The Dallas Cowboys have officially been awarded two compensatory picks. Prior to the news the Cowboys held six total picks at their disposal. They now have a full total of eight entering the 2026 NFL Draft.
Here is a listing of their total picks and how they all came to be.
2026 Dallas Cowboys Draft Picks
- 1st: 12th overall
- 1st: 20th overall (from Green Bay Packers)
- 4th: 116th overall
- 5th: 162nd overall
- 5th: 177th overall [compensatory pick]
- 5th: 180th overall [compensatory pick]
- 7th: Overall TBD in comp pick aftermath (from New York Giants)
- 7th: Overall TBD in comp pick aftermath (from Kansas City Chiefs)
The Cowboys will officially have eight picks to work with when the NFL draft comes. It stands to reason that they will move around at some point, but they have also stood and picked with every pick in many drafts before.
You may have noticed that there is an absence of a few picks. Keep in mind that Dallas has already dealt those away.
What happened to the missing Cowboys picks?
Each pick lost requires a bit of a story and that is what we are here to tell.
- 2nd: Sent to the New York Jets in the Quinnen Williams trade (along with the better of next year’s first-rounder)
- 3rd: Sent to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the George Pickens trade
- 6th: Sent to the New York Giants in the Jordan Phillips trade
- 7th: Dallas’ own seventh-round pick was sent to the Cincinnati Bengals in the Logan Wilson trade
How did the Cowboys get the picks from the other teams?
You can also see that the Cowboys have a handful of picks from other teams. Those are the result of a few trades that can be traced all the way back to early in the 2024 season.
- 1st (20th overall): This is pretty memorable as Green Bay sent it in the Micah Parsons trade
- 7th (Overall TBD): The Cowboys got this as well from the Giants in a pick swap that accompanied the Jordan Phillips trade
- 7th (Overall TBD): Kansas City sent this to Dallas to acquire tight end Peyton Hendershot
So there you have it. Here is what the Dallas Cowboys have to work with.