Will the Cowboys be contenders for the NFC East in 2026?

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Rookie running back Jaydon Blue scores his first NFL touchdown.

Suffice to say that the NFC East as a division failed to scare anyone in the NFL in 2025.

The Philadelphia Eagles won the division with an 11-6 record. They were the only team in the division to finish above .500.

As a whole, the NFC East finished with the worst overall record at 27-40-1.

That’s worse than the NFC South’s 30-38 record, and that division didn’t have a single team finish above .500 in 2025.

The Eagles were sent packing in the wildcard round by the 49ers. Who promptly went to Seattle and got Godzilla stomped in the Divisional round.

In short, all four teams in the division were bad.

NFc East helmets, including the Dallas Cowboys helmet on grass field, focusing on NFL football team gear and safety equipment.

Which begs the question: Will they be any better in 2026?

They’ll probably finish better overall as a division, but not by that much.

Here’s our first “way-too-early” prediction for how the NFC East will finish in 2026.

Washington Commanders

2025 Finish: 5-12 (3rd)

Predicted 2026 Finish: 11-6 (1st)

Injuries derailed the Commanders in 2025. Especially the one to Jayden Daniels.

Marcus Mariota filled in nicely, but it was enough of a drop-off to send Washington tumbling down the standings.

Daniels should be back to 100% this fall.

He’ll also have a new offensive coordinator in David Blough, who replaces Kliff Kingsbury. Blough spent the last two years as an assistant under Kingsbury, so he and Daniels should be familiar with one another.

The key to the Commanders’ success will be in Dan Quinn rebuilding his defense.

If he succeeds, Washington should be the team to be in 2026.

Philadelphia Eagles

2025 Finish: 11-6 (1st)

Predicted 2026 Finish: 9-8 (2nd)

The Eagles window is sliding shut. How fast it slams shut will depend on if they can cut the internal squabbling out or not.

Reportedly, head coach Nick Sirianni and quarterback Jalen Hurts aren’t the best of buds.

Cowboys are facing this nightmare scenario

The Eagles are also in the market for a new offensive coordinator to replace the recently fired Kevin Patullo.

Of some interest is one of the candidates for the job. It seems former Giants head coach Brian Daboll has been interviewed.

Get your popcorn out, it could be fun.

Especially since the Eagles are probably going to finish second and fighting for the last wildcard slot this year.

New York Giants

2025 Finish: 4-13 (4th)

Predicted 2026 Finish: 7-10 (3rd)

Just hiring John Harbaugh automatically improves the Giants by three wins. It will take more than a year for the turnaround, but the Giants are finally moving in the right direction.

Which is bad news for the Cowboys.

Dallas Cowboys

2025 Finish: 7-9-1 (2nd)

Predicted 2026 Finish: 5-12 (4th)

The Cowboys are going to have to hit the jackpot with every single move in the offseason.

Every draft pick, every free agent signing must pay off. Especially on defense.

The offense will likely not hit the same way they did in 2025.

It’s going to take more than one year to fix Dallas’ defense.

All of that adds up to yet another losing season in Dallas. Especially when you look at the Cowboys schedule this year.

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Richard Paolinelli is an award-winning sports journalist with 34 years of professional newsroom experience. His newspaper career (1991–2011) includes the Gallup Independent, Modesto Bee, Gustine Press-Standard, Turlock Journal, Merced Sun-Star, Tracy Press, Patch, and San Francisco Examiner. He received the 2001 California Newspaper Publishers Association Best Sports Story award. Richard has authored two non-fiction sports books and 11 novels. At InsideTheStar.com, he has published 874 articles reaching over 728,000 readers.

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