The 2022 season was the Dallas Cowboys' 63rd in the National Football League (NFL), their 14th playing home games at AT&T Stadium, and their third under head coach Mike McCarthy.
This was the first season since 2014 without offensive tackle La'el Collins on the roster, as he was released on March 18, 2022, and later signed with the Cincinnati Bengals. Despite losing to the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 15, the Cowboys clinched a playoff berth after a loss by the Washington Commanders later that day. This marked the first time since 2006–2007 the Cowboys qualified for the postseason in consecutive seasons. After the Philadelphia Eagles beat the New York Giants in Week 18, the Cowboys failed to repeat as NFC East champions, extending the NFC East's repeat winner drought to 18 seasons. Their own loss to the Commanders that same day meant the Cowboys tied the previous year's 12–5 record.
In the wild-card round of the playoffs, the Cowboys defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31–14 to win their first road playoff game since their Super Bowl-winning 1992 season, and ended their winless streak against Tom Brady in what proved to be Brady's last game in his career. However, they were defeated by the San Francisco 49ers for the second consecutive season, this time in the divisional round, their seventh consecutive divisional round defeat.
Offseason
Signings
Position Player Age 2021 team Contract FB Ryan Nall 27 Chicago Bears 1 year, $965,000 WR James Washington 26 Pittsburgh Steelers 1 year, $1.187 million OT Jason Peters 40 Chicago Bears 1 year, $358,200 DE Dante Fowler 28 Atlanta Falcons 1 year, $3 million OLB Anthony Barr 30 Minnesota Vikings 1 year, $3 million MLB Malik Jefferson 26 Indianapolis Colts 1 year, $965,000
Re-signings Position Player Age Contract WR Noah Brown 26 1 year, $1.187 million WR Michael Gallup 26 5 years, $62.5 million TE Jeremy Sprinkle 28 1 year, $1 million DE Dorance Armstrong 25 2 years, $13 million DT Carlos Watkins 29 1 year, $1.187 million LB Luke Gifford 27 1 year, $1.1 million LB Leighton Vander Esch 26 1 year, $3 million FS Malik Hooker 26 2 years, $8 million SS Jayron Kearse 28 2 years, $10 million P Bryan Anger 34 3 years, $9 million LS Jake McQuaide 35 1 year, $1.2 million
Departures Position Player Age 2022 team RB Corey Clement 28 Arizona Cardinals WR Amari Cooper 28 Cleveland Browns WR Malik Turner 26 Las Vegas Raiders WR Cedrick Wilson Jr. 27 Miami Dolphins TE Blake Jarwin 28 Unsigned OT La'el Collins 29 Cincinnati Bengals OT Mitch Hyatt 25 Unsigned OT Ty Nsekhe 37 Los Angeles Rams OG Connor Williams 25 Miami Dolphins DE Bradlee Anae 24 New York Jets DE Randy Gregory 30 Denver Broncos DT Brent Urban 31 Baltimore Ravens LB Francis Bernard 27 Joined XFL LB Keanu Neal 27 Tampa Bay Buccaneers CB Maurice Canady 28 New York Giants CB Reggie Robinson II 25 Cleveland Browns FS Damontae Kazee 29 Pittsburgh Steelers K Greg Zuerlein 35 New York Jets
Draft
2022 Dallas Cowboys Draft Round Selection Player Position College Notes 1 24 Tyler Smith OT Tulsa 2 56 Sam Williams DE Ole Miss 3 88 Jalen Tolbert WR South Alabama 4 129 Jake Ferguson TE Wisconsin 5 155 Matt Waletzko OT North Dakota from Cleveland 167 DaRon Bland CB Fresno State 176 Damone Clark LB LSU Compensatory pick 178 John Ridgeway III DT Arkansas Compensatory pick 6 193 Devin Harper LB Oklahoma State from Cleveland 202 Traded to Cleveland 7 245 Traded to Houston Draft trades
+ 2022 Dallas Cowboys undrafted free agents Name Position College Ref. Brandon Aubrey K Notre Dame Markquese Bell S Florida A&M Markaviest Bryant DE UCF Malik Davis RB Florida Dontario Drummond WR Ole Miss James Empey C BYU Ty Fryfogle WR Indiana Jonathan Garibay K Texas Tech Aaron Hansford LB Texas A&M Peyton Hendershot TE Indiana Dennis Houston WR Western Illinois Storey Jackson LB Liberty Alec Lindstrom C Boston College Quandre Mosely CB Kentucky Jaquarii Roberson WR Wake Forest Aaron Shampklin RB Harvard Amon Simon OT Texas A&M–Commerce Mike Tafua DE Utah Isaac Taylor-Stuart CB USC Juanyeh Thomas S Georgia Tech La'Kendrick Van Zandt TCU
Staff
Rosters Opening preseason roster Dallas Cowboys 2022 opening preseason roster Quarterbacks Ben DiNucci Will Grier Dak Prescott Cooper Rush
Running backs Malik Davis Rico Dowdle Ezekiel Elliott Ryan Nall FB Tony Pollard Aaron Shampklin
Wide receivers Noah Brown Dontario Drummond Simi Fehoko Ty Fryfogle Dennis Houston CeeDee Lamb Jaquarii Roberson Brandon Smith Jalen Tolbert KaVontae Turpin RS T. J. Vasher James Washington
Tight ends Ian Bunting Jake Ferguson Peyton Hendershot Sean McKeon Dalton Schultz Jeremy Sprinkle Offensive linemen Isaac Alarcón G/T Josh Ball T Tyler Biadasz C Aviante Collins T James Empey G/C Matt Farniok C/G Braylon Jones G Alec Lindstrom C Zack Martin G Connor McGovern G/C Amon Simon T Tyler Smith G/T Tyron Smith T Terence Steele T Matt Waletzko T
Defensive linemen Dorance Armstrong DE Tarell Basham DE Quinton Bohanna DT Josiah Bronson DT Markaviest Bryant DE Austin Faoliu DT Dante Fowler DE Neville Gallimore DT Chauncey Golston DE Trysten Hill DT DeMarcus Lawrence DE Osa Odighizuwa DT John Ridgeway III DT Mika Tafua DE Carlos Watkins DT Sam Williams DELinebackers Jabril Cox MLB Luke Gifford OLB Devin Harper MLB Storey Jackson OLB Malik Jefferson MLB Micah Parsons OLB Christian Sam OLB Leighton Vander Esch MLB
Defensive backs Markquese Bell SS DaRon Bland CB Anthony Brown CB Kyron Brown CB Tyler Coyle FS Trevon Diggs CB C. J. Goodwin CB Malik Hooker FS Kelvin Joseph CB Jayron Kearse SS Jourdan Lewis CB Quandre Mosely CB Israel Mukuamu FS Isaac Taylor-Stuart CB Juanyeh Thomas FS Donovan Wilson SS Nahshon Wright CB
Special teams Bryan Anger P Lirim Hajrullahu K Brett Maher K Jake McQuaide LS Reserve lists Anthony Barr OLB Devante Bond OLB Damone Clark MLB Michael Gallup WR
Week one roster Dallas Cowboys 2022 week one roster Quarterbacks Dak Prescott Cooper Rush
Running backs Rico Dowdle Ezekiel Elliott Tony Pollard
Wide receivers Noah Brown Simi Fehoko Michael Gallup Dennis Houston CeeDee Lamb Jalen Tolbert KaVontae Turpin RS
Tight ends Jake Ferguson Peyton Hendershot Dalton Schultz Offensive linemen Josh Ball T Tyler Biadasz C Matt Farniok C/G Zack Martin G Connor McGovern G Tyler Smith T/G Terence Steele T Matt Waletzko T
Defensive linemen Dorance Armstrong DE Tarell Basham DE Quinton Bohanna DT Dante Fowler DE Neville Gallimore DT Chauncey Golston DE Trysten Hill DT DeMarcus Lawrence DE Osa Odighizuwa DT John Ridgeway III DT Sam Williams DELinebackers Anthony Barr OLB Jabril Cox MLB/OLB Luke Gifford OLB Devin Harper MLB Micah Parsons OLB Leighton Vander Esch MLB
Defensive backs Markquese Bell SS DaRon Bland CB Anthony Brown CB Trevon Diggs CB C. J. Goodwin CB Malik Hooker FS Kelvin Joseph CB Jayron Kearse SS Jourdan Lewis CB Israel Mukuamu FS Donovan Wilson SS Nahshon Wright CB
Special teams Bryan Anger P Brett Maher K Jake McQuaide LS Reserve lists Devante Bond OLB Ian Bunting TE Damone Clark MLB Tyron Smith T Isaac Taylor-Stuart CB James Washington WR
Practice squad Isaac Alarcón G/T Aviante Collins T Tyler Coyle FS Malik Davis RB Dontario Drummond WR Will Grier QB Malik Jefferson MLB/OLB Alec Lindstrom C Sean McKeon TE Qadree Ollison RB Jason Peters T Brandon Smith WR Juanyeh Thomas FS Carlos Watkins DT/DE
Final roster
Preseason The Cowboys' preseason opponents and schedule was announced in the spring.
Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap 1 at Denver Broncos L 7–17 0–1 Empower Field Recap 2 at Los Angeles Chargers W 32–18 1–1 SoFi Stadium Recap 3 Seattle Seahawks W 27–26 2–1 AT&T Stadium Recap
Regular season Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap 1 September 11 Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 3–19 0–1 AT&T Stadium Recap 2 September 18 Cincinnati Bengals W 20–17 1–1 AT&T Stadium Recap 3 at New York Giants W 23–16 2–1 MetLife Stadium Recap 4 October 2 Washington Commanders W 25–10 3–1 AT&T Stadium Recap 5 October 9 at Los Angeles Rams W 22–10 4–1 SoFi Stadium Recap 6 October 16 at Philadelphia Eagles L 17–26 4–2 Lincoln Financial Field Recap 7 October 23 Detroit Lions W 24–6 5–2 AT&T Stadium Recap 8 October 30 Chicago Bears W 49–29 6–2 AT&T Stadium Recap 9Bye 10 November 13 at Green Bay Packers L 28–31 6–3 Lambeau Field Recap 11 November 20 at Minnesota Vikings W 40–3 7–3 U.S. Bank Stadium Recap 12 November 24 New York Giants W 28–20 8–3 AT&T Stadium Recap 13 December 4 Indianapolis Colts W 54–19 9–3 AT&T Stadium Recap 14 December 11 Houston Texans W 27–23 10–3 AT&T Stadium Recap 15 December 18 at Jacksonville Jaguars L 34–40 10–4 TIAA Bank Field Recap 16 Philadelphia Eagles W 40–34 11–4 AT&T Stadium Recap 17 at Tennessee Titans W 27–13 12–4 Nissan Stadium Recap 18 January 8 at Washington Commanders L 6–26 12–5 FedExField Recap Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Game summaries Week 1: vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Despite a strong defensive effort, the Cowboys could not keep pace against Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and failed to find the end zone in their season opener. The 19–3 loss dropped Dallas to 0–1 on the season and 0–7 all time against Brady-led teams. The three points were also the Cowboys' lowest total for a season opener since the infamous 1989 season, when they were shut out by the New Orleans Saints. Worsening matters further, quarterback Dak Prescott injured his right hand late in the fourth quarter, which was revealed after the game to be a thumb fracture. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones announced immediately after the game that Prescott would undergo surgery the following day, sidelining him for several weeks. Backup quarterback Cooper Rush was announced as the starter for Dallas in Prescott's absence.
Week 2: vs. Cincinnati Bengals
The Cowboys hosted the Bengals hoping to avoid their first 0–2 start since 2010. The Cowboys led 17–3 at halftime, though they allowed the Bengals to tie the game at 17. The Cowboys defense gave Joe Burrow and the Bengals a hard time throughout the game, as Micah Parsons registered multiple sacks on Joe Burrow. In the final minutes of the game, the Cowboys forced the Bengals to punt, and drove the ball to field goal range. In the fading seconds, Brett Maher kicked a game winning field goal to help the Cowboys stave off the Bengals comeback to improve to 1–1.
Week 3: at New York Giants
The Cowboys led 6–3 at half but missed opportunities to blow the game open. Even though they blocked a Giants field goal attempt, referees missed a defensive pass interference call which would have given the Cowboys a 1st and Goal on the 1-yard line, and CeeDee Lamb uncharacteristically dropped a big catch that could've been a touchdown. The Giants got the ball to start the third quarter and scored on their first two drives, the second a touchdown run by Saquon Barkley to give the Giants a 13–6 lead. The Cowboys responded with a touchdown run by Ezekiel Elliott, then stopped the Giants on 4th down the next drive. On their next drive, Lamb converted on a 4th and 4 and finished the drive with a one-handed touchdown catch to take a 20–13 lead. The Cowboys forced a three-and-out and started their next drive in field goal range to make it a two-score game after a big punt return. The Giants responded with a field goal to cut the deficit and had a chance to tie the game, but Trevon Diggs sealed the win with his first interception of the season.
DeMarcus Lawrence finished with 3 sacks on the night, and the Cowboys defense had 5 total. The Cowboys improved to 2–1, and Cooper Rush became 3–0 as the Cowboys starting quarterback.
Week 4: vs. Washington Commanders
Week 5: at Los Angeles Rams
Week 6: at Philadelphia Eagles