Once George Pickens was franchise tagged by the Dallas Cowboys, most anticipated the 2026 NFL free agency period to be fair and uneventful. But the fanbase couldn't imagine that the snooze fest that the beginning of the legal tampering period would be.
Not only was the only firework the signing of Jalen Thompson to a three-year, $33 million deal, but the Cowboys didn't even lose anyone to another NFL team. Not just anybody notable. Nobody. Dallas was the only team after one day of free agency to not have a single free agent sign elsewhere.
Even the lowly Las Vegas Raiders had a player sign elsewhere. But not the Cowboys. Luckily, the week picked up as it went along, with Dallas striking two trades, one in which they dished Osa Odighizuwa and another where they acquired Cobie Durant (who sounds like the best basketball player ever).
They also made several other solid signings throughout the week, and finally, on Friday, the Cowboys said goodbye to one of their own. Jalen Tolbert signed with the Miami Dolphins, and it is hard to imagine much of the Dallas faithful losing sleep over him leaving the building.
The Dallas Cowboys finally lose a free agent as Jalen Tolbert signs with Dolphins
Tolbert started to look like the wide receiver that Jerry Jones drafted him to be during the 2024 NFL season, as he emerged as a solid option alongside CeeDee Lamb and Jake Ferguson. But the Pickens acquisition left the writing on the wall for him.
His production and usage dropped significantly in 2025 with Pickens in the fold, and as the front office looks to strike a long-term deal with the star wideout, Tolbert fell completely by the wayside. Ryan Flournoy's emergence as a No. 3 wideout was the final nail in the coffin for him.
In Miami, he'll have a much bigger opportunity to show why he was a third-round pick back in 2022, as the Dolphins need someone to step up alongside Jaylen Waddle after Tyreek Hill and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine were victims of the new regime's complete roster purge.
While none of the Cowboys' free agents are necessarily game-changers (there's a reason Jones hasn't brought them back), there is enough solid talent and name recognition in the group that one would think more of them would have been off the board by now.
Jadeveon Clowney will eventually get signed by someone, and linebackers Logan Wilson and Kenneth Murray should land on the end of someone's roster. Donovan Wilson and Miles Sanders aren't zeroes either.
Tolbert had some great moments in Dallas, and it's not like he was a net negative for the Cowboys. But fans won't miss him too much, even if he was the the team's first free agent to sign elsewhere during the 2026 offseason.