Cowboys name 4 captains, tackle battle unsettled
The Cowboys named 4 captains, and CeeDee Lamb wasn't one of them — a peer vote that opened camp's quietest storyline into its loudest one, 9 days before Dallas plays the Giants.
The captains vote left CeeDee Lamb off the list — and the tackle job still isn't settled
Dak Prescott, Brandon Aubrey, Quinnen Williams and Kenny Clark are the Cowboys' 4 captains for 2026, voted on by their own locker room. "It was all player voting," Schottenheimer said, "and that's what makes it such an awesome, awesome and incredible designation... those guys were clearly the four highest, and that spoke volumes to me from the numbers," per the club's official site. The number that jumps off that list is who isn't on it: CeeDee Lamb wore the C for the offense all of last season and didn't get enough votes to keep it, a genuine surprise for a receiver the league's own analysts just called the NFC East's best player.
Schotty on Broderick Jones' first week on the team #DallasCowboys | @ATT t.co/4Jh7v6hfMs
The other competition in the building is still running. Schottenheimer called Terence Steele personally the day Dallas traded for Broderick Jones, and Steele's response was as classy as it gets: "Schotty, I get it. I appreciate the phone call. You didn't have to make the phone call," he told the coach, per ESPN. Steele has played 2,333 of the Cowboys' 2,357 offensive snaps over the past two seasons and still isn't a lock — Schottenheimer calls him "1A" and says "I wouldn't bet against Terence Steele," but Jones started 38 games at tackle in Pittsburgh before a neck injury and spinal fusion surgery ended his 2025 season in November, and Dallas gave up 2027 third- and sixth-round picks (getting a 2027 fourth back) to bring him in. Schottenheimer's own timeline has the battle running past the September 13 opener in New York.
The club's own AT&T Media Center update this week had Schottenheimer walking fans through Jones' first week in pads directly — the kind of access that tells you this is a real competition and not a courtesy invite. It's part of a stretch that also finally ended the Von Miller jersey saga (he's locked in at No. 40) and, per Calvin Watkins and Adam Schefter, freed up more than $19 million by restructuring Kenny Clark, DaRon Bland and Jake Ferguson — more than $30 million in flexibility in total. Beat writer Clarence Hill Jr. says the word from the building is that the space is meant to roll over to 2027, not fund an in-season move — so pump the breaks on trade speculation, in his words.
Cowboys’ camp has lacked drama, which has added expectations with the season opening next Sunday night against the Giants. Cc: @msmallmon 🎧 t.co/PdndR23tRD
A 2-1 preseason closes with Sam Howell locking down the backup job
Dallas closed the exhibition slate 2-1: a 17-7 win at Seattle on August 16, a 34-13 win at Arizona on August 23, and a 24-27 loss to New Orleans at AT&T Stadium on August 29. Joe Milton started that finale and played clean, going 8 of 15 for 92 yards with 2 carries for 2 more yards, while Brandon Aubrey made 3 of 4 field-goal attempts — including a 58-yarder — and converted his lone PAT try.
Saints24-27
Cardinals34-13
Seahawks17-7It was Sam Howell who actually decided something. Down 15 in the fourth quarter, he came off the bench and went 12 of 18 for 155 yards and 2 touchdowns, then ran in the tying two-point conversion himself before New Orleans won it late on a field goal. Milton was waived that Sunday for Howell's promotion, cleared waivers leaguewide, and was back in Dallas on the practice squad less than 48 hours later — Schottenheimer says he's "elated" to still have him, per Pro Football Talk. None of it touches the record that counts, still 0-0 heading into the opener, but it's the stretch that locked Howell in as Prescott's backup for the trip to the Giants.
Camden Brown already has the No. 80 comparisons started
Brown made the 53-man roster off a camp that got the coaching staff's attention twice in one week, and in the preseason finale against the Saints he caught 1 of 2 targets for 27 yards. Tommy Yarrish of the Cowboys' official site confirmed Brown as one of 6 wide receivers on the initial 53-man roster, with Ryan Flournoy currently listed as the No. 3 receiver behind CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens.
Star-Telegram Cowboys writer Clarence Hill Jr. posted that Brown "is going to look good in No. 80," reaching for two franchise numbers — Tony Hill and Alvin Harper — as the comparison. That's a lot to load onto a rookie who hasn't caught a regular-season pass yet, but it means something that neither Lamb nor Pickens played a single preseason snap and Dak Prescott didn't log one either — the exhibition ledger belonged entirely to the margins, and Brown made the most noise there.
Sunday night in New York opens a rivalry Dallas has dominated on opening day
This is Sunday night in New York, the Cowboys' 13th all-time season opener against the Giants and the first since 2023 — a series Dallas has won 11 of the previous 12 times, though this Giants team looks nothing like the ones that history was built against. John Harbaugh took over as head coach this offseason, and New York's opening-week buzz is built around rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart, receiver Malik Nabers and edge rusher Abdul Carter, a roster that went 2-1 in the preseason and just beat the Jets 23-6 to close it out.
Dallas opened as 2.5-point favorites on the road, and the total was set at a middling 48.5. That line will move between now and kickoff, but for a Cowboys team that Adam Schefter says has had a camp "lacking in drama" — captains vote notwithstanding — it's a fitting number for a team that's supposed to simply be better, not a team that's supposed to blow the doors off.