There are a number of players who the Cowboys are going to have to make some decisions on soon.
The 2024 NFL regular season has come to an end. For the Dallas Cowboys, the end could not come soon enough. A year that started so well with an easy win over the Cleveland Browns ended in dramatic fashion on Sunday afternoon. The Cowboys lost their tenth game of the season to the Washington Commanders, giving up a last-second touchdown to Terry McLaurin on their final defensive play of the season.
For the Cowboys, the attention now turns to getting their team ready to compete for a playoff spot in 2025. Dallas has plenty of work to do if they want to return to the playoffs next season, and there figures to be plenty of change with some impactful players set to his free agency.
With that in mind, today we take a look at three players who have likely played their last game as a Cowboy.
Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images
1) WR Brandin Cooks
2024 was a difficult year for veteran wide receiver Brandin Cooks. The 31-year-old suffered a knee infection in early October, forcing him to miss a significant chunk of the regular season. Cooks ended up playing in just 10 games and did not look anything like the offensive difference maker he can be.
On the year, Cooks recorded career lows in receptions (26), receiving yards (259), and receiving touchdowns (3). Cooks’ knee injury clearly affected his ability to gain separation, and the veteran finished with the fourth-worst average separation rate (2.2 yards) among qualified receivers.
As pivotal as Cooks was to Dallas’ offensive success in 2023, it’s hard to see the performance he put on display this season and feel positive about his long-term future. The veteran just wrapped up his eleventh season in the NFL and there are certainly some signs his career may be headed for a steady decline.
If Cooks agreed to come back on a one-year deal worth $5M or less the Cowboys may be interested in retaining his services for one more season. As good as that sounds, there will almost certainly be a team willing to gamble and bet on him bouncing back, offering more money than Dallas will.
Acquiring Cooks will go down as one of the better trades in recent Cowboys’ history, but it’s hard to envision a world where this was not his last season as a Cowboy.
Peter Casey-Imagn Images
2) DT Osa Odighizuwa
You could make a solid argument that Osa Odighizuwa is Dallas’ most important impending free agent. The 26-year-old put together the most complete season of his career this year, sustaining consistently solid play throughout the eternity of the 17-game regular season.
Odighizuwa finished the year playing some of the best football we’ve seen him play as a Cowboy. In Dallas’ final seven regular season games, the former third-round pick recorded 28 total pressures, 10 QB hits, and 2.5 sacks. Odighizuwa’s 6.5 sacks and 55 total pressures were by far the most in a single season during his four-year NFL career.
Everything Odighizuwa did this season should make the Cowboys want to bring him back on a long-term deal. The only problem is his productive season is going to make the 26-year-old a hot commodity on the free agent market, should he get there.
Last offseason, defensive tackles Grover Stewart and Justin Jones both signed three-year deals totaling $39 and $31M respectively. Odighizuwa is younger than either of those players and is as, if not more, productive of a player. There’s a real chance a team may offer him a three or four-year deal worth $11-13M a year, which is a deal it would be hard to see the Cowboys matching.
With all the potential suitors they will need to compete with, if the Cowboys allow Osa Odighizuwa to hit free agency it’s almost a guarantee he will be wearing another logo on his helmet come next fall.
Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images
3) QB Trey Lance
I think it’s safe to say Sunday’s regular-season finale against the Washington Commanders could be the end of the Trey Lance experiment. When Dallas traded for Lance back before the start of the 2023 season the move did not make much sense. Flash forward two years later and it makes even less sense.
Even with Dak Prescott suffering a season-ending injury back in Week 9, the Cowboys did not trust Lance enough to play him until the final game of the regular season. While he didn’t look horrible at times, completing 20 of 34 passes for 244 yards, it was made evidently clear Lance does not possess the accuracy to become a stating-caliber quarterback at the NFL level.
A reunion in 2025 does not make much sense for either side. From the Cowboys’ perspective, with all the holes they need to fill on their roster paying Lance $5-6M to be maybe the backup quarterback is just not smart. Dallas could spend that money on a starting-caliber running back who would be able to help their team immediately. From Lance’s perspective, why would he want to return to an organization that did not trust him enough to play him even when it was clear the season was out of reach?
The Trey Lance trade will always go down as a head-scratching move, and it seems like there’s a good chance both sides will move on this spring.
