Jets DT Mazi Smith, 2026 second-round selection, and 2027 first-round selection LB Kenneth Murray 27 Tennessee Titans 2025 sixth-round selection LB Logan Wilson 29 Cincinnati Bengals 2026 seventh-round selection
Departures Position Player Age 2025 team QB Trey Lance 25 Los Angeles Chargers QB Cooper Rush 32 Baltimore Ravens RB Rico Dowdle 27 Carolina Panthers WR Brandin Cooks 32 Buffalo Bills T Chuma Edoga 28 Jacksonville Jaguars G Zack Martin 35 Retired DE Chauncey Golston 27 New York Giants DE DeMarcus Lawrence 33 Seattle Seahawks DE Carl Lawson 30 Baltimore Ravens DE Micah Parsons 26 Green Bay Packers DE Carlos Watkins 32 Tennessee Titans DT Linval Joseph 37 Unsigned DT Mazi Smith 24 New York Jets LB Eric Kendricks 33 San Francisco 49ers CB Jourdan Lewis 30 Jacksonville Jaguars CB Israel Mukuamu 26 Carolina Panthers CB Amani Oruwariye 29 Baltimore Ravens
Draft
+ 2025 Dallas Cowboys draft selections Round Selection Player Position College Notes 1 12 Tyler Booker OG Alabama 2 44 Donovan Ezeiruaku DE Boston College 3 76 Shavon Revel CB East Carolina 4 114 Traded to the Carolina Panthers 5 149 Jaydon Blue RB Texas 152 Shemar James LB Florida From Arizona 170 Traded to the Buffalo Bills Compensatory pick 171 Traded to the New England Patriots Compensatory pick 174 Traded to the Arizona Cardinals Compensatory pick 6 188 Traded to the Tennessee Titans 204 Ajani Cornelius OT Oregon From Bills via Cardinals 211 Traded to the Arizona Cardinals Compensatory pick 7 217 Jay Toia DT UCLA From Patriots 228 Traded to the Detroit Lions 239 Phil Mafah RB Clemson From Tennessee 247 Tommy Akingbesote DT Maryland From Panthers
Draft trades
+ 2025 Dallas Cowboys undrafted free agents Position Player College OLB Justin Barron Syracuse S Zion Childress Kentucky S Alijah Clark Syracuse TE Rivaldo Fairweather Auburn CB Bruce Harmon Stephen F. Austin WR Traeshon Holden Oregon WR Josh Kelly Texas Tech TE Tyler Neville Virginia S Mike Smith Eastern Kentucky
Staff
Final roster
Preseason Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap 1 at Los Angeles Rams L 21–31 0–1 SoFi Stadium Recap 2 Baltimore Ravens L 13–31 0–2 AT&T Stadium Recap 3 Atlanta Falcons W 31–13 1–2 AT&T Stadium Recap
Regular season Schedule On May 12, the NFL announced that the Cowboys would go on the road to face the defending Super Bowl LIX champion and division rival Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL Kickoff Game on September 4.
Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap 1 September 4 at Philadelphia Eagles L 20–24 0–1 Lincoln Financial Field Recap 2 September 14 New York Giants W 40–37 1–1 AT&T Stadium Recap 3 September 21 at Chicago Bears L 14–31 1–2 Soldier Field Recap 4 September 28 Green Bay Packers T 40–40 1–2–1 AT&T Stadium Recap 5 October 5 at New York Jets W 37–22 2–2–1 MetLife Stadium Recap 6 October 12 at Carolina Panthers L 27–30 2–3–1 Bank of America Stadium Recap 7 October 19 Washington Commanders W 44–22 3–3–1 AT&T Stadium Recap 8 October 26 at Denver Broncos L 24–44 3–4–1 Empower Field at Mile High Recap 9 Arizona Cardinals L 17–27 3–5–1 AT&T Stadium Recap 10Bye 11 at Las Vegas Raiders W 33–16 4–5–1 Allegiant Stadium Recap 12 November 23 Philadelphia Eagles W 24–21 5–5–1 AT&T Stadium Recap 13 November 27 Kansas City Chiefs W 31–28 6–5–1 AT&T Stadium Recap 14 at Detroit Lions L 30–44 6–6–1 Ford Field Recap 15 December 14 Minnesota Vikings L 26–34 6–7–1 AT&T Stadium Recap 16 December 21 Los Angeles Chargers L 17–34 6–8–1 AT&T Stadium Recap 17 December 25 at Washington Commanders W 30–23 7–8–1 Northwest Stadium Recap 18 January 4 at New York Giants L 17–34 7–9–1 MetLife Stadium Recap Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Game summaries Week 1: at Philadelphia Eagles NFL Kickoff Game
The Cowboys traveled to Philadelphia to face the Eagles in the NFL Kickoff Game. Immediately following the opening kickoff, Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter was ejected for spitting on Dak Prescott. The Cowboys took advantage of the subsequent 15-yard penalty and powered their way to a 7–0 opening drive lead on a Javonte Williams touchdown run. The Eagles quickly answered with a touchdown of their own as quarterback Jalen Hurts scored on a 4-yard run to tie the game at 7. Williams would score his second touchdown on the Cowboys' second drive to put Dallas back on top 14–7, but the defense again failed to slow the Eagles down, and Hurts scored another touchdown to tie the game at 14. The Cowboys' third drive stalled at the Eagles' 23, and they settled for a Brandon Aubrey field goal to reclaim a three-point lead. Less than two minutes later, however, Saquon Barkley scored Philadelphia's third touchdown on the ensuing Eagles drive to put the Eagles ahead 21–17. Dallas would pull within one point before halftime on a 53-yard field goal by Aubrey, but would never get any closer. In the second half, the Cowboys defense held Philadelphia to a field goal on the opening drive, then the offense drove into the red zone, powered by a 49-yard run by former Eagle Miles Sanders. However, Sanders would fumble at the 10 yard line, giving the Eagles the ball back. The game was suspended immediately afterwards due to a thunderstorm in the area. After a weather delay of over an hour, the game resumed. From there, the teams' defenses stymied each other. Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb would have three crucial dropped passes after the weather delay, the last occurring on a fourth down with less than two minutes in the fourth quarter, effectively sealing the game for Philadelphia.
With the 24–20 road loss, the Cowboys began the season 0–1, and suffered their sixth road loss in their past seven visits to Philadelphia.
Week 2: vs. New York Giants
In a back-and-forth game that featured six lead changes, tying an NFL record, Giants quarterback Russell Wilson threw a 48-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Malik Nabers to give the Giants the lead with 25 seconds remaining. Dak Prescott led the Cowboys to the New York 46-yard line, and kicker Brandon Aubrey made a 64-yard field goal to send the game into overtime. In overtime, after both teams combined for five consecutive go-ahead touchdowns, Prescott led the Cowboys down the field again, and Aubrey kicked the game-winning 46-yard field goal as time expired, securing a 40–37 victory for Dallas. With the win, the Cowboys extended their winning streak against the Giants to nine games, the longest active streak among division opponents in the NFL.
Week 3: at Chicago Bears
With the loss, the Cowboys fell to 1–2 and 0–1 against the NFC North.
Week 4: vs. Green Bay Packers
This was the Cowboys' first tie game since a 24–24 result against the San Francisco 49ers on in the 1969 season, and consequently their first tie game to be played with overtime rules. With the tie, the Cowboys improved to 1–2–1 while snapping their 5 game losing streak to Green Bay. Despite this, the Cowboys are now 0–5–1 against the Packers at AT&T Stadium since it opened in 2009.
Week 5: at New York Jets
With the win, the Cowboys improved to 2–2–1, and their record improved to .500. Dallas defeated New York on the road for the first time since 2003.
Week 6: at Carolina Panthers
The Cowboys were severely outgained on the ground, 216–31, with Panthers running back Rico Dowdle, who played for Dallas from 2020 to 2024, rushing for 183 yards and totaling 239 yards from scrimmage. With their first loss to Carolina since 2018, the Cowboys fell to 2–3–1.
Week 7: vs. Washington Commanders
In a rematch of last year's Week 18 game, the Cowboys destroyed the Commanders in a 44–22 blowout win, which resulted in them improving to 3–3–1.
Week 8: at Denver Broncos
In a reversal of the previous week in the win over the Commanders, Cowboys went to Denver to take on the Broncos, a team whom Dallas has not beaten since 1995. Following a field goal on their opening drive following an interception thrown by Broncos quarterback Bo Nix, the Cowboys were dominated by the Broncos after that, which the Broncos scored 40+ points for the first time this season. With the loss, the Cowboys fell to 3–4–1, and fell to 0–8 in their last eight games against the Broncos, including the last three games by a combined score of 116–57.
Week 9: vs. Arizona Cardinals
The Cowboys had an extremely disappointing game against the Jacoby Brissett-led Arizona Cardinals, as they were defeated 27–17. With their fourth consecutive loss to the Cardinals since 2020, and their seventh out of eight since 2008, the Cowboys dropped to 3–5–1 entering their bye week.