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Dallas Cowboys team owner Jerry Jones, left and head coach Brian Schottenheimer, right, react as first round draft pick Caleb Downs, center, responds to a question during a news conference at the team’s NFL football headquarters Friday, April 24, 2026, in Frisco, Texas.<\/p>\n
Tony Gutierrez\/AP<\/p>\n
Dallas Cowboys first-round draft pick Malachi Lawrence, right, and team owner Jerry Jones, left, arrive for an NFL football news conference at the team’s headquarters Friday, April 24, 2026, in Frisco, Texas.<\/p>\n
Tony Gutierrez\/AP<\/p>\n
Dallas Cowboys first round draft pick Malachi Lawrence responds to a question after being fitted for a custom pair of boots at the NFL football team’s headquarters Friday, April 24, 2026, in Frisco, Texas.<\/p>\n
Tony Gutierrez\/AP<\/p>\n
Dallas Cowboys first-round draft picks Malachi Lawrence, left, and Caleb Downs, right, greet each other after a news conference at the team’s NFL football headquarters Friday, April 24, 2026, in Frisco, Texas.<\/p>\n
Tony Gutierrez\/AP<\/p>\n
Dallas Cowboys first-round draft pick Caleb Downs, front right, gives autographs to fans as he departs from the team’s NFL football headquarters Friday, April 24, 2026, in Frisco, Texas.<\/p>\n
Tony Gutierrez\/AP<\/p>\n
FRISCO, Texas (AP) \u2014 The Dallas Cowboys took a player they coveted but didn’t expect to get in the NFL draft with safety Caleb Downs and added one edge rusher in Malachi Lawrence alongside another who might end up being a more traditional linebacker in Jaishawn Barham.<\/p>\n
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In their first draft since one the league’s worst defenses gave up the most points with the fewest interceptions in franchise history, the Cowboys are mostly finished with an extreme makeover that included trades and free agent signings, not to mention the January hiring of 34-year-old defensive coordinator Christian Parker.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe\u2019ve changed this defense,\u201d owner and general manager Jerry Jones said. \u201cAnd if it were just last year, the way we played on defense, then that might not have called for this. But … what you\u2019re seeing going on right now is a product of three or four or five years or maybe more that we just haven\u2019t been able to ultimately get where we\u2019re trying to go and be a contender. It\u2019s going to be different, it\u2019s going to be fresh.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dallas missed the playoffs the past two seasons in large part because it couldn’t get the defense right, and the 30-year run without even a trip to the NFC championship game \u2014 the longest in the conference \u2014 is well-chronicled for a proud franchise with five Super Bowl titles.<\/p>\n
Downs (No. 11 overall out of Ohio State) and Lawrence (No. 23 out of UCF) were the first pair of first-round picks for the Cowboys in 18 years. Downs is by far the highest draft pick Dallas has used on a safety since Darren Woodson retired in 2003.<\/p>\n
Any comparison to a three-time Super Bowl winner and the club’s career leader in tackles isn’t a good idea when Downs hasn’t even stepped on a practice field for the Cowboys, who might be tempted to have those thoughts anyway.<\/p>\n
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Dallas had the extra first-round pick because of the trade of star pass rusher Micah Parsons to Green Bay last year. The Cowboys gave up the other first-rounder in that deal, a 2027 pick, to get star defensive tackle Quinnen Williams from the New York Jets during the 2005 season.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we get Darren Woodson out of him, we should really put a red letter around this day,\u201d Jones said after Dallas moved up one spot in a trade with Miami to ensure getting Downs. \u201cLet me say this, no compunction whatsoever in my mind about taking Downs after doing all the trading we\u2019ve done to get these picks. I really did have a big, good inside feeling when we were able to get a player like that with the fruits of our labor.\u201d<\/p>\n
The rest of the draft<\/p>\n
The Cowboys took two more defensive players in the fourth round in Florida cornerback Devin Moore (114th overall) and edge rusher LT Overton of Alabama (137th). Five of their seven choices were on defense.<\/p>\n
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Dallas’ other fourth-rounder was Penn State tackle Drew Shelton (112th). The other offensive player taken was East Carolina receiver Anthony Smith with the second pick of the seventh round (No. 218).<\/p>\n
Lining up the linebackers<\/p>\n
The Cowboys have been trying to figure out linebacker for two years, with several swings and misses on veterans. The latest attempt is Dee Winters, acquired on the second day of the draft from San Francisco for a fifth-round pick.<\/p>\n
While Barham \u2014 the 92nd overall pick in the third round \u2014 is listed as an edge rusher, he played behind the line of scrimmage earlier in his career at Michigan. The Cowboys say they’re intrigued by that.<\/p>\n
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Dallas is hoping for DeMarvion Overshown’s first fully healthy season in the 2023 third-round pick’s fourth year, and two other recent mid-round draft picks are still on the roster in Marist Liufau and Shemar James.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re still building the room. We needed to rebuild it,\u201d executive vice president of personnel Stephen Jones said. \u201cWe need to keep being a creative there and adding players and have competition.\u201d<\/p>\n
The last word<\/p>\n
Parker has been living in a hotel in the three months since the Cowboys hired him. Downs unexpectedly falling to Dallas could change that.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWhen we got Caleb, he told me and Jerry, he said, \u2018Hey, now I\u2019ll buy a house,\u2019\u201d coach Brian Schottenheimer said. \u201cHe\u2019s been busy, he\u2019s been grinding on film, but getting a guy like Caleb made him comfortable. I don\u2019t think he\u2019s bought it yet, but in the next couple days, he said he\u2019s ready to buy a house.\u201d<\/p>\n