Most Underappreciated Offseason Move the Dallas Cowboys Made in 2026

The Dallas Cowboys' unheralded signing of cornerback Cobie Durant could become one of the most important moves the team made this offseason.

Former Los Angeles Rams cornerback Cobie Durant. | Matt Marton-Imagn Images

The theme of the Dallas Cowboys' offseason has been defense, defense, defense.

An overhaul was in order for the Cowboys after they had one of the worst units in the NFL last season, which was the biggest reason Dallas fell short of the playoffs.

"I'll tell you, when you have the challenges we had last year, there's no place to go but up on the defensive side of the ball," Jerry Jones said in March.

"Had we played a lick of defense last year, we would've had ourselves, I think, a real playoff run."

While it remains to be seen just how effective these moves will be, the Cowboys addressed every single position of need throughout the offseason via free agency, trade, and the draft, and it's hard to be mad at anything they did.

One of the more underappreciated moves the team made was the free-agent signing of cornerback Cobie Durant, who has mostly flown under the radar since being acquired.

Cobie Durant is Cowboys' most underappreciated move

Former Los Angeles Rams cornerback Cobie Durant. | Matt Marton-Imagn Images

Cornerback was no doubt one of the many positions Dallas had to address in 2026.

After all, the Cowboys couldn't stop a nosebleed through the air in 2025, finishing with the worst pass defense in the league. To make matters worse, Shavon Revel and DaRon Bland are total question marks after both struggled with injury and ineffectiveness.

Adding to that, Dallas had an issue at slot cornerback, where the team didn't come close to adequately replacing Jourdan Lewis. Hopefully Caleb Downs will solve that issue.

Acquiring Durant gives the Cowboys some much-needed insurance at multiple spots in the secondary.

The veteran has played most of his NFL snaps on the outside, but he has seen time at slot cornerback — 682 snaps there since 2022 — and even at box safety.

And Durant isn't just a body, either. Over the last two years, he has posted impressive completion rates against of 57.4% and 58.6%, and has surrendered passer ratings of 80.9 and 85.6. Duant's Pro Football Focus coverage grades in that span are 61.0 and 67.4.

Not elite by any stretch, but those numbers are a breath of fresh air when you consider what Revel and Bland put on paper last season.

Revel notched a 34.6 coverage grade, a 67.7% completion rate allowed and a passer rating of 119.7 passer rating when targeted. Meanwhile, Bland's coverage grade came in at 64.5 and he had a completion rate against of 67.1% and a passer rating of 109.0.

Durant amounts to an upgrade over Caelen Carson, who was viewed as the team's top option off the bench previously, and allows Dallas to take it slow with fourth-round pick Devin Moore instead of potentially throwing him into the fire before he's ready.

Durant might not be the sexiest signing, and there is a world where he doesn't make much of an impact this season if Revel and Bland rebound and Downs locks down the slot cornerback job.

But that wouldn't change the fact that having him around fortifies what is a shaky group entering the 2026 campaign and there is a very real scenario in which Durant ends up becoming one of the Cowboys' most important moves of the offseason.