Newton spent 14 NFL seasons, 13 with Dallas, and established himself as one of the league’s top linemen after moving to left guard in 1992. He earned Pro Bowl selections in six of the next seven seasons, including All-Pro First Team honors in 1994 and 1995, and was part of Dallas’s three Super Bowl-winning teams.
The former Cowboys standout retired after the 1999 season with the Carolina Panthers, but his post-playing life has included legal trouble. A federal drug trafficking conviction in 2002 led to a prison sentence of more than two years; since then, Newton has worked to rebuild his life and career.
News of the pardon came via Alice Marie Johnson, who posted on X that Trump had granted pardons to the five former NFL players and that Jerry Jones personally shared the news with Newton, underscoring the Cowboys’ longtime connection to the former lineman.
The pardon arrives amid the Cowboys’ challenging offseason timeline. Dallas missed the playoffs in 2025, and the club previously traded Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers before the season, creating urgency around roster improvements as the team works to return to contention.
