Cowboys Survivor Pick: New Pass Rusher Suspended to Open 2026

Cowboys open 2026 without their newest pass rusher

Dallas will start the season shorthanded up front: the Cowboys' newest pass rusher is suspended to begin the year, per the latest news out of the team. That's a notable subtraction for a defense that could use every edge disruptor it can get, and it lingers over the early-season slate.

What it means for your survivor pick

The schedule matters more than the suspension when you're deciding who to pick early. Dallas is a small favorite in Week 1 at the Giants (-2.5) and again in Week 3 against Baltimore — except that Week 3 line actually has the Ravens favored by 2.5 in Dallas, so the Cowboys are underdogs at home. The one spot Dallas looks stronger is Week 2 hosting Washington, where the Cowboys are laid at -4.5.

None of these are the fat, comfortable numbers survivor players want. A -2.5 road game and a -4.5 home game are coin-flip-adjacent by survivor standards, and a game where your team is a home underdog is an automatic pass. With the pass rush down a man to start the year, the case for leaning on Dallas gets even thinner. If you're weighing the Cowboys in any of these three weeks, treat them as a name to bank for later rather than a safe pick now — and save your stronger teams for these spots. New to the format? Here's how survivor pools work, and you can always start a free survivor pool to run your own board.