Why heading into the Cowboys 2026 Training Camp just feels different

Let me be clear before anyone jumps right to the comments and says something about the title of this post.

I am not here to say that Dallas is going to win it all or even make the playoffs, because we have a long summer to go, but before we get into the rest of this post, the point of this title is it feels different in a good way that, for the first time in how many years, this front office has not caused any drama.

We are getting reports of nothing but good, no drama. Jerry is staying out of the spotlight and letting this entire team and coaching staff worry about football and only football. That is why I think it feels great and different in a good way.

https://twitter.com/dallascowboys/status/2070265788536369404?s=20

Jaishawn Barham

I think a guy that not enough folks are talking about is the Cowboys third round pick Jaishawn Barham.

We know Downs is the most NFL ready guy in the draft and has a chance to win defensive rookie of the year, but Jaishawn Barham will be more important than you think, and he could be the most important pick of this draft.

Read that again. Most important, not most valuable, please understand the difference between the two.

The Cowboys will start Barham as an off-ball linebacker, which may come as a surprise since he played exclusively on the edge last season at Michigan. However, Barham played 24 games at linebacker over the previous two years and did so at a high level.

Let’s see what he looks like in camp later this month, but this is a player that I think should be able to step in and get some important snaps right away. I know Dallas has not had good luck with Michigan players, but I think Barham should be a solid player as a rookie.

Offensive Line Battles

Last week at minicamp we heard that both Drew Shelton and Nate Thomas are doing whatever they can to make the job tough on Terence Steele and Tyler Guyton, the two starting tackles.

These guys are the biggest issue on the offensive line and the amount of drives that stalled because they had a holding call or something silly was just unreal.

I will be keeping a close eye on both of these battles during camp and even through preseason games, because I think that one of these guys could very lose the starting spot, yet I don’t think Shelton or Thomas would be a very good replacement.

The coaches know more than I do and will see them getting in work every single day, much more than we will, so we will see how it goes.

Regardless of all the #Cowboys Christian Parker hype, this defense has to prove it on the field. If Dallas wants to make a deep playoff run, they need to finish as a Top 10 defense. If they want to win the Super Bowl, they need to be a Top 5 defense.

History backs it up. The… pic.twitter.com/6Bg6CInSRw

— Law Nation Media (@LawsNation) June 26, 2026

Keep It Drama Free

Listen Jerry Jones, please stay away from the media. This has been so much fun this summer to not have to listen to him or his son outside the normal press conferences, so let’s keep it this way, huh?

I LOVE how much the media and all the talk shows need something to happen with the Dallas Cowboys to give them something to talk about, and it is great that every single media outlet hated George Pickens reporting to camp and not starting any issues. They can’t stand it.

We have a long summer to go, and he will show up again, but much of the coaching staff is new and younger, and I think maybe Jerry is finally just understanding letting these dudes do their job and stop making it all about you.

So again, this is why this just feels different heading into this camp; no drama, no podcasts, just dudes wanting to win football games and showing up doing their job.