EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The Cowboys’ 2025 regular season ended with a 34-17 loss to the New York Giants on Sunday at MetLife Stadium.
In the buildup, coach Brian Schottenheimer said it was a game the Cowboys wanted to win, moving momentum into 2026.
The Cowboys finished the season losing four of their final five games.
“Yeah, we got to look at it and see what those issues were,” Schottenheimer said. “Now that the season is over, we’ll go back and look at everything with a fine-tooth comb if you will and break it down in all the different areas that you need to in terms of offense, defense, special teams, running game, situational football, third down, red zone, all that stuff. They’ll be things, there’s always things, things we had to address.”
Cowboys
If anything, the offseason will have more questions that need to be answered:
Will defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus return?
Will the Cowboys retain receiver George Pickens in free agency?
Will the Cowboys fix their defense with two first-round picks?
It’s going to be a long offseason for the Cowboys, who finished 7-9-1 in Schottenheimer’s rookie season as a head coach.
Here are five things from Cowboys-Giants:
So what happened in the game?
In a game that meant nothing in the NFC East standings, the Giants got four field goals from Ben Sauls to knock off the Cowboys and end a nine-game losing streak to their rivals.
The Giants needed to lose to keep their hopes alive for a possible No. 1 overall draft pick. Instead of holding the No. 2 spot, the win pushed the Giants a little further down the top 5 as the Raiders maintained the No. 1 position.
Quarterback Jaxson Dart threw two touchdown passes, Tyrone Tracy Jr. rushed for 103 yards on 18 carries and receiver Gunner Olszewski had eight catches for 102 yards.
As for the Cowboys, Dak Prescott completed 7 of 11 passes for 70 yards before sitting out the second half. Jaydon Blue didn’t start, but the rookie running back finished with 64 yards on 16 carries. Blue had his first NFL rushing touchdown, a 14-yarder in the first half. Rookie running back Phil Mafah also scored his first NFL touchdown in the second half. KaVontae Turpin had an 84-yard kick return, his longest this season.
Dynamic duo: See photos from the Dallas Cowboys’ season finale against the New York Giants
View GalleryThe 2026 schedule
With the season over, the Cowboys’ 2026 schedule is taking shape. There’s a chance the team will have an international game next season, owner Jerry Jones has said. Outside of the NFC East games, the Cowboys will visit Houston, Indianapolis, the Los Angeles Rams, Seattle and Green Bay. For games at AT&T Stadium, the second-place finishers in the AFC North (the loser of Sunday night’s Baltimore-Pittsburgh game) and NFC South (Tampa Bay) will make the trip. The Cowboys will also host Arizona, San Francisco, Jacksonville and Tennessee.
The 2026 free agents
The Cowboys have 15 unrestricted free agents coming into the offseason and the three big ones — Javonte Williams, George Pickens and Jadeveon Clowney — are worth keeping.
Williams led the team in rushing, Pickens led in receiving and Clowney was their best defensive player on Sunday against the Giants. Clowney recorded three sacks to take the team lead for the season, four tackles for loss, three quarterback hits, a pass breakup, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
Pickens will command the biggest salary. If he’s franchised, he is projected to get $28.046 million, according to overthecap.com, a website devoted to NFL salaries. Pickens doesn’t want to be franchised — few NFL players do — so securing a long-term deal would be an ideal solution.
Kicker Brandon Aubrey is a restricted free agent. A first-round tender for Aubrey is projected at $7.8 million, but it would seem giving him a contract extension would be a better move for the Cowboys.
Terence Steele and the snaps
Starting right tackle Terence Steele finished the season leading the team in snaps played after a 54-snap afternoon. Coming in, Steele had played 1,107 offensive snaps (97.9% of the plays) and was tied with quarterback Dak Prescott for the team lead. Prescott played 28 snaps Sunday, finishing with 1,135. There were three Cowboys players with over 1,000 offensive snaps on the season: Prescott, Steele and left tackle/guard Tyler Smith. When it comes to durability on this Cowboys’ team, Steele’s name is at the top of the list.
What about the draft?
The Cowboys will have the 12th pick in the first round of the 2026 draft. Dallas also owns Green Bay’s first-round pick, a result of the Micah Parsons trade just before the season. The second first-round choice won’t be determined until the Packers are eliminated from the playoffs. So what are the Cowboys’ needs going into the draft? Pass rusher, linebacker, cornerback, safety and guard. You can get all of that in one draft, correct?
Find more Cowboys coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.