With a 34-17 defeat at the hands of the New York Giants on Sunday afternoon, the Dallas Cowboys ended their 2025 season at 7-9-1, thus giving America's Team back-to-back losing seasons since suffering through three consecutive 5-11 campaigns from 2000 to 2002.
The loss to Big Blue wasn't all bad news, though. After all, it's not as if the Cowboys had a playoff spot to fight for, and one final dreadful defensive outing was enough for Jerry Jones to shove Matt Eberflus out the door after one season.
And then, of course, there's the matter of the 2026 NFL Draft. With a win over New York, Dallas obviously would've gotten back to .500 at 8-8-1, which would have knocked them out of the top 15 and into the No. 16 position. Instead, however, the loss moved Dallas into the No. 12 slot, which is exactly where they took Tyler Booker last April.
But let's not forget that the No. 12 pick won't be the only pick the Cowboys make on Day 1 this April, as they also own the Green Bay Packers' first-round pick, which was included in the Micah Parsons trade. As such, every Dallas executive, coach, player, and fan should be pulling for the Packers to lose their Wild Card Round matchup to the Chicago Bears this Saturday night.
A Packers loss in the Wild Card Round would give Cowboys two top-20 picks in the 2026 draft
While the top 18 picks in the opening round of the '26 draft were locked in the moment the regular season concluded, the remaining 14 are determined by what happens in the postseason, with teams assigned slots based on how far they advance.
For those unfamiliar with the process, positions 19-24 are reserved for the six teams that lose in the Wild Card Round. Slots 25-28 are reserved for the four teams that lose in the Divisional Round. Slots 29-30 are set for the two teams that lose their respective conference title games. And slots 31-32 are for the two teams that meet in the Super Bowl, with No. 31 going to the loser and No. 32 going to the winner. And just as it goes with the top 18, regular-season records determine the order in each group.
Of the 14 playoff teams, the Packers have the second-worst record, as they ended their season with four straight losses to finish 9-7-1. The only team with a worse mark is the Carolina Panthers, who won the NFC South at 8-9.
So, if the Panthers lose to the Los Angeles Rams on Saturday afternoon and the Packers lose to the Bears on Saturday night, Carolina would get the 19th overall pick in the draft, while Dallas would take Green Bay's slot at No. 20.
But if the Panthers beat the Rams, just as they did in Week 13, and Green Bay loses to Chicago, the Cowboys get the 19th pick. So, everyone tied to America's Team might as well go ahead and root for both Carolina and Chicago on Saturday.
If the Packers win, however, the best the Cowboys can hope for is the 25th overall selection.