The 2016 season was the Dallas Cowboys' 57th in the National Football League (NFL), their 28th under the ownership of Jerry Jones, their eighth playing their home games at AT&T Stadium, and their sixth full season under head coach Jason Garrett.
After losing their first game to the New York Giants, the Cowboys won 11 straight games. The streak ended with them losing again to the same team in week 14, making this the first time since 2011 that the Cowboys were swept by the Giants. With division rivals Washington Redskins losing to the Arizona Cardinals in Week 13, the Cowboys clinched a playoff berth after missing the playoffs the previous year. Following the Giants' loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 16, the Cowboys became NFC East champions for the second time in three years and clinched home-field advantage throughout the playoffs for the first time since 2007. The 13–3 record, which was 9 wins more than their injury-plagued season they had the year before, is tied for the best record in team history, equaling its 1992 and 2007 records.
Despite this achievement, the Cowboys were upset by the 4th seeded Green Bay Packers by a score of 34–31 in the divisional round of the playoffs, ending their season and extending their NFC Championship game drought to 22 seasons. This was also quarterback Tony Romo's last season in the NFL, as he announced his retirement on April 4, 2017. The Cowboys became the first team since the AFL-NFL merger to rise from the bottom of the NFC to the top seed in one season.
Offseason + Cowboys 2016 free agentsPosition Player Restriction Date signed 2016 teamGUFAJacksonville JaguarsT UFA QBUFATennessee TitansCB UFA Dallas CowboysFBUFADEUFADallas CowboysRBUFADallas CowboysTEUFADallas CowboysDE UFA DT UFA SRFADallas CowboysGRFADallas CowboysLBUFASUFADEUFACBUFADallas CowboysRBUFAIndianapolis ColtsLBUFADallas Cowboys
Background Coming into the offseason the Cowboys had a few positions that concerned them as a result of injuries, suspensions, and players potentially leaving the team. The positions that were of most concern were quarterback, defensive back, and pass rusher. The Cowboys had a total of eighteen players entering the free agency, which meant the players were free to negotiate with and sign a contract to play with any team in the league. Of the eighteen players, two of them were restricted free agents, which meant they could get offers from other teams, and the Cowboys would have opportunity to match the offer and keep the player on their roster. The free agency process officially started on March 9 for all thirty-two teams.
Offense
After losing ten out of the eleven games without Romo in 2015, the Dallas Cowboys wanted to find a reliable back up quarterback, either through the draft, or by signing a veteran free agent. The Cowboys met with the top three quarterbacks entering the draft: Jared Goff, Carson Wentz, and Paxton Lynch, all of whom were projected to be drafted in the first round. Another prospect for the Cowboys was Mississippi State quarterback Dak Prescott, who met with the team on four separate occasions leading some to believe he would be their target in the middle rounds of the draft. Including Prescott, Goff, Wentz and Lynch, the Cowboys had pre-draft meetings with a total of seven quarterbacks entering the draft. Cowboys also looked at veteran quarterback Matt Moore, having him visit with the organization in March before he re-signed with the Miami Dolphins later in the month. After a mediocre performance the previous year, quarterback Matt Cassel entered free agency. Tight end James Hanna re-signed with the Cowboys with a three-year contract worth $8.2 million on March 11. Running back Lance Dunbar re-signed to a one-year contract worth $1.7 million on March 17. After the window to receive offers from other teams while being a restricted free agent closed, guard Ronald Leary re-signed with the Cowboys for a one-year deal worth $2.5 million on April 28.
Defense
On the defensive side of the team the Cowboys were coming off a year where they only had 8 interceptions, and needed to make improvements with their defensive backs. Orlando Scandrick who was a starting cornerback for the team in 2013 and 2014, was still recovering from the ACL and MCL injury that happened during practice in 2015 causing him to miss the entire season. Cornerbacks Josh Thomas and Morris Claiborne both were unrestricted free agents and could potentially be signed by another team. Within the first two days after free agency started, they both were re-signed to the Cowboys, Claiborne for a one-year deal worth $3 million, and Thomas for a one-year contract. Defensive backs Nolan Carroll, Leon Hall and Patrick Robinson were brought in to meet with the Cowboys during free agency. Safety Jeff Heath re-signed for a four-year contract worth $7.6 million on April 13.
In regards to their needs with the pass rush Sports Illustrated writer Chris Burke said that defensive end was the position that most needed to be improve for the Cowboys. Defensive end Randy Gregory had a suspension for the first four games of the season as a result of abusing the leagues substance abuse policy, which would later be increased by ten games. One of the Cowboys other defensive ends, DeMarcus Lawrence was recovering from back surgery spreading their defensive line even more thin. Defensive tackle Nick Hayden, defensive ends Greg Hardy, Jeremy Mincey and Jack Crawford, all were entering the free agency. Crawford was the only one to be re-signed and was given a one-year deal worth $1.1 million on March 9. Defensive end Jason Jones was brought in to visit the Cowboys on March 28. Linebacker Kyle Wilber re-signed for a two-year contract worth $3.2 million on March 11.
Departures
Of the eighteen Cowboys players who were in the free agency, the Cowboys were able to re-sign ten of them for the 2016 season. From those ten, linebacker Rolando McClain was re-signed on March 9, but due to a suspension he received from the league for violating the NFL's drug policy he missed the entire season. Offensive tackle Charles Brown was re-signed on March 10, but in July decided to retire and was placed on the reserved/retired list. From the eight that weren't re-signed, four of them signed with other teams. The first of these three was quarterback Matt Cassel, who left for the free agency after being benched in the previous season when he lost six of his seven games as a starter. He went on to be signed by the Tennessee Titans on March 9. The next player to sign with another team was guard Mackenzy Bernadeau who signed a contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars on March 11. Next up was running back Robert Turbin who signed a contract with the Indianapolis Colts on March 15. The last player to sign with another team was defensive tackle Nick Hayden who signed with the Cleveland Browns in March, but ended up being released in August and not playing during the season. Players that did not sign with the Cowboys or any other teams included defensive end Greg Hardy who was a free agent that had a lot of off the field issues. It was reported that Hardy not being re-signed was likely more due to fitting in with the Cowboys locker room rather than due to the off the field issues. Defensive end Jeremy Mincey decided to retired in August. The last two free agents, 31-year-old fullback Tyler Clutts and 28-year-old safety Danny McCray both were not re-signed, speculated to be due to their age.
Acquisitions
While most of the activity made by the Cowboys during free agency was re-signing their own players, they also made a few acquisitions of players from other teams to add to their roster. Defensive end Cedric Thornton was the first to be acquired, signing a four-year contract worth $18 million on March 10. Thorton comes from one of the Cowboys divisional rivals, the Philadelphia Eagles, and moved from defensive end to defensive tackle. At the time of his signing, he was believed to be the likely replacement for Hayden who was still in the free agency. Continuing to work on the improvement of their defensive line, the next acquisition for the Cowboys was defensive end Benson Mayowa from the Oakland Raiders, who signed a three-year contract on March 18 worth $8.5 million. Mayowa was a restricted free agent, and the Raiders had five days to match the offer to retain him, but they declined to do so, allowing the Cowboys to improve their pass rush some more. The next free agent acquisition was from another divisional rival, when the Cowboys signed Washington Redskins running back Alfred Morris. Morris signed a contract on March 22 for 2 years and worth $3.5 million. Morris will be added into the running back rotation with starter Darren McFadden, who replaced Joseph Randle last year as the starter after Randle was injured and later cut for off the field issues. The final free agent acquisition the Cowboys made was offensive lineman Joe Looney from the Tennessee Titans, who was signed on March 29. He is a flexible player who can play both center and guard, similar to the role Bernadeau had. Looney's contract was for two years and worth $1.6 million.
2016 NFL draft
The Dallas Cowboys had nine draft picks for the 2016 NFL draft which was scheduled to take place from April 28 to 30 in Chicago, Illinois. The Cowboys originally had only five picks as a results of trades with the Raiders, 49ers and Seahawks, but were awarded four compensatory picks on March 11 as a result of the net loss of players in free agency before the 2015 season. One of the compensatory picks received was a fourth round draft pick, and the other three picks were all in the sixth round. After all the trades and the compensatory picks given, the Cowboys had one pick in each of the first three rounds, two picks in the fourth, zero in the fifth, four picks in the sixth round, and zero in the seventh. In January Neil Hornsby, the founder of Pro Football Focus, ranked the offseason needs for the Dallas Cowboys, and said the top needs for the draft were quarterback, cornerback, guard, and running back. Leading up to the draft two of these needs, running back and guard, were addressed with the addition of Morris and Looney to the team during free agency. As the draft got closer on April 26, Bleacher Report also listed running back, quarterback and cornerback in their top five needs for the Cowboys in the draft, along with defensive end and safety.