The Dallas Cowboys are finalizing a trade to acquire edge rusher Rashan Gary from the Green Bay Packers.
The deal, reported Monday morning, will send a 2027 fourth-round draft pick to Green Bay in exchange for the 28-year-old former Pro Bowler. This comes after trading Micah Parsons to the Packers six months ago – a blockbuster deal that netted Dallas defensive tackle Kenny Clark as part of the package, as previously covered by The Dallas Express.
Gary, a 2019 first-round pick out of Michigan, will join a Cowboys defense that ranked 22nd in sacks last year. In 2025, he racked up 45 tackles, seven tackles for loss, 7.5 sacks, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, and a pass breakup – solid numbers for a player who’s battled injuries but shown flashes of dominance. At 6-foot-5 and around 280 pounds, he’s got the size and speed to pair up well with Clark, a reunion for the two former Packers teammates.
The trade comes after the Cowboys swung and missed on a deal to land Las Vegas Raiders star Maxx Crosby last week, per ESPN. Dallas reportedly offered a first-round pick (their No. 12 overall in 2026), a 2027 second-rounder, and potentially other assets, but the Raiders ultimately traded Crosby to the Baltimore Ravens for a better package, including two first-round picks.
With the official start of the 2026 trading period and free agency set to start on Wednesday, any agreed-upon trade like this one won’t become official until that window opens. However, Gary coming to Dallas has already generated a buzz around the league.
Gary’s contract runs through 2027, with a manageable cap hit that fits Dallas’ retooling plans. It also doesn’t hurt that Christian Parker, the Cowboys’ new defensive coordinator, was working in Green Bay as a defensive quality control coach when Rashan Gary was selected in the 2019 draft.
Yet, this isn’t the only Cowboys buzz going around right now.
Jerry Jones recently opened up about the big money tied up in their defensive tackles – Kenny Clark, Quinnen Williams, and Osa Odighizuwa are slated to eat up almost $64 million in cap space for 2026. He essentially said the team will tweak those deals to spread the money out over more years so they can keep the guys they want and still have room to add talent.
“We’ll make the adjustments that you’d think we’d make and spread that out so we can get the players that we want to get, or that we’d like to get…So yeah, it won’t end up that much counting this year as counting tonight,” Jones said.
Elsewhere, the Cowboys’ decision to slap the non-exclusive franchise tag on wide receiver George Pickens last week continues to raise eyebrows. Fans are split on whether to lock him in long-term or let him play out the $27.3 million tag in 2026. Acquired in a trade from Pittsburgh, Pickens has until July 15 to ink an extension. Without it, Dallas risks cap strain, but his big-play ability makes him a keeper for Dak Prescott’s offense.
As free agency opens, whispers of interest in linebackers like Nakobe Dean or edge rushers like Jaelan Phillips are also floating around, yet no concrete updates have popped up on those guys as of press time.
Prescott recently spoke about adding veteran talent for a “big jump” this season, pointing to the need for experience alongside young draft picks. With the NFL Combine in the rearview and draft boards shifting, the Cowboys seem poised for an active offseason.
“We got a coach in his second year. We had some ups and downs and shined some good moments last year. This is the year that you make a big jump, and getting big time players who can help immediately is a part of that,” Prescott told reporters earlier this month.
