The Cowboys have, on paper, gotten better, while the Eagles are an unknown right now, so could there be some moving and shaking at the top of the NFC East?
The Dallas Cowboys, for most, are the one team in the NFC East that can take down the Philadelphia Eagles, who have won the division in back-to-back years.
A lot of that hope is due to the changes the Cowboys have made this offseason to the league's worst defense.
Christian Parker comes in to oversee a unit that now has players capable of making a big difference in 2026.
Headlined by Caleb Downs, the Cowboys also added Rashan Gary, Jalen Thompson, Cobie Durant, and Malachi Lawrence. Oh, and Quinnen Williams and Kenny Clark will both get a full offseason of work.
We add that to what the Cowboys' offense can be, and you can easily envision Brian Schottenheimer's team being good enough to return to the postseason.
But could they do it as division champs?
NFL.com's Nick Shook thinks they can, based on how good the offense was last year, along with what the defense is projecting to be in 2026.
“The Cowboys boasted the league's second-best offense in 2025, one that featured two 1,000-yard receivers (CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens) and the NFL's third-ranked passer in Dak Prescott," Shook wrote. "The unit was emblematic of a Super Bowl contender, yet the Cowboys finished 7-9-1 because they couldn't stop a nosebleed defensively. Thus, their entire offseason has been dedicated to fixing the defense.
"The Cowboys also brought Christian Parker over from Philadelphia as the team's new defensive coordinator, making an aggressive effort to solve their biggest problem. If it pans out, they could pair the new-look unit with an explosive offense and surprise many with a successful 2026. For now, though, it's only a projection."
With so much hope and excitement around what the defense could become under Parker, there is still an element of the unknown.
He hasn't called plays before, and we aren't sure how the new players will gel and fit into the scheme. So there will be a lot of curious eyes on the defense in Oxnard.
If, and that's a big if, the defense can become average, along with the offense again being elite, Dallas has the makings of a division winner.
The Eagles have yet another coordinator change for Jalen Hurts and, without AJ Brown, are banking on DeVonta Smith being "the" guy. Plus, Philadelphia seems to be one play away from self-destructing.
So, they loom as the enigma of the NFC East.
And because of that, the Cowboys, if everything goes well, have a good shot at dethroning the Eagles for the NFC East crown.
