Cowboys 2024 NFL schedule: Full regular-season slate features opener vs. 2023 DPOY Myles Garrett

The Dallas Cowboys’ 2024 offseason has been nothing short of a rollercoaster, and now we’ve reached the part where they know their official schedule for the upcoming season.

It all started unceremoniously when they became the first team since the AFL/NFL merger in 1970 to win at least 12 games in three consecutive seasons and not reach the conference championship round after a 48-32 loss at home against the seventh seed Green Bay. Packers in NFC wild card round. Immediately after the defeat, owner and general manager Jerry Jones stated that Dallas be “all in” to bring your team closer to championship contention.

However, Jones’ actions spoke louder than his words, with the Cowboys losing eight players in free agency, tied for the third-most in a single offseason in team history. So, his words adjusted to the team’s reality when considering that the Cowboys’ 2024 offseason motto was “do it with less.” The reason Dallas had to operate this way is because they were unable to extend quarterback Dak Prescott to 2023. NFL passing touchdowns leader (36), who has a $55.1 million cap hit in 2024, and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, the 2023 NFL receptions leader (135), who hit a $17.991 million cap hit in 2024 before the start of free agency, though both are entering next season in the final year of their current contracts.

Doing so would have allowed the Cowboys to be free agency players, as Dallas could have spread the duo’s hits across future seasons, thus reducing the financial burden they are absorbing this year. The team has ended up signing just three outside free agents so far: 32-year-old former Pro Bowler. linebacker Eric Kendricks newsboy Running back Royce Freeman and bringing in the former three-time Pro Bowl running back Ezekiel Elliott House – after completion of 2024 NFL Draft – after the worst year of his career in 2023 with the New England Patriots.

Dallas was able to replace its two departed starters along its offensive line – eight-time Pro Bowl left tackle Tyron Smith (now with the New York Jets) and Pro Bowl center Tyler Biadasz (now with the Washington Commanders ) – in the first three rounds of the draft with offensive tackle from Oklahoma Tyler Guyton (29th overall pick) and Kansas State offensive lineman Cooper Beebe (73rd overall pick). They also added Louisiana offensive lineman Nathan Thomas (233rd overall, seventh round) and made a flyer on Southeast Missouri State wide receiver Ryan Flournoy in the sixth round (216th overall) after he got a strong performance at the NFL Scouting Combine: recording a 4.44 40-yard dash with a 39.5-inch vertical leap and an 11-foot broad jump while standing at 6’1, 202 pounds.

The Cowboys also addressed their defense with four of their eight picks. Dallas vice president of player personnel Will McClay compared second-round defensive end Marshawn Kneeland of Western Michigan (56th overall pick) for four-time Pro Bowl defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence. They addressed their inside linebacker position by taking Notre Dame’s Marist Liufau 87th overall (third round), while adding depth in the secondary in the fifth round with Wake Forest cornerback Caelen Carson (174th overall pick) and along the defensive line with their final pick from Auburn defensive tackle Justin Rogers went 244th overall in the seventh round.

Can Dallas post 12 or more wins for the fourth consecutive season? Well, their 2024 win total of 10.5 is the highest since 2008, and the Cowboys have reached the limit on their projected win total in three consecutive seasons — the longest streak since the 1990s. Super Bowl glory years (1990-1995). Here is the official 18-week schedule. The Cowboys will be on national television seven times in 2024, six in prime time – the maximum number of prime time games for each NFL team – the seventh being the Thanksgiving game against the New York Giants.

Cowboys 2024 Schedule

* Monday at night
**Thursday night
*** Thanksgiving