The start of NFL free agency is here, and so too is the time for the Dallas Cowboys to prove they are more willing to use this all-important phase to better their roster. Team VP Stephen Jones’ initial catchphrase of claiming the Cowboys would be “selectively aggressive” was quickly twisted by GM and owner Jerry Jones who more recently said he personally doesn’t see free agency as the way to “fill voids” on a roster with plenty of them. The Cowboys not using the open market to fill voids would certainly be status quo from last offseason, where their stark inactivity led directly to the team having a losing record for the first time since 2020 at 7-10. A lot of what the Cowboys have done so far leading up to free agency and the draft has sent the message that finishing third in the NFC East was unacceptable, mainly moving on from HC Mike McCarthy and DC Mike Zimmer. Starting now, none of this will matter so much if all avenues of player acquisition aren’t utilized to close the gap between Dallas and Philadelphia and Washington.
Another area the Cowboys have tried to show they’ve learned something of a lesson ahead of free agency this offseason is by not waiting to get contract extensions done with their best players, especially ones at big money positions. Last offseason it was quarterback Dak Prescott and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb who waited on deals, but this year defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa was taken care of early to become a very important set piece on the interior of Matt Eberflus’ defense.
The next obvious step the Cowboys can take to show they are serious about fielding the best team going forward is staring them in the face right from the green flag wave of free agency. We’ve mentioned before how this team won’t be able to replicate all of the ways the Eagles operated at a championship level, but that one lesson they can learn from Philly (gross, I know) is how to not settle at positions with proven talent and stack them into being a dominant team strength. This would directly contrast how the Cowboys have roster built as of late, not supporting Lamb with a consistent second receiver or playing Prescott in the first year of his new deal behind an offensive line with two rookie starters and, at the time he was available to play, a nonexistent run game.
The 2024 Cowboys were one of the worst prepared teams to deal with the injury attrition of a long season, which bit them hard all year and made the team borderline unwatchable for long stretches of time. Defensive tackle was another good example of this, where Dallas waited until nearly the start of the regular season to bring in veterans Jordan Phillips and Linval Joseph. Neither player stood a good chance of being ready to play meaningful snaps in Zimmer’s system early on, and even with Joseph’s past experience in the scheme he never played more than 29 snaps in a game. Phillips was released in November after appearing in the first two games of the season.
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There is little excuse for the Cowboys to not realize that Odighizuwa cannot carry this position group by himself, even with some of the steady progress Mazi Smith has made alongside him to give the Cowboys at least two starting caliber defensive tackles. Carlos Watkins, Justin Rogers, and Ernest Brown are the only other DTs currently under contract.
New head coach Brian Schottenheimer was here for the entire Mike McCarthy era, having a front row seat for all the times the former HC paraded the halls of The Star and swore he would make this team more physical and tough-nosed. Being left with a rebuilding offensive line, no established running backs under contract, and this group of defensive tackles clearly showed that McCarthy’s plan failed at the end of his contract. Schottenheimer and his staff have already laid out the ground work for how they plan on addressing both the run game and offensive line, but defensive tackle will take more cohesion and support from the front office. Two very intriguing veteran options were released from teams Dallas is very familiar with at the start of March. Former Washington Commanders stalwart Jonathan Allen is now on the market (he is visiting the Vikings), along with former San Francisco 49ers DT Javon Hargrave.
Both players made NFL.com’s top five available defensive linemen in free agency this offseason. Hargrave had his season cut short after a triceps tear in week three, but prior to that played in at least 16 games from 2021-23. Two of these seasons came with the Eagles, where he had nine combined tackles and two sacks in three games against the Cowboys. Turning 32 last month, Hargrave is a two-time Pro Bowler as a third-round pick out of South Carolina State. This is a player that’s made a name for himself with a plus motor as a pass rusher, toughness against the run for his size, and a knack for being in the right position at the right times to clean up plays.
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Hargrave has direct experience playing under new Cowboys special teams coordinator Nick Sorensen, who was a defensive pass game specialist for the 49ers when Hargrave arrived and then defensive coordinator last season. Hargrave seldom plays on special teams, but for a team that seemingly looks for any reason to justify not bringing in an outside free agent, the Cowboys being able to get a scout on the player from one of their own coaches is important. Hargrave and Odghizuwa paired together would give Dallas a real pass rush group to win on the interior and at least put some fear in opposing teams that pressure can come from more than just Micah Parsons on the edge.
Then there is a player the Cowboys are even more familiar with, veteran Jonathan Allen. Playing his entire career so far as a 2017 first-round pick to Washington, Allen is now available in free agency after one year under former Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn. The Commanders could not find a trade partner for the 30-year old tackle who only appeared in eight games last season. There is hardly any reason to think Allen cannot still help a team, having at least 10 tackles for loss and five and a half sacks the previous three seasons when he played at least 16 games each time. Allen came back from a torn pectoral muscle that could have easily been season ending to play in the Commanders final two games of the regular season, recording a sack in the finale against the Cowboys. He then played through the entire miraculous three-game playoff stretch the Commanders went on all the way to the NFC Championship game.
Cowboys fans will be familiar with how Quinn never preferred having big defensive linemen like Allen, but surrounded by plenty of former Cowboys that the Commanders HC brought over, Allen was still successful. Allen can be a scheme fit anywhere with his ability to shed blocks quickly, play with elite pad level, and finish at the point of attack. His strong hands and lateral quickness make him a nightmare for opposing guards and centers to deal with. For a Cowboys team with so many concerns at linebacker right now, a player like Allen could also go a long way in keeping opposing linemen from climbing to the second level and attacking these linebackers, freeing them up to develop by staying clean and making plays.
NFL: Washington Commanders at Dallas Cowboys Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
The Cowboys can partially thank the recently retired Zack Martin as to why Allen didn’t rack up more stats in ten career games against the Cowboys, but the former Alabama star has still averaged over six sacks and 63 tackles a year since coming into the league in 2017. The Cowboys have shown a preference to bring in former first-round picks in the past, and doing so at a position they don’t often value enough to use a top pick on themselves makes a lot of sense in this situation.
Monitoring what the Cowboys do at defensive tackle will be one of the most telling signs of if anything has truly changed with this franchise’s approach to the offseason. With an almost entirely new coaching staff pouring over the current roster with fresh eyes to evaluate where upgrades are needed, the Cowboys have already taken one positive step in giving Eberflus a star defensive tackle to work with in Odighizuwa. The 3-technique position Odighizuwa plays is valued highly in Eberflus’ scheme, so much so that Odighizuwa shouldn’t be the only reliable player here. The Cowboys arriving at offseason workouts and desperately selling the fanbase on not only having Odighizuwa but Mazi Smith to feel good about at defensive tackle is sadly predictable. Conversely, the Cowboys starting this new page turn to the Schottenheimer era by prioritizing a position they haven’t in some time, doing so in a way that directly supports the latest player they’ve made a big financial commitment to, and adding an established player like Hargrave or Allen would be real progress in the right direction.
Dallas did meet with top defensive tackles Walter Nolan, Kenneth Grant, and Alfred Collins at the combine, but keeping the board as open as possible with the 12th overall pick needs to be a goal for a team with more pressing needs than just defensive tackle. The defensive line group as a whole is strong in this year’s draft, which might buy Dallas just enough time in the first wave of free agency to not miss out on either Allen or Hargrave coming off the board to any other team much more accustomed to being aggressive early on in the signing period.