The Greatest Dallas Cowboys Players of All Time
Rank the greatest Dallas Cowboys players and you're sorting a franchise that went winless in its 1960 debut and later had 20 straight winning seasons. Every player here is named on at least 3 of the 11 Dallas Cowboys honor rolls and all-time rankings counted for this list: the team's own Ring of Honor, the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the team's 2020 Top 60, and eight press rankings. Players left off no more than one of the sources that could have named them start in the top group; everyone else who clears the door starts below them, and your votes set the order from there.
Emmitt Smith is #1 on “The Greatest Dallas Cowboys Players of All Time”.
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Emmitt Smith
The NFL's career records for rushing yards, 18,355, and rushing touchdowns, 164, are his, career figures that take in 2 closing seasons in Arizona. The other 13 seasons, 1990 through 2002, were in Dallas, where he won 4 rushing titles, earned 8 Pro Bowl berths, and took both the 1993 league MVP and the Super Bowl XXVIII MVP on the way to 3 rings. In the 1993 regular-season finale against the Giants he separated his right shoulder in the first half, stayed in, and piled up 229 total yards in a 16-13 overtime win; all 11 counted sources name him.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmitt_Smith - 2
Bob Lilly
The first draft choice in franchise history, taken 13th overall in 1961, he played defensive tackle in Dallas from 1961 to 1974. He made 11 Pro Bowls and played 196 consecutive regular-season games. In 1975 he was the Ring of Honor's first inductee, and in 1980 Canton took him in the first year he was eligible. In Super Bowl VI he sacked Miami's Bob Griese for a 29-yard loss in the 24-3 win that gave Dallas its first Super Bowl title, and all 11 sources in the count include him.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Lilly - 3
Roger Staubach
Week 8 of the 1971 season is when he took over as the full-time quarterback, and the Cowboys won 10 straight games with him. His Dallas career ran from 1969 through 1979 and brought the Super Bowl VI MVP award, for 12 of 19 passing with 119 yards and 2 touchdowns, and a second title in Super Bowl XII. The 1963 Heisman winner from Navy made 6 Pro Bowls, led the NFL in passer rating in 4 seasons, and retired with an 83.4 career rating, the highest in league history at that point. In the 1972 playoffs against San Francisco he came off the bench for Craig Morton, erased a 15-point fourth-quarter deficit with 2 touchdown passes in the last 90 seconds, and Dallas won 30-28; he's named on 11 out of 11.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Staubach - 4
Troy Aikman
The first overall pick of the 1989 draft, he went 0-11 as a starter that rookie year and stayed at quarterback in Dallas through 2000. In between came 6 consecutive Pro Bowls and a 3-0 record in Super Bowls, with wins in XXVII, XXVIII and XXX. In Super Bowl XXVII against Buffalo he went 22 of 30 for 273 yards and 4 touchdowns in a 52-17 rout and was named MVP. The end came in a December 2000 home game against Washington, when a hit from LaVar Arrington gave him the tenth and last concussion of his career; he announced his retirement in April 2001. The Hall of Fame class of 2006 included him, and so do 10 of the 11 lists counted here.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troy_Aikman - 5
Randy White
Nicknamed the Manster, half man and half monster, his first 2 seasons went to backing up Lee Roy Jordan at middle linebacker and playing mostly on special teams. Dallas, which had drafted him 2nd overall in 1975, moved him to right defensive tackle in 1977, and he stayed there through 1988, piling up 9 Pro Bowls in a row from 1977 to 1985 and 8 first-team All-Pro selections while missing 1 game in 209. The NFC named him its top defensive player for 1978. Super Bowl XII in New Orleans, the 27-10 win over Denver that closed the 1977 season, ended with him and Harvey Martin named co-MVPs, and the source count reads 11 for 11.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_White_(American_football) - 6
Larry Allen
His Dallas years brought Pro Bowls at both guard and tackle and 6 All-Pro first teams. Dallas found him in the 2nd round of the 1994 draft at Sonoma State and kept him through 2005, before 2 seasons in San Francisco, and he started in Super Bowl XXX, the 27-17 win over Pittsburgh that gave him his ring. As a rookie on a Monday night in New Orleans, December 19, 1994, he chased Darion Conner from behind on an interception return and ran him down; the Ring of Honor took him in 2011, and Canton enshrined him in 2013. He's named on 10 of the 11 sources, missing from Heavy's 2024 top 10.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Allen - 7
Tony Dorsett
To draft him 2nd overall in 1977, a year after his Heisman at Pitt, Dallas sent Seattle the 14th pick and 3 more. He was Offensive Rookie of the Year in 1977 and won Super Bowl XII, then went past 1,000 yards 8 times and left after 1987 as the franchise's rushing leader with 12,036 yards, with 1 year in Denver to follow. On January 3, 1983, a Monday night in Minnesota, he took a handoff 99 yards for a touchdown with 10 Cowboys on the field, because fullback Ron Springs didn't know the play had been called. Dallas lost 31-27, and the run is tied for the longest in NFL history; Derrick Henry matched it in 2018. Of the 11 sources, NFL.com's 2014 all-time Cowboys team went without him; the other 10 have him.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Dorsett - 8
Michael Irvin
The Playmaker got his nickname for big plays in big games, and Super Bowl XXVII shows why: 6 catches, 114 yards and 2 touchdowns, the 2 scores 18 seconds apart, in the 52-17 win over Buffalo. That game sat in the middle of 12 Dallas seasons, 1988 to 1999, after the Cowboys took him 11th in the 1988 draft. In 1995 he set franchise records with 111 receptions and 1,603 yards and an NFL record with 11 games over 100 receiving yards. He won 3 rings and made 5 Pro Bowls before a cervical spine injury in a 1999 game against Philadelphia ended his career; Canton enshrined him in 2007, and all 11 sources counted here put him on their lists.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Irvin - 9
Mel Renfro
As a rookie safety in 1964 he led the NFL in both punt return and kickoff return yardage. Dallas had drafted him in round 2 that year and kept him for 14 seasons, through 1977; he moved to cornerback in 1968, led the league with 10 interceptions in 1969, and finished with 52, the Cowboys' record. Each of his first 10 seasons ended with a Pro Bowl trip, and he was offensive MVP of the 1971 Pro Bowl after 2 punt return touchdowns. His interception against San Francisco in the 1970 NFC Championship Game set up the winning touchdown and sent Dallas to Super Bowl V. He collected rings from Super Bowls VI and XII and holds a place on all 11 lists.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mel_Renfro - 10
DeMarcus Ware
Twice the NFL's sack leader, with 20 in 2008 and 15.5 in 2010, he also passed Harvey Martin's franchise mark of 114 to become the Cowboys' career sack leader. Troy State sent him to Dallas as the 11th pick in 2005, and through 2013 he was a Pro Bowler 7 years running with 4 first-team All-Pro teams, before a move to Denver, where he won Super Bowl 50. That 2008 season also brought the first professional Butkus Award and a 2nd-place finish in the AP's vote for top defensive player; his Hall of Fame year is 2023, and 7 of these 11 sources carry his name.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeMarcus_Ware - 11
Jason Witten
His 11 Pro Bowls, every one of them earned at tight end in Dallas, tie Bob Lilly's club record. A 3rd-round pick, 69th overall, in 2003, he played there through 2017, came back for 2019 and spent 2020 with the Raiders, and he set the NFL single-season mark for a tight end with 110 catches in 2012. On November 4, 2007, at Philadelphia, he lost his helmet partway through a catch and kept running anyway, bareheaded, for 53 yards. The NFL named him its 2012 Walter Payton Man of the Year, he holds the franchise record for career receiving yards and played 255 games for Dallas, and 7 lists of the 11 carry his name.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Witten - 12
Rayfield Wright
Dallas spent a 7th-round pick in 1967 on him, out of Fort Valley State, where basketball had been his game, and over his first 3 seasons used him at tight end, on the defensive line and at tackle. He played 13 seasons in Dallas, through 1979, and his first start came in 1969 with Ralph Neely hurt, putting him across from the Rams' Deacon Jones; by the 1970 camp the right tackle job was his. The Big Cat, named for his nimble feet, made 6 straight Pro Bowls from 1971, played in 5 Super Bowls and won 2, and his Ring of Honor induction came in 2004; Canton followed in 2006, and 6 of the 11 list him.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rayfield_Wright - 13
Chuck Howley
Super Bowl V made him the first defensive player, and the first non-quarterback, named the game's MVP, and he won it on the losing side of a 16-13 loss to Baltimore with 2 interceptions and a forced fumble. He had reached Dallas in 1961, after 2 seasons with the Bears and a knee injury that sent him off to run a gas station, when Chicago traded his rights; through 1973 he played linebacker there, collecting 6 Pro Bowl trips and first-team All-Pro recognition in 5 seasons. A year after Super Bowl V, in the 24-3 Super Bowl VI win over Miami, he added a fumble recovery and a 41-yard interception. Dallas put him in its Ring of Honor in 1977, his Hall of Fame election waited until 2023, and 6 sources out of 11 name him.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Howley - 14
Drew Pearson
Nobody drafted him out of Tulsa, where he arrived after catching passes from Joe Theismann in high school, so Dallas signed him in 1973 and he played receiver there for 11 seasons, through 1983. He caught the 1975 Hail Mary that beat Minnesota in the playoffs, led the NFC with 58 receptions in 1976, and topped the NFL in receiving yards in 1977. On Thanksgiving 1974 against Washington, with the reserve Clint Longley at quarterback, he caught the game-winning touchdown pass. A March 1984 car crash left him with a liver injury that ended his career, and he was enshrined with the 2021 Hall of Fame class; his tally is 5 of 11.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drew_Pearson_(American_football) - 15
Bob Hayes
Olympic gold in the 100 meters and the 4 x 100 relay, with a 10.0 that tied the world record, was already his when he reached Dallas in 1965. Receiver was his job there through 1974, and he spent a final year in San Francisco. His 12 touchdown catches as a 1965 rookie led the NFL, and he led it again in 1966; Bullet Bob's speed is credited with pushing NFL defenses into zone coverage. He made 3 Pro Bowls and won a ring in Super Bowl VI, the franchise's first title; his Ring of Honor year was 2001, his Canton year 2009, and 4 of the 11 name him.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Hayes - 16
Cliff Harris
Captain Crash was the name teammates gave his hitting, and the 1977 season showed the rest of his game: 5 interceptions, then the Super Bowl XII title. Dallas had signed him out of Ouachita Baptist as an undrafted free agent in 1970, and he played safety there through 1979, after military service cost him the second half of his rookie year and he returned in time for Super Bowl V. From 1974 to 1979 he went to 6 straight Pro Bowls, a run that came after he had won Super Bowl VI in his second season. The Ring of Honor and Canton came later, in 2004 and 2020, and his name is on 5 of the 11 lists.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliff_Harris - 17
Darren Woodson
His 1,350 tackles rank first in the franchise record book by the team's own count, a total built at safety by a player who had been an outside linebacker at Arizona State. Dallas took him 37th in the 1992 draft, and he played through 2003, won 3 Super Bowls and earned Pro Bowl trips in 5 straight seasons, 1994 to 1998; back surgery kept him out of all of 2004, and he retired that December. On October 1, 1995, against Washington, he picked off a Gus Frerotte pass and ran it back 37 yards for a touchdown, though Dallas lost; he joined the Ring of Honor 20 years later, in 2015, and 5 of these 11 sources include him.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darren_Woodson - 18
Deion Sanders
In 1996 he started on both offense and defense for Dallas, catching 36 passes for 475 yards as the second two-way starter the league had seen since Chuck Bednarik. The Cowboys had signed him in September 1995, after his years in Atlanta and a season in San Francisco, to a 7-year, $35 million contract, and he played cornerback and plenty else for them through 1999. In Super Bowl XXX he caught a 47-yard pass and returned a punt 11 yards as Dallas beat Pittsburgh. His first-team All-Pro run covered 1996 to 1998, he was in 4 straight Pro Bowls, 1996 through 1999, and took 4 punts back for touchdowns as a Cowboy before a salary-cap release in June 2000; the sources put him on 3 lists out of 11.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deion_Sanders - 19
Zack Martin
The AP All-Pro first team took him as a rookie in 2014, the first Cowboys rookie on it since Calvin Hill in 1969. Dallas had drafted him 16th overall out of Notre Dame, and he played guard there through 2024, finishing with 9 Pro Bowls, 9 All-Pro teams and a 2010s All-Decade Team selection. His 2018 extension made him the highest-paid guard in the league. Ankle surgery ended his 2024 season after 10 starts, and he retired in February 2025. He's named on 3 of the 9 sources able to include him: Canton's voters can't take him up yet, and NFL.com's all-time Cowboys team came out in April 2014, before his first game.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zack_Martin - 20
Charles Haley
San Francisco, where he had already won 2 Super Bowls, traded him to Dallas on August 26, 1992, for a 1993 2nd-round pick and a 1994 3rd, and his 3 rings with the Cowboys, from Super Bowls XXVII, XXVIII and XXX, made him the first player to win 5, a career count. He rushed passers for Dallas through 1996, and the 1994 season was his peak here: 12.5 sacks and a Pro Bowl; he made another in 1995 with 10.5 sacks in the first 10 games before a ruptured disk against Washington. Back trouble deactivated him in 1996 and he retired after that season, Dallas made him a Ring of Honor member in 2011, and Canton elected him in 2015; he's named on 4 of these 11.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Haley - 21
Lee Roy Jordan
By the team's count he made 1,236 tackles in Dallas, a franchise record that held for 26 years after he retired, until 2002. He played linebacker for the Cowboys for 14 seasons, 1963 through 1976, after they made him the 6th overall pick out of Bear Bryant's Alabama, and he was a 5-time Pro Bowler and a 2-time All-Pro who won Super Bowl VI and intercepted 32 passes. In 1989 he became the 7th member of the Ring of Honor. On November 4, 1973, against Cincinnati, he intercepted 3 passes in the first quarter and returned 1 of them 31 yards for a touchdown; 4 of 11 sources here have him.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Roy_Jordan - 22
Tyron Smith
In 2014 he cleared the way for DeMarco Murray's rushing title, and his game against Seattle made him the first offensive lineman in 10 years named Offensive Player of the Week. He had come to Dallas at 20 as the 9th overall pick out of USC in 2011, moved from right tackle to left tackle in 2012, and held the job through 2023; after a 2024 season with the Jets he signed a 1-day contract in April 2025 to retire as a Cowboy. He made 8 Pro Bowls and 2 first-team All-Pro teams and was named to the 2010s All-Decade Team; he shows up on 3 of the 10 sources eligible to name him, since Canton's waiting period after retirement hasn't run out for him.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyron_Smith - 23
Ed "Too Tall" Jones
In 1974 Dallas held the first overall pick for the first time, via a trade with Houston, and spent it on a defensive end from Tennessee State. He played for the Cowboys from 1974 to 1978 and again from 1980 to 1989, 15 seasons and 224 games, and never missed one; the gap is the year he left football in 1979 for pro boxing and went 6-0 with 5 knockouts. He won Super Bowl XII, made 3 Pro Bowls from 1981 to 1983, and batted down enough passes that the NFL started keeping it as an official stat. In 1985 he had a career-high 13 sacks, and in the 15th game, a 28-21 win that clinched the NFC East, he batted a pass into Jim Jeffcoat's hands for a 65-yard touchdown return; he lands on 3 of the 11 sources.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_%22Too_Tall%22_Jones - 24
Nate Newton
Washington waived him in 1983, he spent 2 seasons with the USFL's Tampa Bay Bandits, and when that league folded Dallas signed him in 1986 as a free agent. Left guard was his main post, with stretches at right tackle, and he held it for the Cowboys through 1998 before a last season in Carolina. They called him the Kitchen because he was bigger than William Perry. His 6 Pro Bowl trips came between 1992 and 1998, and his 3 Super Bowl rings came after the 1992, 1993 and 1995 seasons. In 1994 and again in 1995 he was named first-team All-Pro, and he's listed on 3 of 11 sources.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nate_Newton_(American_football)
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